2012 SEASON IN REVIEW 2012 AWARDS All-America Mike Edwards, KR, Honorable Mention SI.com; Third Team CBSSports.com; Fourth Team Phil Steele; First Team College Sports Madness Alex Dunnachie, P, Honorable Mention, SI.com Jet Award (Return Specialist of the Year) Mike Edwards, Finalist All-MW Mike Edwards, Special Teams Player of the Year; First Team RS; Second Team DB Paipai Falemalu, Second Team DL Alex Dunnachie, Second Team P Ben Clarke, Honorable Mention OL Tavita Woodard, Honorable Mention DL Phil Steele’s All-MW Mike Edwards, First Team KR Scott Harding, Second Team PR Paipai Falemalu, Second Team DL Alex Dunnachie, Third Team P Art Laurel, Third Team LB College Sports Madness All-MW Mike Edwards, First Team KR, Second Team DB Scott Harding, First Team PR Paipai Falemalu, Second Team DL Alex Dunnachie, Second Team P Tavita Woodard, Third Team DL Academic All-MW Kaeo Alo, Ben Clarke, Benetton Fonua, Scott Harding, Marrell Jackson, Mike Milovale, Harold Moleni, Blake Muir, Sean Shigematsu, Cayman Shutter, Kendrick Van Ackeren MW Player of the Week John Hardy-Tuliau, Defense (Nov. 26) Tyler Hadden, Special Teams (Dec. 3) College Football Performance Awards Alex Dunnachie, Hon. Mention Punter (Week 5 & 7) Mike Edwards, National KOR of the Week (Week 3 & 7) Will Gregory, National Freshman Performer of the Year Watch List Beau Yap, Hon. Mention Defensive Line (Week 1 & 4) Phil Steele’s Midseason All-America Mike Edwards, Third Team KR Phil Steele’s Midseason All-MW Mike Edwards, First Team KR, Second Team DB Scott Harding, Third Team PR Beau Yap, Third Team DL Preseason All-MW Paipai Falemalu, DL
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The 2012 University of Hawai‘i football season provided a glimpse of the future for the Rainbow Warriors under Norm Chow, who completed his first season as head coach after spending nearly 40 years as an assistant coach. Usually there’s not much good that comes from a 3-9 season and tie for an eight-place conference finish. However, there were several bright spots during the season, most notably the play of defensive back and kick returner Mike Edwards. The junior was named the Mountain West’s Special Teams Player of the Year in addition to several All-America teams after leading the country in kickoff return yards. He ranked sixth nationally with a 30.4 return average and tied for the national lead with three returns for touchdowns. He was also one of three finalists for the Jet Award, given to the nation’s top return specialist. Defensively, Edwards ranked 11th nationally in passes defended and finished the year with two interceptions. Edwards was one of the reasons why UH’s special teams unit was among the best in the country. The Warriors were one of five teams to rank in the Top 15 in both kickoff and puntreturn yardage. Punt returner Scott Harding ranked 13th nationally with a 12.8 average while punter Alex Dunnachie was fourth with a UH single-season record 46.16-per-punt average. Through the trying season, Chow and the coaching staff experimented with many players in the starting lineup. UH led the country with 32 first-time FBS starters, which included six true freshmen. The Warriors also started a new lineup on offense each of the 12 games. Among the firsttime starters was Duke transfer Sean Schroeder, who started 11 of 12 games at quarterback. The junior finished the year throwing for 1,878 yards and 11 touchdowns. He made his first career start in the opener at USC. However, he rebounded in Game #2, leading UH to a 54-2 blowout of Lamar, throwing for 208 yards and two scores. With an offensive line that featured a revolving door at both guard positions and at right tackle – Schroeder’s blind-side – the Warrior offense failed to generate much of anything for most of the year. The season included many dubious firsts. UH was shutout by BYU, marking the first time in 182 games or a span of 13-plus seasons. The Warriors set a modern-era record for fewest rushing yards (-14) against Boise State and racked up the fewest yards of total offense in a game (149 vs BYU) since 1996. After an eight-game losing streak, second longest in school history and five of which occurred on the road, the Warriors finally put things together during the final two weeks of the season. UH secured its first MW win over UNLV in which the Warriors led 31-0 at the half. Hawai‘i then closed out the season with a 23-7 win over South
ALEX DUNNACHIE
Alabama, while amassing a season-high 410 yards of total offense. ALLSTAR WARRIORS: Three Warriors were selected to play in all-star games following the completion of the season. Long snapper Luke Ingram became just the 19th former Warrior to participate in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Defensive lineman Paipai Falemalu and punter Alex Dunnachie competed in the Casino Del Sol College All-Star Game which was held in Tucson, Ariz. FAST AS A JET: Kick returner Mike Edwards was one of three finalists for the Jet Award, given to the nation’s top return specialist. The other finalists were Missouri’s Marcus Murphy and West Virginia’s Tavon Austin. Austin, who ranked in the top 25 nationally in both punt and kickoff returns, was the 2012 award winner. MW’S FINEST: Kick returner Mike Edwards was selected as the Mountain West’s Special Teams Player of the Year as voted by the league’s 10 head coaches and select media panel. In addition, Edwards, a junior from Cleveland, Ohio, was named to the first team as a return specialist and to the second team as a defensive back. Edwards is the first UH player selected as Special Teams Player of the Year since placekicker Jason Elam won Western Athletic Conference honors in 1992. Edwards led the country in kickoff return yardage with 1,215 – which also set a new MW single-season record – and ranked sixth nationally with a 30.4 average. He was one of only four players nationally with at least three kickoff returns for touchdowns. His three scores set new UH and MW single-season marks and he is the only player in MW history to record two 100-yard kick returns in a single season. Edwards is also the school’s career kickoff return yardage leader (2,301) as well as kickoff touchdowns leader (3). EDWARDS ISLAND: Defensively, Mike Edwards ranked 11th nationally with 17 passes defended, which includes two interceptions. He
2013 UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I RAINBOW WARRIOR FOOTBALL