Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors | Football | November 30, 1991

#BRADDAHHOOD #HawaiiFB

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The sun set in the West, the weather was muggy and Notre Dame beat Hawaii, 48-42, last night at Aloha Stadium.

But it was hardly another day in paradise.

A frenetic crowd of 48,714, the third-largest in UH history, saw the Rainbows fall one possession and a heartbeat short of pulling off an upset for the ages.

Notre Dame, ranked No. 18 in the latest Associated Press poll, will go to the Sugar Bow with a 9-3 record.

The Rainbows ended their season at 4-7-1.

"If we had won, " said UH quarterback Michael Carter, bruised and battered. "It would have been one of those things we'd remember for a long time."

Instead, it turned into a game the tradition-rich Fighting Irish would like to forget.

Behind Ivin Jasper, who replaced Carter in the final two series and Carter was shaken up on a touchdown run, the Rainbows scored two touchdowns and closed to 48-42 with 1:38 left.

Then Jason Elam bounced the ensuing on-side kick near midfield. Players from both teams collapsed into a heap, but it was Notre Dam that pulled the ball -- out of the pile.

"I feel we could have been... been more intense," Irish running back Tony Brooks said. "We gave up some big plays. But what do they say? A win is a win."

Said UH coach Bob Wagner: "Tonight, we had a chance to pull it out. We just dug ourselves too big a hole. I told the guys to be very proud of their effort. At the same time, we played to win and we don't take any consolation in coming close."

The Irish also did not feel like celebrating. UH's total was the most points relinquished by a Notre Dame team in a winning efford since the Irish began playing 103 years ago.

"Hey, we scored 50 points on offense," said Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer, who passed for 218 yards. "That's all I can do."

Both defenses were in the Thanksgiving spirit. The Rainbows amassed 473 yards in offense; the Irish gained 499.

The Rainbows stopped Notre Dame's inside runs early. But when the Irish went to the speed game on perimeter runs, options and hitch patterns, the Rainbows collaped like a house of cards.

Brooks and Jerome Bettis each rushed for two touchdowns. Rodney Culver, who also scored, gained 118 yards on 13 carries.

For balance, wideout Tony Smith sliced apart the UH secondary, grabbing nine passes for 140 yards and wearing out a succession of cornerbacks.

When the Rainbows adjusted to one area, the Irish would attack another. That prompted UH defensive coordinator Rich Ellerson to say it became a matter of "robbing Peter to pay Paul."

The Rainbows also saw hope ebb and flow throughout the game. Carter, playing with a cracked rib, ran 11 yards for a touchdown the hard way. At the 1, Willie Clark hit Carter smack on the jersey number, but Carter managed to lunge forward for the touchdown that closed UH to 42-26 with 9:15 to play. But Carter was helped off the field for the second time in the game, this time never to return.

Jasper entered and ran in the two-point conversion.

But the Irish quickly answered, marching 47 yards on 10 plays and scoring on Bettis' 2-yard run to extend their lead to a seemingly comfortable 48-28 with 5:15 left.

But the Rainbows did not fold. And Jasper, whose first two passes in the first half were intercepted, prepared for his second chance.

"I said, 'This is crunce time,'" Jasper said. "I can't complain about not playing and then not do the job. I went in confident."

Jasper finding magic out of nothing at all, scrambled through a 31-yard obstacle course for a touchdown to pull the Rainbows to 48-35 with 3:42 to play.

On the ensuing on-side kick, Elam placed the ball that eventually found its way to teammate Dean Nakagawa at the UH 49.

Behind Jasper's precision passing, the Rainbows moved to the 7. From there, Jasper rolled left and found a wideopen Eddie Kealoha in the end zone. Elam's kick made it 48-42 with 1:38 to play, but the luck would roun out on the Rainbows on the ensuing on-side kick attempt.

"Hey, you saw it," Jasper told a reporter. "We can play with anybody."

Said Carter: "We had confidence that we could move the ball on them. We played right with them... They're just another defense."

But the Irish's offense was on another lever. UH stopped Notre Dame's first two series of the game, but also turned the ball over on its first three possessions.

The Irish led 21-0, 28-7 and with 5:48 left in the 3rd quarter, 35-17.

But Elam, a junior who may or may not leave UH in the near future to pursuse a pro career, kicked his second filed goal of the game, this time from 42 yards, to cut the deficit to 35-20.

Clint Johnson then fieled the enusing kickoff at his 7, found a seam in the blocking wedger and ran 93 yards for the touchdown.

"The kicker was the only one left in my way," Johnson said. "I was thinking, "I can't let a kicker get me. I put a move on him and got past him. I took it to the house."

It was, ironically, UH's season in a glance: a last ditch effort that just fell short.