[ UH FOOTBALL ]
LaTech, UH will
put it in the airA pair of the nation’s top
passing offenses face off today
SHREVEPORT, La. >> The small town of Ruston, La., an hour down the road from the relative urban sprawl of Shreveport, is not what you'd consider, at least at first glance, a center of high technology. This, even though it is the home of Louisiana Technological University, alma mater of that great scholar, Terry Bradshaw.
The idea of throwing a football on anything other than third and long and sending four or five guys out for a pass used to be considered "high-tech."
Hawaii at LaTech
When: Today, 9 a.m. Hawaii timeWhere: Joe Aillet Stadium, Ruston, La.
TV: Live on KFVE (Ch. 5)
Radio: Live on 1420-AM
Line: Pick 'em
But then again, so was the magic of your basic hand-held calculator.
Is fancy passing a passing fancy?
Certainly not for Hawaii and Louisiana Tech. While the cyclical nature of football seems to currently favor the grind-it-out style with running backs as the featured stars on offense, the Warriors (3-3, 2-1 Western Athletic Conference) and Bulldogs (3-3, 1-2) still fling it around with abandon -- and will as long as June Jones and Jack Bicknell are their coaches. They mentor the No. 2 and 11 passing offenses in the nation, ranked by yards per game.
They are alternately considered geniuses and dinosaurs, depending on the successes and failures each week of their boy-wonder quarterbacks.
Tim Chang and Luke McCown will try to match each other touchdown pass for touchdown pass today at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, home of the Bulldogs.
Both have passed for more than 10,000 yards in their careers, joining a list of only 25 players who have done so in Division I-A college football. They've combined for 3,157 pass attempts, and are expected to pitch it around way more than 100 times between them today.
"I think it's going to be a long game," Bicknell said. "I don't see Hawaii all of a sudden deciding to run the ball."
And neither will the Bulldogs, who have three of the top 10 receivers in the WAC in Shawn Piper (23 catches, 365 yards, one touchdown), D.J. Curry (27, 345, 4) and Chris Norwood (27, 342, 1). That's why the Warriors have been working on some new defensive schemes designed to put more pressure on McCown, hopefully forcing him to throw out of his comfort zone and add to his total of seven interceptions.
The team that wins today will probably be the one that can force turnovers, as UH did to McCown three years ago, when the Warriors grabbed four of his passes and won 27-10.
Chang got the better of that matchup of true freshmen, completing 31 of 51 passes for 391 yards, two touchdowns and one pick, while McCown went 28-for-47 for 287 yards and one touchdown.
Hawaii did have a running threat then in James Fenderson, who rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns. And UH has a rising star at running back now in bruising 6-foot-1, 266-pound junior West Keliikipi. Last week he carried the ball 12 times on running plays and short passes for 111 yards and a touchdown, taking some of the heat off Chang, who passed for five TDs in a 40-of-60 (no interceptions), 353-yard performance that earned him WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors in a 55-28 victory over Fresno State.
"I've been looking at film of them and getting depressed watching it," Bicknell said. "I hope we can match the points they're sure to put up."
The Bulldogs have been hot and cold on offense this year. But if you take away the Miami (48-9) and Fresno State (16-6) losses, LaTech averages 32.25 points per game.
"They're a little bit like us," Jones said. "But they did beat Michigan State on the road."
That 20-19 victory on Sept. 13 gets bigger and bigger each week as the Spartans continue to play well in the Big Ten. The Warriors hope their blowout of Fresno State was the final turning point of their season; they can still win the WAC championship without depending on help from other teams -- unlike Louisiana Tech.
"We played better and we kind of put together 60 minutes, and Timmy played well, threw the ball well in the first half and got us going," Jones said. "Once we got ahead we played with more confidence."
But Hawaii is 0-3 away from Aloha Stadium this year.
"We have to win on the road," Keliikipi said. "Winning at home is easier when you can only take 60 players on the road. Lots of our players have kids and they miss their girlfriends and we're all bruised up from the last game. But if we're going to meet our goals, we have to forget about all that, play as a team and win each road game as it comes along."
Jones said UH's road woes this year have nothing to do with preparation. He said the team and coaching staff did everything the same way last year when it went 3-2 on the continent.
