[ WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]

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Jones not
looking past
Miners

Hawaii is a 27-point favorite
tonight, but the coach knows
the game is no gimme

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

Considering how the changing shape of the Western Athletic Conference dominated headlines the past week, it's fitting the schools with the longest tenures in the league play each other tonight.

But many say the Hawaii and Texas-El Paso football teams aren't in the same league at all.

UTEP at Hawaii When: Today, 6:05 p.m. Where: Aloha Stadium TV: KFVE (Channel 5), delay at 10 p.m., with rebroadcast Sunday at 9 a.m. Also available live on Pay-Per-View. Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM.

When homecoming-celebrating Hawaii (4-3, 3-1 WAC) hosts 27-point underdog Texas-El Paso (2-5, 1-1) at Aloha Stadium, the 38,000 expected will be curious to see how long the Miners can keep it a game.

Hawaii coach June Jones said it might be the entire 60 minutes.

"They're very good on defense, they've stopped us two of the last three years. They've had probably the best production against us defensively," Jones said. "They're playing very hard. We'll have to play very sharply to beat them."

The Warriors want to avoid a letdown after two big wins, 55-28 against Fresno State two weeks ago and 44-41 at Louisiana Tech last week.

UTEP comes off a bye week, and has won two of its last three games by a combined score of 115-71.

"As a head coach, if you see improvement every week then you can handle all the little things you need to correct. Where we've come the first three weeks to the last three weeks is a major step for us. But we have a major way to go," Miners coach Gary Nord said.

UH hopes quarterback Tim Chang -- second nationwide in total offense -- can maintain his level of production of the past two weeks and get over whatever it is about UTEP that prevents him from playing his best. He passed for 10 touchdowns and 887 yards against the two teams nicknamed Bulldogs, but is 18-for-49 for 215 yards with three interceptions and one touchdown in two career games against the Miners (both in El Paso).

In 2000, Chang's poor performance could be chalked up to the UTEP game being his college debut (he relieved Nick Rolovich in the second half of a 39-7 loss).

Last year, though, Chang offered no excuses after he went 9-for-27 for 85 yards, a TD and a pick and was pulled in favor of Shawn Withy-Allen. The Warriors ended up winning 31-6, mostly due to their defense and special teams.

"Well, we caught Timmy Chang on probably the worst night of his career," Miners coach Gary Nord said. "We were fortunate to keep it close. He didn't have one of his better games, that's for sure. I don't expect that to happen again. He's an outstanding quarterback."

Chang's current run is partly due to the return of his two top targets from injury and suspension, Jeremiah Cockheran and Chad Owens. Cockheran has had at least 100 yards receiving in four of his last five games, and Owens made eight grabs for 162 yards last week.

UTEP could have a future star of its own at quarterback in second-year freshman Jordan Palmer. The brother of 2002 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer is building his own reputation. He and sophomore Orlando Cruz have shared time this season.

The best thing they've done is improve at taking care of the football, Nord said. UTEP turned it over five times in its 66-7 loss at Hawaii two years ago. The Miners had 17 of their 22 turnovers in their first four games this season.

"I think execution is definitely the way to eliminate turnovers. I think the experience at the quarterback position has contributed to that," Nord said. "Every week that the quarterback gets in there and plays, the better off he is and the less turnovers he's creating."

The centerpiece of the Miners' offense is junior running back Howard Jackson, who leads the WAC and is fifth in the nation in all-purpose yardage with 157.9. He's a 5-foot-10, 160-pound darter. And Jones said Jackson compares favorably with LaTech's Ryan Moats, who embarrassed the Warriors' defense for 267 rushing yards last week.

"They would prefer to run the ball. They have a running back who's probably better than the guy we played last week," Jones said. "We're going to have to stop the run."

With that in mind, senior David Gilmore replaced Leonard Peters at free safety. Peters has more speed than Gilmore, but Gilmore is a sure tackler with a penchant for being in the right place at the right time.

