UNLV Review, Award Winners, Defense, Tulsa

Dave Reardon reviews five big plays from UH's 59-21 victory over UNLV.

HawaiiAthletics.com has a rundown of last night's Na Koa Football Banquet award winners. Here's the list:

Captain’s Award: Greg Salas and Vaughn Meatoga
Warrior Club: Alex Green and Jeramy Bryant
Scout Team Award: Daryl McBride
Scholar-Athlete Award: Mana Silva
Most Improved Player Award: Kealoha Pilares
Most Unselfish Warrior Award: Bronson Tiwanak
Most Outstanding Offensive Player: Greg Salas
Most Outstanding Defensive Player: Kaniela Tuipulotu
Most Outstanding Special Teams Player: Luke Ingram
Ben Yee Most Inspirational Award: Corey Paredes
Alec Waterhouse Most Valuable Player Award: Bryant Moniz

Stephen Tsai has a recap as well.

Dave Reardon writes that the Warriors' aggressive, turnover-causing defense played a huge role in this year's success.

The Warriors lead the nation with 23 interceptions. That's interceptions by their defense, not the pass-happy offense.

"The really incredible thing is we had no interceptions the first three games," defensive backs coach Rich Miano said. "We went from last in the nation to first in the nation."

UH is No. 1 nationally among 120 Division I teams with 36 turnovers gained and No. 2 in turnover margin.

Ferd Lewis writes UH's focus on winning the Hawaii Bowl.

"We're not going there to party," offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich proclaimed resolutely minutes after the Warriors closed out the regular season with a 59-21 blowout of Nevada-Las Vegas on Saturday night.

"Our goal each season used to be to get to a bowl, but after that Notre Dame loss, we've changed it to win the game," said slot receiver Kealoha Pilares. "This one is really important."

Or, as associate head coach Rich Miano puts it, "the last few times we've been on national TV, we haven't played up to our potential. So, winning the bowl game is our only goal right now."

Over on SportsHawaii.com, SportsBow has a post comparing the stats of UH and Tulsa.

And TulsaHurricane.com has a press release about Tulsa going to the Hawaii Bowl. WARNING: Really loud auto-starting video on that page.

"We're very excited about the opportunity to go to the Sheraton Hawai'I Bowl and play a quality opponent in a 9-3 Hawai'i team. Hawai'i is ranked in the top-25 nationally, and for us getting the opportunity to win a Bowl game like this against a top-25 team would be awesome for our program."

"Hawai'i is a very tough team. They have a tremendous program and some great players. Hawai'i does a great job and have had some big time wins. The location is a very special destination for us and naturally playing such a great team in Hawai'i and having an opportunity to compete for a big win is huge for our program."