LIHU‘E — It was chippy and chirpy all evening, but Hawai‘i did the majority of its talking with its play as the Warriors dominated the UNLV Rebels (2-11) en route to a 59-21 win, Saturday night at Aloha Stadium. Combining
LIHU‘E — It was chippy and chirpy all evening, but Hawai‘i did the majority of its talking with its play as the Warriors dominated the UNLV Rebels (2-11) en route to a 59-21 win, Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.
Combining the emotion of Senior Night festivities and the chance to lock up a 10-win season, UH (10-3, 7-1 Western Athletic Conference) looked every bit the 35-point favorite it was entering the contest. The Warriors were sharp from the outset as quarterback Bryant Moniz set the tone and had six touchdowns — four passing and two rushing.
Those were the same figures that likely Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton put up for the Auburn Tigers earlier in the day.
Moniz was 29 of 43 for 380 yards, which gives him 4,629 yards on the season.
Wide receiver Kealoha Pilares led the receiving corps with 157 yards on nine receptions, including a 3-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.
Greg Salas had somewhat low totals — for his standards — as far as catches and yards with five for 94, but found the end zone twice. Salas is three grabs shy of Davone Bess’ single-season record of 108, as well as just nine yards shy of Ashley Lelie’s season mark of 1,713 receiving yards.
Running back Alex Green put up his fourth 100-yard game of the season, carrying 15 times for 136 yards. Green broke the UH single-game rushing record in last week’s victory, going off for 327 yards on 19 carries.
It is the sixth 10-win season for Hawai‘i in the history of the program and this team has a chance to reach 11 in the Sheraton Hawai‘i Bowl. It was announced earlier on Saturday that the opponent will be Tulsa (9-3, 6-2 Conference USA). That game will take place on Dec. 24 at Aloha Stadium (3 p.m. Hawaiian).
The Warriors, knowing they had at least a share of the WAC championship locked up, ended the year tied for first with Boise State and Nevada, those two winning Saturday to also move to 7-1 in conference.
UNLV’s offense was contained by the Warriors and managed just 295 total yards, less than half of the 606 for UH.
Quarterback Omar Clayton was 14 of 25 for 182 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Richard Torres, Corey Paredes and Mana Silva had the three picks for the Warrior defense, which came into the game tied for the national lead with 33 turnovers forced. Hawai‘i again won the turnover battle, forcing those three and giving up just one Moniz interception on a tipped ball.
UH has recorded at least two interceptions in 10 straight games.
Torres was the defensive star, leading the team in tackles with seven, recording a 7-yard sack of Clayton and also coming up with the interception and bringing it back 43 yards inside the UNLV 5.
Caleb Herring came in late for the Rebels and was 3 for 4 passing with a touchdown.
UH punted just twice in the contest, both times late in the first half after getting points on its first five possessions.
Hawai‘i got on the board first with a catch of the year candidate. Moniz found Royce Pollard in the end zone for a 33-yard score, the receiver going up for the ball and barely managing to keep himself in bounds as he hit the turf. The play capped a 10-play, 84-yard drive that gave the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 6:56 left in the first quarter.
UNLV evened the score on a 60-yard pass from Clayton to Michael Johnson less than two minutes later. Johnson got free after Hawai‘i defenders thought Clayton had crossed the sideline.
But UH responded quickly and Moniz extended the play long enough to score on a 4-yard scramble for a 14-7 lead with 3:28 to play in the opening quarter.
The quarterback got in again on a quarterback sneak from inside the 1-yard line, finishing off a 10-play, 71-yard drive early in the second quarter. Scott Enos finished the next drive with a 25-yard field goal and a 24-7 advantage.
Last week’s hero, running back Alex Green found paydirt just seconds later after Richard Torres picked off a Clayton pass and took it 43 yards to set up a 1st and Goal at the 1. Green was the beneficiary to give UH the 31-7 lead, which it took to the locker room at halftime.
Green’s season total stands at 1,168, the second-highest single-season rushing total in UH history.
Moniz found Salas on a 22-yard strike early in the third, then got Pilares on the board with a 3-yard score for a 45-7 lead after three quarters.
Salas added to his record-breaking career with another 54-yard score early in the fourth to continue the pounding, 52-7. He now has 4,131 receiving yards, tops on UH’s all-time receiving list.
Clayton hit Phillip Payne with a 9-yard pass for a score with just over four minutes to play. Payne had six catches for 84 yards on the day.
That score ended a drought of 10 straight drives without points for the Rebels.
UH responded as Jake Heun — a senior linebacker — got into the end zone coming out of the backfield. Heun scored on a 3-yard carry for a 59-14 lead.
UNLV’s Channing Trotter caught a score from Herring with 16 seconds to play to create the final math.
