Hawaii's Kicker Is Money

Hawaii's undefeated dream stays alive as the Warriors just beat back pesky Nevada in the weeeeeeeeeee hours of the morning here out East.

Nevada held a 26-25 fourth quarter lead, but Hawaii rallied on its final possession, lining up for a 45-yard field goal with about 30 seconds left. Nevada then let the clock tick down before calling one of those much-criticized last-moment timeouts just as Hawaii lined up for the kick. Not that it counted, but the kicker nailed it much as he had when he hit the game-tying field goal on the road against Louisiana Tech.

That no worries Island spirit took over on the next try as he absolutely drilled his effort. The kick soared into the sky and smoked right through the middle of the goalposts to give the Warriors a 28-26 victory.

Equally impressive, Hawaii played nearly the entire game without injured quarterback Colt Brennan. Backup Tyler Graunke who has experience aplenty was efficient and reliable as Nevada kept the scoring down with keepaway, time-consuming football.

An upset would be a sexy story, but kickers who actually do their job in pressure situations deserve some attention when you don't get the upset. Sooooo, say hello to 10-0 Hawaii while I say hello to a few hours of sleep before I get up and do this again for 16+ hours starting later this morning.