Beating Bulldogs FRESNO, Calif. >> It sounds so easy. All Hawaii has to do today to keep its Western Athletic Conference championship hopes alive and get one win closer to the ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl is beat a team that lost 67-21 last week.
easier said than done
The Warriors will try to get their
first win at Fresno's stadiumBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comJust play some more run-and-shoot, pass-and-catch, and let the good times roll.
Simple.
Tell that to June Jones and his 2-point underdog Warriors. Beating Fresno State (4-4, 2-1 WAC) -- especially at Bulldog Stadium -- is a tough task, no matter the circumstances.
A full house is expected at the 41,031-seat facility at which Hawaii (5-2, 4-1) has never won.
UH sophomore quarterback Tim Chang is hot, but he has yet to prove himself in a big road game. This is his chance.
Chang piled up big numbers the past two weeks on his way to becoming the school's all-time passing and total offensive yardage leader -- against Nevada and Tulsa at Aloha Stadium.
Can he do the same against the battered but battle-tested Bulldogs, in their lair, in front of a hostile crowd, and where the temperature could get down to the 40s?
"As long as we take what we learned down here and take it up there, no problem," Chang said Wednesday after UH's last home practice before leaving for California. "But there are always outside factors. That's just part of playing on the road. But I feel we can win if we focus and concentrate."
To that end, Jones didn't bring his team into Fresno until last night. The Warriors checked into the Piccadilly Inn at 7:30 p.m. after flying in from Ontario in Southern California, where they practiced yesterday far from prying eyes and trash-talking frat boys.
It remains to be seen if less time than usual in town gives UH an edge. It didn't three weeks ago when the Warriors took a 58-31 pounding at Boise State. Jones changed the travel routine for that game -- the team avoided a red-eye flight and had one less practice in enemy territory, but it didn't help as the Broncos jumped to a 21-3 lead in the first quarter.
Lately it's been the Warriors who have sprinted out to leads, scoring a school-record 42 points in the first quarter against Nevada and a 23-0 halftime lead vs. Tulsa. UH will likely try for an early knockout punch against Fresno State, too, testing a secondary that was torched by Boise State.
"Hawaii is going to spread the field and we're going to have to get guys involved in the coverage part of it," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. "Depth is very important. We're going to have to keep the defense off the field. We really don't have many choices."
Starting corners Demorieux Reneau and Dee Meza will get help from redshirt freshmen Raymond Washington, Awan Diles and Tyrone Culver.
Hawaii's receivers, led by Justin Colbert and Britton Komine, should be able to cut them up -- and speedy running back Mike Bass might return from a knee sprain to add another dimension.
The key is if UH's line can continue to give Chang the kind of time to find them that he's enjoyed the last two games.
"We're up against the best front four we've played," Jones said. "No. 90 (Nick Burley) can bring it. He's probably going to be a first-round pick in the NFL. They've got a great scheme defensively. They bring pressure on you different ways. We've handled it pretty good the past three years."
Burley has five sacks, but none in the past three games, and he's been playing with a broken hand. Still, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Lombardi Award nominee will be a tough test for neophyte left tackle Wayne Hunter (6-6, 290). It is one of the game's biggest matchups.
Another is the Warriors' run defense against the Bulldogs' massive offensive line (it averages a nation's-largest 320 pounds) and tailback Rodney Davis.
"Their offense is going to run the ball. We haven't proven we can (stop) the run on defense consistently, so that will be what they try to do," Jones said.
UH has had trouble stopping the run all season. To alleviate that -- and make up for the loss of injured defensive lineman Houston Ala -- senior middle linebacker Chris Brown will move up to defensive tackle (which he played as a freshman) in Hawaii's nickel and Okie schemes.
Safeties David Gilmore and Hyrum Peters will also cheat up at times.
"We've done a lot of things to get as many people in the box all year to stop the run," Gilmore said. "We really believe that our corners (Kelvin Millhouse and Abraham Elimimian) are so good that people want to run the ball against us because they don't think they can pass against us."
Especially if they have a freshman at quarterback where they had a No. 1 NFL draft pick the year before. Then again, the Bulldogs can't blame Paul Pinegar totally for their demise at Boise; while he was intercepted twice and sacked four times, Pinegar passed for 371 yards and three touchdowns.
"He's not David Carr, that's for sure," Jones said. "But he can do what they ask him to do. He's had some very productive games."
Both teams emphasize special teams to the extreme. This is a game where Hawaii might have considered using All-American Chad Owens to return kicks, but Owens is out at least one more week with a knee sprain. That's a wash, since Fresno's explosive Bernard Berrian did not come back after getting hurt in the season opener (he'll redshirt and return next season).
The Bulldogs' Asen Asparuhov (kicker) and Jason Simpson (punter) and Hawaii's Justin Ayat and Mat McBriar are all among the league's best.
It all boils down to an opportunity for a big road win for Hawaii and a pride check for Fresno State. For a national TV audience, the question is if the teams Boise State belted around recently deserves at least a little respect.
"That kind of exposure puts a bad label on you and we need to earn our reputation back," Hill said.
When: Today, 3:05 p.m. Hawaii time Hawaii vs. Fresno State
Where: Fresno, Calif.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 1420-AM
UH Athletics
