The party started with a crash.
On a homecoming Saturday night meant to honor the 2007 University of Hawaii football team, the current Rainbow Warriors fell two touchdowns behind an FCS school from the middle of Pittsburgh.
Fret over the threat?
“We were not worried,” UH offensive coordinator Brian Smith said. “We have confidence we can move the ball and score and the defense would be able to get stops. There was a lot of time left not to be concerned.”
In a tempered resurrection, Cole McDonald threw for 273 yards — 240 coming after the Rainbow Warriors’ first two possessions — and five touchdowns to fuel a 42-21 victory over Duquesne at Aloha Stadium.
The Warriors won for the fourth time in five games, their best start since the 2007 team’s 12-0 regular season.
“That’s what we expected,” McDonald said of the 35-point surge from a 14-0 deficit. “It’s nothing new. It’s the mentality you have. I feel we’re 0-0 every week. We’ve got something to prove. When we lose, that’s when all the haters and doubters start to come in. It’s good when you win, but it’s just a win. You have to continue on to the next one.”
Eight Warriors had receptions, with four producing touchdown catches. John Ursua caught scoring passes of 25 and 6 yards, and set up Cedric Byrd’s 2-yard TD catch.
On first-and-goal from the 2, Ursua motioned from the slot and stopped behind center Taaga Tuulima. It mirrored a similar play from a week ago, when Ursua took the snap and sneaked into the end zone. This time, Tuulima’s shotgun snap went to McDonald, who threw to Byrd on an out pattern in the end zone to break a 14-all tie with 5:20 remaining in the first half.
“It’s always fun scoring a touchdown,” Byrd said.
Running back Dayton Furuta also provided a clock-siphoning 114 rushing yards on 12 carries. He added 19 yards on a shovel pass from McDonald.
Furuta was recruited to UH as a linebacker and special-teams player. Last year, he was a double slash tight end-fullback-H back. This spring, he moved to running back. At 5 feet 11 and 250 pounds — with a background in judo and wrestling, and a mother who was an MMA pioneer — Furuta possessed the same hard-knocking qualities of past UH power backs.
“My O-line was hungry,” Furuta said. “My O-line was pushing for me. The holes were there.”
Asked about his appetite for destruction, Furtuta said, “I was hungry.”
McDonald said Furuta was “a truck. The run game really stepped up. … Furuta can out-truck somebody. Freddie (Holly) can out-run somebody. Miles (Reed) can make plays. It’s crazy.”
Elijah Dale also had the most YouTube-worthy run, a 27-yarder in which he leaped over a defender.
“The guy looked like he was going to cut me,” said Dale, who made a two-point landing. “I just jumped over him. Coach Tommy (Heffernan) did a good job of preparing us with the start jump. I think I had a little bit of help from our strength and conditioning coach.”
Against a run-and-shoot offense, two popular strategies are increase the pass rush and clutter the passing lanes with extra cover defenders. The Dukes chose the latter, often attacking with a three-man line.
“They did some things that made it hard for (McDonald) to throw the ball,” Smith said. “We have to do a better job of taking what they give us. We ran the ball pretty well, and made us more balanced. That’s something we can continue to do in the future.”
The Warriors had 40 pass attempts and 35 called rushes. (There were two sacks that were credited as runs.) McDonald gained 63 yards on 10 scrambles and keepers.
Duquesne is an FCS team that spreads 45 scholarships among its roster. The Dukes are a member of the Northeast Conference, whose members have never defeated an FBS opponent. UH entered having won 15 in a row against FCS teams. Its last loss was in the 2000 opener, when head coach Nick Rolovich was the Warriors’ starting quarterback.
The Warriors had scored on the opening drive of their first four games. But Saturday’s initial UH drive ended when Jonathant Istache intercepted a McDonald pass intended for JoJo Ward in the right corner of the end zone. It was the first time McDonald was intercepted in his two-season UH career, a span of 155 passes.
The Warriors’ next drive ended when safety Leandro DeBrito stripped the ball free from Byrd. That led to Daniel Parr’s 6-yard scoring pass to Nehari Crawford for a 7-0 Duquesne lead.
The Dukes then got the ball back when they recovered the ensuing kickoff that was not fielded by the Warriors. The Dukes parlayed that UH mistake into anther touchdown.
“That’s football,” Rolovich said. “Did we expect to turn it over early? No, not a couple times. We struggled on special teams.”
But then the Warriors settled down with a balance of controlled passing and runs against a thin defensive front.
The Warriors also were able to hold Parr, a transfer from Florida Atlantic, to 13-of-24 passing for 113 yards.
“I know probably not a lot of people have heard of this team,” Rolovich said. “But if they watched them play, they saw some ability. And they’ve got some players on that football team, and the coach knows what he’s doing.”