"That's just the way it is," Jones said. "You gotta do whatever it takes to win on the road. If you gotta score 70, score 70. If you gotta shut 'em out, shut 'em out. It isn't what we're doing (in preparation), it's getting it done once we're there."
Although Louisiana Tech lost its only previous game in Ruston this season (to Boise State, 43-37), Bicknell said playing at home is an edge for his team, which is playing in front of a homecoming crowd today.
"We don't have to travel and that could help us. It can really take it out of you," he said. "You get used to a stadium. We have some good memories here. It's a real good atmosphere at home."
PROBABLE STARTERS
Hawaii
Offense LWR 84 Britton Komine 5-10 187 Jr. or 85 Jason Rivers 6-2 187 Fr. LSB 2 Chad Owens 5-9 174 Jr. LT 70 Tala Esera 6-3 283 Fr. LG 64 Samson Satele 6-3 289 Fr. C 59 Derek Faavi 6-1 273 So. RG 69 Uriah Moenoa 6-2 365 Jr. RT 66 Brandon Eaton 6-3 3-1 So. or 74 Jeremy Inferrera 6-2 281 Fr. RSB 38 Gerald Welch 5-8 205 Jr. RWR 19 Jeremiah Cockheran 6-0 190 Sr. or 84 Britton Komine 5-10 187 Jr. QB 14 Tim Chang 6-2 194 Jr. RB 16 West Keliikipi 6-1 266 Fr. Defense LE 93 Houston Ala 5-11 260 Sr. LT 97 Isaac Sopoaga 6-3 336 Sr. or 99 Lui Fuga 6-1 299 Sr. RT 92 Lance Samuseva 6-0 309 Sr. RE 1 Travis LaBoy 6-4 254 Sr. SLB 46 Keani Alapa 6-1 229 Sr. MLB 56 Chad Kalilimoku 5-11 240 Sr. WLB 51 Ikaika Curnan 5-11 218 So. CB 37 Abraham Elimimian 5-10 186 Jr. SS 33 Hyrum Peters 5-8 188 Sr. FS 42 Leonard Peters 6-1 174 So. CB 3 Kelvin Millhouse 6-1 205 Sr. Specialists P 25 Kurt Milne 6-0 204 Fr. K 47 Justin Ayat 5-11 205 Jr. Snap 45 T.J. Moe 6-0 220 So. PR 21 Clifton Herbert 5-7 159 Sr. KR 82 Ross Dickerson 5-10 173 Fr. or 20 John West 5-10 180 Sr. Hold 8 Jason Whieldon 6-1 187 Sr. Louisiana Tech
Offense QB 11 Luke McCown 6-4 200 Sr. RB 20 Ryan Moats 6-5 200 Sr. TE 84 Aaron Capps 6-6 250 Sr. LT 68 Lester Brown 6-5 296 Jr. LG 64 Aaron Lips 6-5 292 So. C 56 Marcus Stewart 6-2 298 So. RG 55 Jordan Lang 6-4 293 Jr. RT 72 Adrian Gonzalez 6-5 297 Jr. WR 88 Tramissian Davis 6-0 175 Jr. YR 7 DJ Curry 5-10 180 Sr. ZR 19 Erick Franklin 5-11 181 Sr. XR 14 Chris Norwood 6-1 181 Sr. Defense LE 99 Jemelle Cage 6-1 276 Sr. LT 96 Chris Van Hoy 6-4 293 Jr. RT 95 Lacorey Street 6-7 314 Sr. RE 49 Wendell Crowe 6-3 239 So. LB 51 Antonio Crow 6-0 230 Sr. LB 47 John Nash 6-0 237 Jr. LB 8 Jeremy Hamilton 5-11 210 So. SS 27 Lee Johnson 6-2 198 Jr. FS 21 Michael Johnson 5-10 193 Sr. CB 28 Kevin Brown 6-0 171 Sr. CB 1 Corey Brazil 5-8 190 Sr. Specialists PK 23 Josh Scobee 6-2 186 Sr. P 37 Dustin Upton 6-0 206 Sr. PR 1 Corey Brazil 5-8 190 Sr. KR 82 Eric Newman 6-0 185 So. Snap 60 Matt Graham 5-9 248 So. Hold 16 Maxie Causey 6-5 200 Sr. SCHEDULES
