One of the ways that Nick Rolovich the quarterback first made his name at the University of Hawaii was by pulling out victories in the close games.
For all the records he set in that 2001 season-ending 72-45 demolition of Brigham Young, what made his 9-3 senior year was a seemingly uncanny ability to find ways to help deliver victory in the tight games.
Whether it was knifing through the pile to recover a teammate’s fumble at Southern Methodist to spark a 21-point comeback and 38-31 overtime victory, or out-slinging David Carr and Fresno State, 38-34, and Ben Roethlisberger and Miami of Ohio, 52-51, there was a knack for finding the avenues, someway, somehow, to snatch victory.
As Saturday’s 38-35 season-opening triumph at the University of Massachusetts underlined, Rolovich’s early head coaching tenure has shown an ability to affect similar outcomes.
Fifteen games into his head coaching stay, half of his eight victories (against seven losses) have been accomplished by seven points or fewer. Overall he is 4-2 in games decided by seven points or fewer.
That’s a noteworthy accomplishment not only for being a young head coach but also for so quickly changing attitudes and uplift performance in a program where his predecessor was 3-8 in similar situations.
June Jones didn’t seem to have all that many close games in his nine-year reign but had the best record in tight games of any UH coach in the Division I era, going a remarkable 22-10 in those decided by seven points or fewer.
You can, of course, suggest that some of UH’s recent victories in Rolovich’s tenure need not have been as tight of shaves as they turned out to be. Saturday’s triumph over UMass, for example, might not have necessitated a comeback from a 14-point second-half deficit or required a winning touchdown with 48 seconds remaining had the ‘Bows not slowed themselves with an early propensity for penalties.
Last year’s penalty struggles, a season in which UH ranked 127th out of 128 Football Bowl Subdivision schools with an average of 8.29 penalties per game, were resumed early Saturday with nine penalties for 88 yards.
But in too many recent seasons those are the kind of setbacks that would have instantly doomed the ‘Bows to defeat. Now, for the most part, they are at least finding ways to overcome them and putting themselves in positions to triumph. And that is progress.
To be sure UH has benefited from some good fortune, most notably last year at the Air Force Academy where place-kicker Luke Strebel, who had led the nation in field-goal accuracy (13-for-13), missed what would have been a game-winning 32-yard field goal. But UH capitalized, making the plays, including a key defensive stand at the end zone, to win the game, 34-27, in double overtime.
The task is continue to win the close ones. With the exception of UH’s next game, Sept. 2 against Western Carolina, an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision team operating with fewer scholarships and coaches, the ‘Bows should expect a lot of tight games this season.
At this point, other than UCLA, Brigham Young and, perhaps San Diego State, most of the remaining contests figure to be on the order of toss-ups, that is games in which UH is either favored by or an underdog by seven points or fewer.
And therein is how the tale of this season will be determined.