Cue Willie Nelson.
For the fourth time in five weeks, Hawaii football coach Norm Chow says the first voice heard at Thursday’s team meeting will be that of the iconic singer-songwriter.
“We put on Willie Nelson and we sing ‘On the road again,’” Chow said. “That’s what we do to have fun.”
The problem for the Rainbow Warriors (2-5, 0-3 Mountain West) as they pack their bags for the mainland again is that the season is increasingly playing out like a sad country song.
Chow promised Hawaii would head to Reno, Nevada, for Saturday’s 10 a.m. HST kickoff in good spirits, despite losing its fourth consecutive game in heartbreaking fashion last Saturday at New Mexico.
Chow team’s are 1-21 away from home, but he called Hawaii’s morale terrific.
“Why shouldn’t it be?” Chow said. “We’re all disappointed, but not devastated. We have a lot to play for, we really do, too.
“I love these young guys. They’re resilient and play hard. They understand. We know we have to stay together, that’s the key.”
For sure, there were building blocks established even as the Lobos rallied for a last-minute, go-ahead touchdown.
The Rainbow Warriors not only scored on the road for the first time, but they led for almost 50 minutes of the 28-27 loss thanks to a resurgent ground game. Still, UH must win five of its final six to avoid a fifth consecutive nonlosing season.
“This is a long season,” senior quarterback Max Wittek said. “We have six games left to play. The next game is the biggest because it’s the next one. We’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
The offense picked up steam in New Mexico with Wittek on the sidelines nursing a lingering knee injury, but Chow said Wittek was the starter if healthy. Chow wasn’t ready to make that call Monday.
Making his first start of the season, Ikaika Woolsey passed for 195 yards and a touchdown, and Hawaii ran for a season-high 220 yards, getting 120 from Paul Davis.
Despite ranking last in the Mountain West in seven categories, offensive coordinator Don Bailey sounded confident that his unit could keep moving forward.
“It gets like groundhog day during the season,” Bailey said. “It’s a grind without a bye.
“You just have to keep pushing. The biggest thing is playing with confidence and trying to stay positive and improve. We’ve improved the last three weeks, maybe not the results in the final score, but we have improved and we have to keep doing that.”
While the Wolf Pack’s defense has been inconsistent, giving up 426 yards and nearly 28 points the game, the Rainbow Warriors are preparing for a pistol offense – quarterback in shotgun with single back behind him – invented by former Nevada coach Chris Ault.
The Wolf Pack (3-4, 1-2) rank in the top 25 in the nation averaging 207 yards rushing, and Nevada is one of only two teams in the nation with two running backs averaging more than 80 yards a game. Senior Don Jackson needs 98 yards to become the fifth player in program history to reach 2,000 for his career.
The Wolf Pack specialize in ball security, turning the ball over only five times this season.
“They haven’t run anything too much different that we haven’t seen before,” linebacker Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea said.
Former UH record-setting quarterback and offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich is in his fourth year as the O-coordinator at Nevada. Rolovich threw for 3,361 yards and 34 touchdowns for Hawaii in 2001.
“We’re ready for (the pistol),” Rainbow Warriors defensive coordinator Tom Mason said. “I know Nick really well. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s one of the outstanding young coordinators in the country right now.
“He does a great job. We’ll have a little something for Nick, too.”
