VIDEO: UH football vs. Central Arkansas: First quarter
VIDEO: UH football vs. Central Arkansas: Second quarter
VIDEO: UH football vs. Central Arkansas: Third quarter
VIDEO: UH football vs. Central Arkansas: Fourth quarter

Led by a gritty defense and a down-but-hardly-out offense, the Warriors willed a pulsating 25-20 victory over Central Arkansas last night.

Greg Alexander, who earlier lost two fumbles and threw an interception in the end zone, threaded the go-ahead, 8-yard scoring pass to wideout Rodney Bradley with 1:22 to play.

The Warriors' defense then made a final stand, forcing a suspense-ending fumble, to prompt a collective exhale.

Of the winning scoring drive, Alexander recalled thinking: "We'd better (bleepin') complete this, otherwise ... I don't even want to know."

"Hey," center John Estes mused, "we wanted to make it close so the fans would want to come back."

A loss to Division I-AA Central Arkansas, which offers fewer scholarships and operates on a smaller budget, would have made it a difficult wait for UH supporters. The Warriors' next three games are on the road, and they will not play in Aloha Stadium for another 35 days.

"We really needed to win this one," Estes said.

The Warriors were without their defensive leader, middle linebacker Brashton Satele, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last week. Their top defensive lineman, right end Fetaiagogo "John" Fonoti, did not suit up because of a bruised left kneecap.

Adding insult to injury, the Bears managed to confound the Warriors with a deceptive blitz package and a crafty spread offense.

The Bears had multiple formations, aligning with up to five receivers, or using two tight ends, or setting up with split backs. On one play, they ran a power formation, then completed a pass to the lone receiver.

"They were hurting us in the first half," UH head coach Greg McMackin said.

Almost as much as the Warriors were hurting themselves.

Their first five possessions ended with two lost fumbles — both by Alexander — an interception and two punts.

The Warriors' only points of the opening quarter came on a safety when the long snap sailed over the head of punter Jonathan Beard. He chased down the ball at the 2, and kicked it out of the end zone.

But in the second half, the Warriors adjusted defensively, finally deciphering the riddle that was the Bears' multiple offense.

The Warriors noticed that when the Bears spread their offense with four receivers, quarterback Robbie Park would throw a screen underneath the defensive coverage. When the Bears aligned with three receivers to the same side of a formation, it usually signaled a bubble screen or inside run.

"I'm pretty proud of our team," McMackin said. "We made a pretty complicated adjustment. ... We got out of it because of the intelligence of our defensive team."

The Warriors took a 19-14 lead on slotback Kealoha Pilares' 3-yard scoring pass from Alexander and Scott Enos' 36-yard field goal.

But the Bears regained the lead on running back Brent Grimes' third touchdown of the night.

The Warriors appeared ready to move ahead when Alexander threw to Pilares inside the Central Arkansas 5. Pilares bobbled the ball, secured it for a nano-second and then lost control. The Bears recovered with about 7 minutes remaining.

"I thought I didn't have control," Pilares said, indicating the play should have been ruled an incompletion. "But I wasn't worried. With our offense, I knew we could come back."

The Bears were trying to milk the clock before their offense stalled, and they were forced to punt.

"I was looking at the clock," Estes said. "It was 6 minutes, then 4 minutes, then 3 minutes. I knew we could win if we got the ball back."

The Warriors took over with 2:26 remaining at their 26.

In the huddle, left tackle Aaron Kia said, "It was so intense you could slice it with a knife. We knew what we had to do."

"Score," Alexander said. "We knew we had to score."

Alexander took the shotgun snap, scrambled, and then threw to Salas, who had retreated from his deep route.

"When the quarterback starts scrambling, you have to go with it," Salas said. "I had to get with him. I came back."

Salas caught the pass in the left flat, juked a would-be tackler at the 50, and looped to the right. He was chased down at the 8, after a gain of 66 yards.

"He could have scored but he's slow," Estes said, laughing.

Salas said: "I thought there was a DB behind me. If I knew there was a linebacker behind me, I would have run straight. ... But we knew we could do it. That's why we worked so hard in the spring and summer. It was do or die, and we had to do it."

Alexander acknowledged it was an "improv thing."

But the ensuing third-down play, also from the 8, was precise. Bradley and Salas were aligned on the left, with Salas in the slot. Salas made a sharp cut, drawing the safety. Bradley then ran a post route, ending up in front of the end line.

"That's just how we drew it up," Alexander said.

He threw high to Bradley, who was behind a cornerback.

"I can jump as high as the Lord allows me," Bradley said. "My eyes got big. It really goes in slow motion, seriously. I just went up and made the catch."

The Bears' frenetic comeback stalled when Park lost control of the football when he was hit by blitzing linebacker Corey Paredes while attempting to pass. Nickelback Richard Torres scooped it up and raced into the end zone.

After a 5-minute review, the play was ruled a fumble, although the touchdown was nullified.

"I thought my arm was going forward," Park said. "I would have liked to have kept playing."

Paredes said: "It was a fumble. His arm was still going up."

Regardless, Kia said, "A win's a win. It doesn't have to be pretty or a blowout. It still counts as a win."

Visit Tsai's blog at http://warriorbeat.honadvblogs.com.