Posted on: Friday, December 26, 2003

Good time for Chang to return

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

On third down with 28 yards to go for a first down in the fourth quarter, quarterback Tim Chang reached back and summoned a 28-yard pass.

Then, on the next play, with defenders pouring in around him, Chang improvised a two-handed shovel pass as if pulling the play out of his back pocket.

And, on this night, he might well have. "Timmy was like a magician out there," marveled running back Michael Brewster, who took the shovel pass for 30 yards.

But for all the sleight of hand and every touch of the extraordinary he showcased in guiding the University of Hawai'i to a 54-48 triple-overtime victory over Houston in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl last night, the real magic was resurrecting himself as the Tim Chang of old.

The Chang who confidently stepped in for an injured Jason Whieldon with UH down 10-3 in the second quarter and immediately hit Clifton Herbert with a 48-yard touchdown pass was the one we've been waiting two months to see.

The Chang who took UH to 17 unanswered points to make a game of this was the one who had been deemed missing in action somewhere along the Western Athletic Conference schedule.

The Chang who completed 26 of 42 passes — 6 of 8 in the three overtimes — for five touchdowns and 475 yards in the prime time of the postseason was one we haven't seen since the stirring 44-41 comeback victory at Louisiana Tech Oct. 18.

While there have been brief flashes of brilliance, there had been nothing to remind us of the hopes that had been behind the "TC for Heisman" DVD. There had been little in his struggles against Alabama, Nevada and San Jose State to warrant the line of bobble-head dolls.

But last night, when Chang needed it most and, more important, when his team needed him, he stepped forward to be everything the faithful in an Aloha Stadium crowd of 25,551 could have hoped for and come to wonder when they might see.

Undeterred by an interception and unflinching in the face of a rush that dropped him five times, this was Chang at his best. Better than at Fresno State a year ago, when he seemed to come of age as a quarterback. Better than at Louisiana Tech this season when he overcame his struggles to rally the Warriors.

You could see that he had become Houston's worst nightmare, the Chang they had glimpsed on some early video but had seen little sign of in recent tapes.

For seven years now we have watched Chang grow before our eyes. First at Saint Louis School and then at UH, his successes and failures have been on a statewide stage.

But never had his struggles reached such depths as those of these last two months when he was booed out of the Alabama game that he never really seemed to have been in. Games where either his mechanics or mind — or both — were all wrong.

Things got so bad a radio show had dedicated a whole program to "Help Timmy Night," during which callers were invited to offer suggestions to turn him around.

But as inventive as some of them were, all he really needed was to look inside himself. Maybe the time on the bench, watching Whieldon in action, was what it took to reignite the competitive fires and clear the vision.

"You can't play for five years some place like Tim is going to without going through some ups and downs," said UH quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison. "There are going to be trying times. Knowing Timmy, he was going to eventually find his way out of it. It was just a matter of when."

Last night, as Whieldon lay crumpled on the field with a shoulder sprain, time was up.

Said Morrison: "He came back to being the Timmy we all knew."

Not a moment too soon, either.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.