UTEP Miners vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors | Football | October 2, 1999

#BRADDAHHOOD #HawaiiFB

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The homecoming party turned into a blowout bash last night at Aloha Stadium.

The University of Hawaii dominated every phase in dismissing Texas-El Paso, 33-3, and further confounding the naysayers and oddsmakers.

The Rainbows, who entered as 4 ½ point underdogs, won their fourth in a row for the first time since 1992 and improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.

“We didn’t even play our best,” UH middle linebacker Jeff Ulbrich said. “If we ever do, it’ll be amazing.”

This was destruction by the numbers. First, the Rainbows nullified defensive end Brian Young, reputedly the WAC’s pass rusher. Then their defense frightened the Miners in 173 total yards, an average of three yards per play.

“They were like a bunch of sharks,” UH coach June Jones said of the defense, which has not allowed a touchdown in 10 quarters, a school record.

Said UTEP coach Charlie Bailey: “They whupped us.”

It started with an evolving UH offense that played cat-and-mouse with Young, who finished with two meaningless tackles, nine fewer than his per-game average.

The Rainbows would lure Young through the blocks, then throw screens to running back Afatia Thompson in the area that Young vacated. Thompson, used primarily as a blocker and interior runner in the first four games, caught six passes and ran a yard for his first career touchdown.

Other times, right tackle Kaulana Noa would simply tie up the 6-foot-4, 275-pound Young.

“To tell you the truth, before the game, I didn’t worry about Young because I got Kaulana Noa out there and he’s not going to let that guy touch me,” said UH quarterback Dan Robinson, who passed for 344 yards and two touchdowns. “He didn’t touch me. I’ve got an offensive line around me that’s the best around. I trust them. They know I can get the job done and they give me the time to do it.”


Noa shrugged off the matchup with Young, saying, “He’s a good player, don’t get me wrong. We were all over him… I think he’s overrated as a player. The coach pumped him up too much. I think maybe he’ll go on to be All-WAC, but to me he’s another guy.

While Thompson was able to sneak in front of the secondary, which consisted of as many as six defensive backs, the Rainbows still managed to connect on the medium-to-deep routes.

Slotback Channon Harris slipped a tackle to turn a 15-yard gain into a 48-yard scoring play that made it 20-3 in the third quarter. Later, wide receiver Dwight Carter, who finished with eight catches for 153 yards, caught a pass at the end of a post-pattern and high-stepped into the end zone to complete the 24-yard play.

That was more than enough for a plasma-hungry UH defense. The scouting reports showed that the lifeblood of the Miners’ offense is the screen play. The primary target is tight end Brian Natkin.

UH went to what it called its “saw” package, in which one defender is behind Natkin and another
“Buzzes” in front. Natkin “was their go-to guy and we wanted to cover him,” UH defensive coordinator Greg McMackin said.

Natkin was never open. UTEP did not attempt a pass in his direction the entire night.

The Rainbows also took away the screens with a blitz-and-cover scheme. Two linebackers would blitz and two others would cover the flats — a plan that had the combined effect of hurrying the quarterback and vaporizing his short yardage options.

“They had nothing for us,” Ulbrich said.

Rocky Perez and Jay Stuckey rotated as quarterback for UTEP and each was sacked twice. UTEP crossed midfield twice after the first series, with one possession abbreviated by an interception.

“There’s nothing to say,” UTEP’s Young said. “We thought we were ready to play. They came out and whipped our butts.”