Hawaii’s defense steps up as offense struggles against Portland State

More gritty than pretty, the Hawaii football team cobbled Saturday night’s 23-3 victory over Portland State at the Ching Complex.

Understudy quarterback Luke Weaver threw two scoring passes to running back Cam Barfield, Kansei Matsuzawa converted three field goals and the Rainbow Warriors’ defense added to the Vikings’ season-long misery.

Before a homecoming crowd of 10,529, the Warriors were able to put to rest their past. Twenty-five years ago, the then-Division I-A Vikings upset the Warriors 45-20 at Aloha Stadium. Since then, the Warriors have won 24 in a row against FCS opponents.

For the second week in a row, the Warriors were without No. 1 quarterback Micah Alejado, who is recovering from an injured right foot. Starting center Ethan Spencer is in concussion protocol and did not play.

Weaver, who was a junior college All-American at Modesto College last year, completed 26 of 42 passes for 240 yards. And Matsuzawa remained perfect on 11 field-goal attempts this season, converting from 44, 47 and, with 58 seconds left, 35 yards. Matsuzawa accounted for all the UH points in the second half.

“My distance is getting longer each game,” said Matsuzawa, whose 47-yarder was the longest of his three-season UH career. “I’m getting the trust of my coaches and teammates. Hopefully, I can get longer (attempts).”

He also credited his sports psychologist, who helped “create a good routine on the field and off the field.”

But the Warriors were hurt by 13 penalties for 138 yards, including two infractions that negated wideout Brandon White touchdowns. Lining up as a running back, White took a handoff and raced 29 yards for an apparent touchdown in the fourth quarter. But an illegal block wiped out the gain.

And then the speedy White — 10.3 seconds over 100 meters; 4.3 seconds over 40 yards — collaborated with Weaver on a 53-yard pass. But that play also was nullified because of a penalty.

But the Warriors, attacking out of a 3-2-6 dime defense, were able to make timely plays against the offensivelly challenged Vikings. The Vikings were held without a touchdown for the third time in four games. They have been outscored 184-20 this sesason. After gaining 83 yards in their first two series, the Vikings were held to 147 yards in their final 10 possessions.

“We played all right,” UH defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman said. “We didn’t play 100% but we were all right.”

It has been a dismal start to the season for the Vikings. They did not score their first touchdown until the third game, a span of 118 plays. They averaged 6.7 points per game and 3.5y ards per play. And the trend continued in the first half on Saturday night.

John-Keawe Sagapolutele, who transferred from UH to PSU in January, led the Vikings to the 25 in the first quarter. But on the 10th play of the drive, Sagapolutele tried to throw to the left flat. UH nickelback Elijah Palmer jumped the route to make a leaping interception. It was Palmer’s first pick of the season.

“It was a fundamental play,” Palmer said. “I trusted my job. It was making a play when the time came.”

The Vikings also failed on two fourth-and-short plays in the first half. On fourth-and-goal from the UH 3, Delon Thompson’s rush to the left side was stopped for no gain by linebacker Jalen Smith.

With 1:18 remaining in the second quarter, Thompson again was stopped a yard short of the first-down marker on another fourth-down rush.

Mathias Uribe was not summoned for any first-half attempt despite the Vikings being in his field-goal range. Uribe entered 0-for-3 in treys this season, including a blocked kick.

Weaver and running back Cam Barfield collaborated for the Warriors’ two second-quarter touchdowns. On the first, Weaver threw to Barfield in the left flat. Barfield sprinted along the left sideline and dived toward the end zone.

The official initially ruled he was short of the goal line. But upon review, it was ruled the football touched the pylon for the touchdown. “God willing,” Barfield said of the stretch. “I just wanted that one really bad.”

With 9:39 left in the half, Barfield caught a screen from Weaver, then completed the dash for a 31-yard touchdown to extend the Warriors’ lead to 14-0.

“Everything aligned,” Barfield said. “Everybody on the line, they blocked it up very well for the screen. That’s what happens when all 11 give good effort. We can make plays like that.”