1. Escape
» Situation: Hawaii 0, Tulane 0, 13:34 remaining, first quarter, Hawaii ball, first and 10 at Tulane 49
» The Play: QB David Graves looks like he’s about to be sacked, but escapes, rolls to his left and completes a pass to SR Miah Ostrowski 18 yards downfield.
» Impact: The play, which features Graves’ escapability and athleticism, gives Hawaii a first down. Three plays later, the game-opening drive is capped with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Graves to freshman WR Trevor Davis.
» Tulane defensive back Shakiel Smith: “(Graves) was a slippery guy and got away from us at times, but we made some big plays and had a chance near the end.”
2. Five wide
» Situation: Hawaii 14, Tulane 14, 7:45 remaining, second quarter, Hawaii ball, fourth and 4 at Tulane 19
» The Play: SR Corey Paclebar catches a 5-yard pass from Graves, giving Hawaii a first down.
» Impact: Three plays later, Hawaii scores on a 1-yard run by RB Joey Iosefa, giving it the lead it would keep. Paclebar’s catch came out of an empty backfield formation in which he was the fifth receiver.
» Graves: “It gave us a different look, it worked out well. I had a little less time, but we found some things that worked.”
3. Blocked
» Situation: Hawaii 21, Tulane 14, last play, second quarter, Tulane ball, fourth and 10 at Hawaii 23
» The Play: John Hardy-Tuliau blocks a 40-yard field-goal attempt by Cairo Santos.
» Impact: Hardy-Tuliau’s block is his fourth of the season and prevents Tulane from going into halftime with momentum. Santos also missed a 39-yard try earlier in the second quarter.
» Hardy-Tuliau: “Aaron Brown and Tank Hopkins crashed really hard, made me free off the edge, and I got my left hand on it.”
4. Coming back
» Situation: Hawaii 28, Tulane 14, 0:52 remaining, third quarter, Hawaii ball, first and 10 at Hawaii 2
» The Play: Iosefa fumbles in the Hawaii end zone and lineman Brett Leonard falls on the ball. Tulane scores a safety.
» Impact: Hawaii’s ensuing free kick goes out of bounds. Tulane gets the ball at midfield and steadily drives for a touchdown, making its deficit just five points with 11:42 left in the game.
» Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin: “We let them back into the ballgame. They got pretty competitive. They thought they had a chance to win.”
5. Clincher
» Situation: Hawaii 28, Tulane 23, 7:03 remaining, fourth quarter, Hawaii ball, fourth and goal at Tulane 1
» The Play: QB Shane Austin rolls left, draws defenders and tosses to Iosefa, who heads into the end zone untouched.
» Impact: Coupled with Tulane’s three and out on the following series, the touchdown drive sealed Hawaii’s first win after three losses, setting up a chance for bowl qualification in Saturday’s game against Brigham Young.
» Austin: “Some of the games we lost came down to an inch. We weren’t going to let this game come down to an inch. We were going to be in control of our own destiny.