‘Bows rout Huskies 56-21 on the road

DEKALB, Ill. — When the University of Hawaii football team wins a road game, tradition calls for the coaches and administrators to give their first-class seats to the players on the return chartered flight to Honolulu.Athletic director Matt Elliott, head coach Timmy Chang and the coaching staff were more than willing to take a back seat to the players following Saturday’s 56-21 rout of Northern Illinois at Huskie Stadium.“I’m happy to go to the back of the plane,” said Chang, whose Rainbow Warriors ended a four-game skid with their first victory since Sept. 12. At 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the Mountain West with four games to go, the Warriors remain in the hunt for a postseason bowl. (A record of .500 or better is the requirement.)The Huskies fell to 0-7 and 0-3 in their inaugural Mountain West season after moving from the Mid-American.The “outside noise” — the chirping from online critics — had grown in recent weeks. The Warriors entered averaging 15.71 points. They had trouble scoring early and in the red zone. But on Saturday, the Warriors resuscitated a dormant running game, made big pass plays, and tied a school record for most points against a Mountain West opponent in a regulation game.“The biggest thing for us was keeping it internal,” quarterback Micah Alejado said. “Everybody is going to say whatever. It’s about finding ourselves. Limit the mistakes and, you know, just playing ball. We showed what kind of ball we can play. It’s about holding up a standard. There are a lot of games to play, and we have to win out. We have to stay focused and not listen to the outside noise.”The Warriors put their trust in scouting reports and video study. It became apparent the Huskies favored a “light” box of three down linemen and two linebackers in the imaginary defensive rectangle near the line of scrimmage. The coaches had confidence that running backs Cam Barfield and DeVon Rice would break through the sheer defensive structure. An added boost came when senior center Ethan Spencer cut short his rehab from a shoulder ailment and was cleared to start.On their opening 75-yard scoring drive, the Warriors rushed seven times for 43 yards. Rice capped that drive with a 2-yard run that followed 6-foot-6, 335-pound Lipe Moana’s vicious block.“I got leverage on that play,” Moala said. “The only thing left to do was finish.”Rice completed the hat trick with touchdowns of 33 and 5 yards.“The O-line played great tonight,” Rice said. “Shoutout to Coach Winterhawk (Leighton) and Coach Bobby (Thomas). They were hard on them all week, all season. And they responded. All the running backs, not just myself, took care of business.”Co-captain Barfield scored his first touchdown of the season. It was a 1-yard reward after he gained 62 yards on a screen-and-dash to set up the tap-in play.“I wish I scored on the 62, but I was blessed to get it in there (two plays later),” Barfield said. “I needed (a touchdown) on the season, and I finally got it.”TJ Fo’ilefutu’s 6-yarder was the Warriors’ fifth rushing touchdown of the night, exceeding the previous seven-game total of five on the ground.Even the wildcat became a roadrunner. On a fourth-and-1, slotback Tama Uiliata switched spots with Alejado, took a direct snap as the wildcat quarterback, and weaved his way for a 16-yard gain.Alejado finished 22-for-32 for 323 yards and three touchdowns. With 8:55 to play, backup quarterback Bjorn Jurgensen replaced Alejado.Alejado opened the running lanes by opening up the deep-passing attack. Alejado connected with Audric Harris on a 44-yard play. When the Huskies blitzed a cornerback, tight end Frank Abreu broke toward the vacated area to secure a 13-yard scoring pass from Alejado.In the third quarter, wideout Josiah Fetui was on a dig route, in which he was supposed to appear to run a go pattern, but then sharply cut across the field.