UH vs UCA Review, Back to Work, Stats, Etc. (w/UPDATE)

Dave Reardon takes a look at five key plays from Hawaii's 25-20 victory over Central Arkansas in his Warrior Replay.

Stephen Tsai writes about the Warriors getting back to work.

Less than 12 hours after the game's final whistle sounded, the Warriors were stretching and then performing running drills on Cooke/Ching field's artificial surface.

"If you want to get better," quarterback Greg Alexander said, "you can't rest. You have to keep working hard."

Tsai has injury updates on Elliott Purcell, Vaughn Meatoga and Jeramy Bryant along with some other notes.

Jason Kaneshiro writes about yesterday's workout, has injury news about Aaron Brown, and notes this interesting statistic.

After one game, UH is 12 yards shy of its punt-return yardage total of last season. Ryan Henry had 50 yards in five returns on Friday. UH had 62 yards all of last season.

That is pretty amazing.

In other interesting stats news, Ferd Lewis writes about Greg Alexander's rushing totals from the game.

You have to appreciate that University of Hawai'i quarterback Greg Alexander isn't afraid to tuck the ball under his arm, lower his shoulder pads and run. And not just for the nearest soft landing spot, either.

We admire what — and who — he's willing to take on to get a first down, especially since some of his predecessors in the position considered such action beyond their job description.

But, really, 16 carries by a UH quarterback?

And Dave Reardon has a column about pre-game handshakes, the haka, and sportsmanship.

UPDATE: David Simon of The Garden Island has a great column about UH's victory.

Though there was immediate concern about Hawai‘i’s lackluster performance to a team that has never, ever, ever beaten a Division 1-A opponent in school history, in a few weeks time, if the Warriors continue to improve, those memories will sail away with the trades.

Coaches have spoken about how the greatest improvement their teams typically make over the course of a season is from Week 1 to Week 2. It would not shock me at all to see that type of progress when UH visits Washington State on Saturday.

What they did Friday night, other than make sports bars across the islands far more cash on beverage sales than they had anticipated, was show that when the moment called for it, they could rise to the challenge. It’s an offense that has a flare for the dramatic and players who will not shy away from the spotlight.

And the Log Cabin Democrat has three articles about the game:

Coach laments lost chance to pull off major upset

“We were being physical and punishing them,” Conque said. “Then, we got the look we wanted from their defense. We had the right play called. We had their defense on its heels. If we make a first down, I think we win.”

“They (the Warriors) were sucking wind,” Grimes said.

Ooooo.

UCA players have mixed feelings about Hawaii defeat

McCollum's Column: There was respect all over the place at Aloha Stadium