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Hawaii defensive back Trayvon Henderson returned an interception for a touchdown in the win over Middle Tennessee.
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In the third quarter of the Hawaii Bowl, Hawaii ran one of the stranger fake punt plays you will ever see. It ended up helping the Rainbow Warriors defeat Middle Tennessee 52-35 at Aloha Stadium — the program’s first bowl win since 2006.
Leading Middle Tennessee 38-28, the Rainbow Warriors were facing a fourth-and-three play near midfield. Hawaii lined up to punt but curiously positioned another player — receiver Makoa Camanse-Stevens — about seven yards or so behind the punter.
The longsnapper airmailed the snap over punter Rigoberto Sanchez’s head right to Camanse-Stevens. Camanse-Stevens then rolled right and threw it downfield to Ammon Barker for a 21-yard gain and a first down.
First of all, that snap from Noah Borden went at least 20 yards in the air and was right on target. Camanse-Stevens then was able to evade pressure from a MTSU defender and deliver a strike to Barker. Here’s another look:
Six plays after the successful fake, Hawaii added onto its lead with a 12-yard Dru Brown touchdown pass to tight end Metuisela ‘Unga, his second of the game, to increase the lead to 45-28 with 1:15 left in the third.
A lead of that magnitude looked unlikely for Hawaii 40 minutes of game-time beforehand. MTSU racked up 140 yards and two touchdowns on its first six offensive snaps. Hawaii then turned it over on downs on its third offensive possession. MTSU looked primed to tack on another score, but after looking clueless in the game’s first five minutes, the Rainbow Warriors defense started making plays.
First, Ikem Okeke registered a strip sack of MTSU quarterback Brent Stockstill, who was back in the lineup after missing the last three games of the season with a broken collarbone. Hawaii recovered the fumble and scored two plays later via Brown’s first touchdown pass to ‘Unga.
Hawaii forced another turnover, this time a Stockstill interception, early on MTSU’s next drive. Three plays later, the score was tied 14-14 when Steven Lakalaka scored from a yard out. MTSU punted on its next possession, allowing Hawaii to take a 21-14 lead on a Brown touchdown run. That lead then grew to 28-14 when Trayvon Henderson returned another Stockstill interception 68 yards for a touchdown on MTSU’s next drive.
By the time halftime rolled around, the Rainbow Warriors had a 35-21 lead.
The teams traded scores — a field goal for Hawaii and a touchdown for MTSU — to start the second half. That put the score at 38-28 when first-year Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich rolled the dice with the fake punt. Instead of punting the ball back to MTSU and its high-powered offense with a chance to cut the lead to one possession, the Rainbow Warriors executed on that gutsy fake and ended up increasing the lead to 45-28 with 1:15 left in the third.
Middle Tennessee would score on its next possession, but the Blue Raiders’ defense just could not come up with a stop to get the ball back in the hands of the offense. Hawaii’s offense has been inconsistent all year. In fact, the Rainbow Warriors scored a combined 29 points in their first three games in the month of November before clinching bowl eligibility in a 46-40 regular season finale win over UMass.
In this one, Hawaii put up 502 yards of offense, including 170 yards from running back Diocemy Saint Juste. Behind Brown and Saint Juste, Hawaii pulled off an 11-play, 84-yard scoring drive that took 6:38 off the clock to seal the victory.
The win gives Rolovich seven wins in his first season with the program. That’s a big improvement. In the four-year tenure of previous head coach Norm Chow, the Rainbow Warriors combined for 10 wins. This season, Hawaii finished 7-7.
Middle Tennessee finished with an 8-5 record.
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