UH vs UCA Wrap-Ups

Scott from SportsHawaii.com took lots of photos when he was on the sidelines during last night's game. Check em out in the SportsHawaii.com photo gallery.

Here's Stephen Tsai's wrap-up of the UH's 25-20 nail-biter victory over Central Arkansas.

Of the winning scoring drive, Alexander recalled thinking: "We'd better (bleepin') complete this, otherwise ... I don't even want to know."

"Hey," center John Estes mused, "we wanted to make it close so the fans would want to come back."

Here's Jason Kaneshiro's wrap-up.

"The whole first half I guess I had my head up my (butt)," said Alexander, who fumbled twice and threw an interception before halftime. "We've got a ways to go and we'll learn from it and we were lucky to get out of here with a 'W.' "

Love GA's quotes. We need uncensored press conference video!

Brian McInnis highlights the performances of the Gregs.

A mobile Alexander tossed a short pass to Salas near the left sideline at midfield, and the 6-foot-2 junior saw open field ahead. He caught a couple of key blocks by teammates, then crossed up the defense at the Bears' 30 when he switched hands and ran to the opposite sideline. He was finally pushed out at the UCA 8, which set up Alexander's strike to Rodney Bradley for the final go-ahead score.

"It was tiring," Salas said with a smile as he walked off the field. "It was a play I was supposed to come across the middle, but I saw Greg get (flushed) out of the pocket, so I broke my route off and went outside while he was scrambling. He hit me and it's history now. That's what happened."

Salas finished with seven catches for 180 yards and a first-half touchdown, and another pair of huge grabs by the junior slotback set up the Warriors' other two TDs.

Stacy Kaneshiro highlights the play of Salas and Kealoha Pilares.

Kalani Takase takes a look at how the UH defense turned it on in the second half.

"There were a lot of new guys out there and we kind of started off slow because everyone was a little nervous," senior linebacker Blaze Soares said. "But, when we came out in the second half, everyone was alive again, because we got out those butterflies and everyone knew what they had to do and we did it."

Defensive tackle Rocky Savaiigaea credited the 33,298 fans in attendance for the late assistance.

"It was crazy because once the crowd got into it, it pumped us up even more," Savaiigaea said. "(The fans) were making noise, chanting 'defense' and we felt it on the field. It was just great and we owe a lot to them."

Michael Tsai talks to some of those fans.

Takase has some news and notes and so does the Star-Bulletin.

McMackin was overjoyed about one statistic: penalties.

The Warriors were assessed a total of 5 yards on two infractions.

"And no personal fouls," McMackin said.

Last year penalties of all varieties were a big problem for UH.

Billy Hull has the Central Arkansas perspective of the game.

The Bears had a chance to run out the clock. But faced with a key third and 2, right tackle Lane Freiward jumped offside, moving them 5 yards back. Park threw an incomplete pass on the next play and the Bears were forced to punt, giving Hawaii a chance to retake the lead.

"We lost our poise," Conque said. "We got the look we wanted and we jumped offside. We get that first down, the game is inside 2 minutes and probably over."

Ferd Lewis writes that this is a victory to savor, but not one to remember.

For a game that was supposed to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of football on the Manoa campus, it instead looked for better than three quarters as if it might take its place in the school hall of shame losses alongside Florida Atlantic (2004) and Portland State (2000), two I-AA teams that came in and bit the Warriors right where it hurt in opening games.

Considering the Warriors coughed up four turnovers to the Bears' one, "We got lucky," Alexander acknowledged.

And Dave Reardon writes this victory is something to build on.

UPDATE: Here are wrap-ups from the AP and the Log Cabin Democrat.