Washington State Cougars vs Hawaii Warriors

November 30th, 2008 kNuke Posted in NCAA Football | No Comments »

The Hawaii Warriors defeated the Washington State Cougars 24-10 on a rainy and windy night at Aloha Stadium.  The Warriors lead from wire to wire.  This is the third straight victory for the Warriors, earning them a birth in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

Offense: Greg Alexander was 19-34 for a career best 315 yards and 2 TDs.  It never looks pretty until the game is over, but once again Alexander made enough plays to get the job done.

Greg Salas finally showed up again, posting 7 receptions for 131 yards and a TD.  Michael Washingston pitched in 81 yards on 4 receptions and a TD.  Aaron Bain was hit early, but then virtually disappeared, ending the night with 5 receptions for 71 yards.  Although the numbers look nice, at the end of the night, the WRs showed exactly what has plagued them all year; their inconsistency and inability to get open.

The offensive line played okay.  They gave up a few sacks, but for the most part, Alexander was given enough time to make throws.

Overall, the offense looked out of sync and it was extremely distressing watching them squander an opportunity from the 5 yard line.  It is encouraging to know that despite all the negatives, the offense did enough to merit a win.

Defense:  Once again the defense was solid.  Although they gave up chunks of rushing yards, they were able to stuff the run enough to force the pass.  I wouldn’t say that pass defense was excellent as much as the Washington State QBs are terrible.

Special Teams: I hope the next kicker is a little more consistent than Dan Kelly.  Maybe the expectations for the guy are too high?  Other than that, no positives or negatives.

Coaching: The players didn’t look as jacked up as I thought they would be, but maybe that was just my perspective.  The defensive coaches did well, as usual, but Ron Lee and the offensive coaches still need to work on their second half gameplan.

Final Word: The game was about as close as I expected after seeing the Cougars QBs throw the ball.  It’s been a pretty rough season, but in the end, a Hawaii Bowl birth was the expectation, and that nail was hit directly on the head.