“But (the Huskies) busted the coverage,” Fetui said. “I didn’t see a safety in the middle of the field.”Fetui changed the geometry to a post route. Alejado’s spiral found Fetui wide open for the 44-yard touchdown.Abreu’s second touchdown was initially ruled incomplete as he landed near the left sideline of the end zone. But after a review, the “Kula Toe” was ruled to have landed with a left toe inbounds. He was awarded the 12-yard touchdown.“Great grab by Frank,” Alejado said. “We talked about it all week. We said if it’s one-on-one, I’m going to him. He was ready.”The Warriors also were able to contain the Huskies’ dynamic duo. Taron “Tyger” Dickens, who was an FCS All-American at Western Carolina last year, entered this weekend as the Mountain West’s leader in accuracy. In the first six games, DeAree Rogers secured 76.6% of the targeted passes from Dickens, and was third nationally in receptions (8.17 per game).Dickens threw two scoring passes to Rogers, the second tying it at 14-all. While Rogers had eight catches on 10 targets for 115 yards, Dickens was 9-for-15 for 56 yards to six other receivers. Dickens was intercepted twice, once when a pass ricocheted off Rogers’ fingertips to UH cornerback Jeremiah Hughes. It was Hughes’ third pick in two games.“This whole week we talked about getting pressure in his face and keep getting after him,” nose tackle Ozzy Pollard said of Dickens, who was 17-for-26 for 171 yards.The Huskies were held to 266 yards.“They had a really big running back (Telly Johnson) and good O-line, but it was about being more physical up front and dominating all four quarters,” Pollard said.SCORING SUMMARYQTRTeamScoring PlayDriveTimeScore1stHawaiiDeVon Rice 2 run. Sean Olvera-Harle kick.12 plays, 75 yards, 5:47 elapsed9:13UH 7, NIU 01stNIUDeAree Rogers 49 pass from Taron Dickens. JJ Schlenhardt kick.5 plays, 77 yards, 2:17 elapsed6:49UH 7, NIU 71stHawaiiFrank Abreu 13 pass from Micah Alejado. Olvera-Harle kick.6 plays, 75 yards, 3:06 elapsed3:43UH 14, NIU 72ndNIURogers 25 pass from Dickens. Schlenhardt kick.4 plays, 39 yards, 1:55 elapsed13:46UH 14, NIU 142ndHawaiiRice 33 run. Olvera-Harle kick.5 plays, 75 yards, 2:29 elapsed11:17UH 21, NIU 142ndHawaiiCam Barfield 1 run. Olvera-Harle kick.10 plays, 93 yards, 4:29 elapsed5:27UH 28, NIU 142ndHawaiiAbreu 12 pass from Alejado. Olvera-Harle kick.5 plays, 67 yards, 1:45 elapsed0:23UH 35, NIU 143rdHawaiiRice 5 run. Olvera-Harle kick.5 plays, 35 yards, 2:36 elapsed7:51UH 42, NIU 143rdHawaiiJosiah Fetui 44 pass from Alejado. Olvera-Harle kick.11 plays, 80 yards, 5:40 elapsed1:12UH 49, NIU 144thNIUElijah Porter 3 run. Schlenhardt kick.8 plays, 51 yards, 4:11 elapsed8:55UH 49, NIU 214thHawaiiTJ Fo’ilefutu 6 run. Olvera-Harle kick.5 plays, 18 yards, 3:00 elapsed3:16UH 56, NIU 21TEAM STATISTICSCategoryHawaii (UH)Northern Illinois (NIU)First downs2414Rushes-yards42-17524-95Passing329171Comp-Att-Int23-34-117-26-23rd down conv.9-151-84th down conv.1-11-1Red-Zone opp.6-61-1Return Yards1242Punts-Avg.3-45.04-46.8Fumbles-Lost0-03-3Penalties-Yards7-615-55Time of Poss.37:4422:16INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSCategoryHawaii (UH)Northern Illinois (NIU)RUSHINGDeVon Rice 12-71, Cam Barfield 16-58, TJ Fo’ilefutu 4-20, Tama Uiliata 2-17, Sitani Mikaele 4-12, Bjorn Jurgensen 1-2.Telly Johnson Jr. 14-63, Taron Dickens 5-22, Elijah Porter 5-10.PASSINGMicah Alejado 22-32-1-323, Jurgensen 1-2-0-6.Dickens 17-26-2-171.RECEIVINGBarfield 3-70, Titan Lacaden 3-33, Frank Abreu 3-31, Kainoa Carvalho 3-15, Audric Harris 2-90, Josiah Fetui 2-47, Uiliata 2-15, Devin Alves 1-9, Devon Tauaefa 1-8, Blaze Kamoku 1-6, Nick Delgadillo 1-4, Rice 1-1.DeAree Rogers 8-115, La’Don Bryant 4-30, George Dimopoulos 3-17, Cam Thompson 1-6, Elijah Porter 1-3.TACKLES(Solo-Asst.-Total)Elijah Palmer 6-2-8, Ozzy Pollard 3-3-6, Nazaiah Caravallo 2-2-4, Riis Weber 3-0-3, Julian Smith 2-1-3, Jamih Otis 1-2-3.Brady Kerperin 6-3-9, Avery Jones 5-2-7, Jack Murray 3-4-7, Liam Lindo 4-1-5, Marshall Washington Jr. 3-2-5, Andruw Ellis 2-3-5, Amari Washington 3-1-4.INTERCEPTIONSJeremiah Hughes, Kydel Stone.Yassine Falke.FORCED FUMBLESWynden Ho’ohuli, Smith.——