Owens says referee dropped ball
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
BOISE, Idaho — Arguing they cannot catch a break, the members of the Hawai'i football team insist a controversial incompletion could have altered yesterday's 58-31 loss to Boise State.
Associated Press
Down 21-3 in the first quarter, the Warriors drove to the Bronco 15, where they faced a fourth-and-3 situation. UH coach June Jones decided to go for it, and quarterback Tim Chang threw 10 yards to Chad Owens, who appeared to secure the football before tumbling to the turf.
University of Hawai'i running back Michael Brewster rips through Boise State's defense for a 29-yard run in the first period. Closing in are Wes Nurse, left, and Quintin Mikell.
But the officials ruled it was an incompletion, although television replays indicated otherwise.
"Of course, I caught it," Owens said. "I caught it and the ref made the wrong call. That would have given us a first down, and we probably would have scored on that drive. We would have been right there. Who knows what would have happened."
The Warriors did score on their next possession.
Jones had protested vehemently that Owens should have been given a first down. When asked about the play after the game, Jones said, "I thought Chad caught the ball."
In tracing the game's events, Chang said, "We left too many points off the board. ... We had fourth-and-something, and Chad's out pattern doesn't get us the first down. I really thought he caught it."
But Chang accepted part of the blame, saying, "I should have put (the pass) in his chest so there would be no discrepancy. We don't want to leave the decision to the refs."
Owens said: "The ref made the call, and there's nothing you can do about it. This isn't the NFL. You can't challenge it. I caught it. Everyone who saw the replay said the ref made a bad call. It was just one of those games."
In the third quarter, with UH down 38-10, slotback Britton Komine hauled in a 14-yard pass from Chang and fell to the turf. The ball popped free, and BSU safety Wes Nurse recovered. The Broncos then drove for a touchdown.
Komine said he should have been ruled down on the play.
"I mean, I have to do a better job of securing it so there's no question, but I thought I was down, actually," he said. "We were getting bad calls all game. Chad Owens caught ball, and it was ruled he didn't catch it. But he had it. Whatever. That's the way it goes."
But UH defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said the deciding factor was "they made the big plays and we didn't."
UH linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa said: "The game is about execution, and we didn't execute."
