November 21, 1998
HONOLULU (AP) - Gavin Hoffman passed three touchdowns and ran for one and Brian Gowins kicked four field goals Saturday night as Northwestern ended an eight-game losing streak with a 47-21 whipping of winless Hawaii.
The only failing of the Wildcats (3-9) was the failure of wide receiver D'Wayne Bates to set a Big Ten Conference record for all-time receiving yards. He picked up 146 yards on nine receptions - two going for touchdowns - but the total was 23 yards short of the mark.
The crowd of 18,028 booed lustily when Coach Gary Barnett kept Bates in the game with the outcome settled, not knowing that the receiver was close to the standard.
Otherwise, it was an all-Northwestern night as the Wildcats sent Hawaii to its 11th straight defeat this season. It won't get any easier for the Rainbows, who face Michigan in their season finale.
Coupled with six straight losses at the end of last season, Hawaii has the nation's longest current losing streak at 17.
All three Northwestern victories this season came at the expense of the Western Athletic Conference. Earlier, the Wildcats beat Nevada-Las Vegas and Rice.
In addition to his scoring passes to Bates, Hoffman, who completed 17 of 24 passes for 272 yards, connected with Jay Tant for a score.
And, like Bates, Tant also had a big night. He caught six passes for 111 yards.
On the ground, Hoffman sneaked a yard for the game's opening score and Sean Bennett closed out the scoring with a 27-yard jaunt with 14 seconds left in the game.
Gowins capped his busy night with a 52-yard field goal. His early efforts were from 37, 23 and 20 yards.
The Wildcats, who controlled the ball for nearly 40 minutes, didn't waste any time in taking control of the game, scoring all five times it had the ball in the first half.
After Hoffman and Hawaii Dan Robinson exchanged short touchdown sneaks early in the first quarter, Northwestern put 20 unanswered points on the board to make it 27-7 at the half.
Hawaii could get no closer than 13 points thereafter.
Charles Tharp scored on a 27-yard run in the third period and then caught a 52-yard pass from Dan Robinson for Hawaii's second half points.
Robinson provided some highlight for Hawaii, completing 20 of 37 passes for 239 yards. However, he was also picked off four times with three of them leading to field goals by Gowins and Bennett's touchdown.
By GORDON SAKAMOTO
Associated Press Writer