Hawaii Warriors (3-3, 2-1 WAC)
Aug. 30 Appalachian State W, 40-17 Sept. 13 at Southern California L, 32-61 Sept. 19 at Nevada-Las Vegas L, 22-33 Sept. 27 Rice W, 41-21 Oct. 4 at Tulsa L, 16-27 Oct. 11 Fresno State W, 55-28 Today at Louisiana Tech Oct. 25 UTEP Nov. 1 at San Jose State Nov. 15 at Nevada Nov. 22 Army Nov. 29 Alabama Dec. 6 Boise State LaTech Bulldogs (3-3, 1-2 WAC)
Aug. 28 Miami L, 9-48 Sept. 6 at Louisiana-Lafayette W, 34-3 Sept. 13 at Michigan State W, 20-19 Sept. 20 at Fresno State L, 6-16 Oct. 4 Boise State L, 37-43 Oct. 11 at UTEP W, 38-35 Today Hawaii Oct. 25 at Nevada Nov. 1 at Louisiana State Nov. 8 SMU Nov. 15 at Tulsa Nov. 29 Rice PER-GAME COMPARISON
Hawaii Category LaTech 34.3 Scoring 24.0 99.0 Rushing 111.2 361.8 Passing 316.2 460.8 Total Offense 427.3 24.2 First Downs 20.8 5.5 FD Rushing 5.8 16.5 FD Passing 11.5 2.2 FD Penalty 3.5 31.2 Points Allowed 27.3 168.8 Rushing Allowed 194.7 187.8 Passing Allowed 278.5 356.7 Total Offense Allowed 473.2 5-4 Interceptions -- Yards 6-48 40.0 Punting 41.4 44-393 Penalties 44-312 12-7 Fumbles-lost 11-7 30:17 Time of Possession 27:52 32-90 Third Down Conversion 18-78 6-12 Fourth Down Conversion 3-5 KEY PLAYERS
Rushing A Yards Avg TD John West, UH 26 175 6.7 2 West Keliikipi, UH 25 166 6.6 4 Ryan Moats, LTU 56 353 6.3 3 Ralph Davis, LTU 36 192 5.3 2 Passing A C I Yards TD Tim Chang, UH 280 172 6 1,659 11 Jason Whieldon, UH 56 31 3 469 5 Luke McCown, LTU 249 142 7 1,801 9 Maxie Causey, LTU 12 6 0 96 1 Receiving Rec Yards Avg TD Jeremiah Cockheran, UH 28 428 15.3 4 Chad Owens, UH 30 317 10.6 5 Shawn Piper, LTU 23 365 15.9 1 DJ Curry, LTU 27 345 12.8 4 Tackles S A Tot FL/S Ikaika Curnan, UH 30 21 51 5/1 Chad Kalilimoku, UH 24 22 46 7/2 Travis LaBoy, UH 27 10 37 10/6 Hyrum Peters, UH 26 9 35 0/0 Leonard Peters, UH 18 12 30 0/0 Abraham Elimimian, UH 21 9 30 2/0 Antonio Crow, LTU 17 15 32 2.5/1 Jeremy Hamilton, LTU 20 11 31 4/1 Michael Johnson, LTU 15 15 30 2.5/0 Lee Johnson, LTU 16 9 25 1/0 TJ Jackson, LTU 12 9 21 0/0 WAC STANDINGS
Today
CONFERENCE OVERALL W L Pct W L Pct Str Boise State 2 0 1.000 5 1 .833 W3 Nevada 2 0 1.000 4 2 .667 W1 Hawaii 2 1 .667 3 3 .500 W1 Tulsa 1 1 .500 2 2 .500 W2 Fresno State 1 1 .500 3 3 .500 L2 UTEP 1 1 .500 2 5 .286 L1 Rice 1 1 .500 1 4 .200 W1 Louisiana Tech 1 2 .333 3 3 .500 W1 San Jose State 1 2 .333 2 4 .333 W1 SMU 0 3 .000 0 6 .000 L6
Hawaii at Louisiana Tech
Boise State at SMU
Nevada at Tulsa
Navy at Rice
