COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — At 6,621 feet above sea level, as signs proclaimed throughout Falcon Stadium, the Hawaii football team put on a breath-seizing performance.
Against a time-hogging, elite-disciplined opponent, the Rainbow Warriors relied on a resilient quarterback, defiant defense and gutsy coaching to conjure a 44-35 victory over Air Force before a crowd of 22,677.
“That’s life,” said UH coach Timmy Chang, whose Warriors rebounded from last week’s spirit-crushing 23-21 loss to Fresno State. “That’s a life lesson if it doesn’t go your way, if you lose out in one small thing. When that happens in life, be resilient, trust the process, go back to work, believe in what we’re doing, and put in the work. They did that. Unbelievable job by them.”
Overcoming last week’s uneven performance, quarterback Micah Alejado was 35-for-47 for 457 yards, the most passing yards for UH in a road game since Sean Schroeder ‘s 499 against Wyoming in 2013. Alejado threw three scoring passes. The second-year freshman steered an offense that converted 14 of 19 third-down plays and controlled the clock for 37 minutes, 24 seconds, including 12:32 in the second quarter. The Warriors’ school-record, 24-play drive devoured 12:14 in the first half.
“Anytime you play Air Force,” said Chang, noting the Falcons entered third nationally in time of possession, “they’re either going to eat up the clock or you’re going to eat up the clock. You have to make a decision on your drives and how you’re going to be.”
The Warriors also withstood the Falcons’ suddenly rat-a-tat offense. Two of the Falcons’ three fourth-quarter touchdown drives took under a minute, including a two-play possession capped by Liam Szarka’s 34-yard scoring pass to cut the deficit to 41-35 with 4:30 remaining.
As the Warriors drove on the ensuing possession, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun called timeouts after each UH play, spending his third — and last — after Landon Sims ran 15 yards to the 1 with 2:27 remaining.
“When I saw Troy taking three timeouts, I knew it was all about the clock,” Chang said. “He used his three timeouts. It made my decision easier.”
Instead of trying to punch in a touchdown, Chang ordered Alejado to take a knee on first down. And another on second down. And a third with 1:14 to go. The strategy was to work the clock down, then summon kicker Kansei Matsuzawa to make it a two-possession game. The risk was Matsuzawa could miss, giving the Falcons a chance to drive the other way for the go-ahead touchdown.
But Chang had confidence in Matsuzawa, who had connected on all 15 of his field-goal attempts, including two earlier in the game.
“The field-goal unit has been money,” Chang said. “It’s not just Kansei. It’s the whole field-goal operations. We trust the whole operations of snapping to holding to blocking for Kansei.”
As special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield sent out the field-goal unit, he told Matsuzawa, “Ganbare.”
“It’s Japanese for ‘you got it,’” Sheffield said.
Matsuzawa’s 31-yard field goal extended the Warriors’ lead to an insurmountable 44-35 with 34 seconds left. Matsuzawa set the Mountain West record with his 16th consecutive field goal to start a season. “All week I taught (Sheffield) a word, ganbare,” Matsuzawa said. “It means ‘you got it.’ I got it.”
Ganbare also was applicable for the Warriors, who withstood the Falcons’ new aerial attack. During most of Calhoun’s 19 seasons as head coach, the Falcons relied on a run-heavy, triple-option offense. But the past two years, they have added a check-down tight end and up to two receivers to break loose when defenses choked the tackle box.
Szarka, in his first start, induced the Warriors to bring up the back end of their defense when he bolted for 64 yards off a counter on the Falcons’ first play. Szarka would draw in defenders, then loft passes to open receivers. He was 10-for-12 (83.3%) for 278 yards and three touchdowns. “He’s sneaky,” UH defensive tackle Luther McCoy said of Szarka. “I didn’t think he was fast, but he has a little burst.”
The Warriors adjusted their defense, opening with a five-man front and cluttering the inside running lanes with a rotation of defensive tackles. Their best D-tackle, De’Jon Benton was not available because of an ankle injury. McCoy and fellow D-tackles Carsen Stocklinski, Jamar Sedona and Qwyn Williams played to exhaustion, After the game, McCoy crumbled because of leg cramps and needed an IV treatment.
McCoy and defensive end Lester Lagafuaina stopped Szarka short on a fourth-and-4 run keeper with 1:03 left in the first quarter.
With Air Force down 24-14 in the third quarter, McCoy tipped a Szarka pass toward safety Matagi Thompson.
“See ball, get ball,” Thompson recalled thinking. “When the ball’s in the air, my mentality is it’s mine.”
Thompson’s interception set up Cam Barfield’s 27-yard touchdown dash to increase the Warriors’ lead to 31-14. But the Falcons quickly responded, with Szarka and Cade Harris collaborating on a 73-yard touchdown pass.
The teams traded scoring after that. It was 34-28 when Alejado lofted a deep pass to Brandon White that cornerback Jordan Elie-Stuart tipped away.
Chang and offensive coordinator Anthony Arceneaux had run that go pattern several times during this week’s practices.