"Last year I remember the running back, No. 4 (Jackson). He's really good. Super fast and he looks like he got stronger," said Gilmore, who made his first career start in last year's UTEP game. "They look physical on film. I think it will be just like Fresno, a physical game."

UH defensive tackles Isaac Sopoaga and Lui Fuga are back to near full strength after dealing with knee injuries the past several weeks. Also, linebacker Ikaika Curnan, the team's leading tackler, did not let a calf injury slow him down this week and cornerback Abraham Elimimian fought through a bruised heel.

Hawaii will revert to its basic 4-3 scheme rather than the 4-2 it went with against LaTech. Defensive line coach Vantz Singletary said the way you line up is just part of the deal.

"If there's no technique, no matter what scheme you play you're gonna get drilled. Technique changes depending on the schemes. You can do all that different stuff, but it always boils down to blocking, catching and tackling," he said.

UTEP linebacker Robert Rodriguez has proved adept at the latter, averaging 10.0 stops per game, good for second in the WAC.

History is on Hawaii's side (two wins in a row against UTEP and 17-12 in the series), and it's been awhile since the Warriors have faltered at Aloha Stadium (unbeaten at home this season).

"Basically it's going to come down to playing off our homecoming crowd and them supporting us and us doing what we got to do," Elimimian said. "We'd like to take them out in the first quarter."

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PROBABLE STARTERS
Texas-el Paso

Offense

SE	80	Chris Francies	6-2	190	So.
LT	77	Trey Darilek	6-6	305	Sr.
LG	79	Jose Garcia	6-4	310	So.
C	52	Chris Kerr	6-4	280	Sr.
RG	53	Robert Clayton	6-4	300	Sr.
RT	75	Robert Espinosa	6-4	295	Jr.
TE	83	Jonas Crafts	6-4	250	Jr.
QB	7	Jordan Palmer	6-5	230	Fr.
TB	4	Howard Jackson	5-10	160	Jr.
FB	39	Jimmy Smith	5-11	230	Jr.
FL	10	Chris Marrow	5-9	170	Fr.

Defense

LE	92	Ibok Ibok	6-5	240	Jr.
LT	57	Dan Kerr	6-4	275	Sr.
RT	70	Chris Mineo	6-2	275	So.
RE	96	Brandon Johnson	6-3	230	So.
SS	14	Mark Dowdy	5-11	190	Jr.
MLB	43	Robert Rodriguez	6-1	235	Jr.
OLB	40	Thomas Howard	6-3	255	So.
CB	3	Adrian Ward	6-0	175	Jr.
ROV	11	Tim Woodard	5-11	190	Sr.
FS	25	Joe Fleskoski	6-1	190	Fr.
CB	2	Aaron Francis	5-8	175	Fr.

Specialists

PK	38	Keith Robinson	5-11	220	Jr.
KO	49	Reagan Schneider	6-0	155	Fr.
P	48	Bryce Benekos	6-6	195	Jr.
Snap	50	Aaron King	6-2	210	Fr.
Hold	48	Bryce Benekos	6-6	195	Jr.
KR	4	Howard Jackson	5-10	160	Jr.
and	6	Jahmal Fenner	5-8	180	Jr.
PR	6	Jahmal Fenner	5-8	180	Jr.

Hawaii

Offense

LWR	84	Britton Komine	5-10	187	Jr.
LSR	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	74	Jeremy Inferrera	6-2	281	Fr.
RSR	38	Gerald Welch	5-8	205	Jr.
RWR	19	Jeremiah Cockheran	6-0	190	Sr.
QB	14	Tim Chang	6-2	194	Jr.
RB	1	Mike Bass	5-7	174	Jr.
or	6	Michael Brewster	5-6	180	Jr.
or	16	West Keliikipi	6-1	266	Jr.

Defense

LE	93	Houston Ala	5-11	260	Sr.
LT	97	Isaac Sopoaga	6-3	336	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.
or	50	Lincoln Manutai	6-0	224	Jr.
WLB	51	Ikaika Curnan	5-11	218	So.
CB	37	Abraham Elimimian	5-10	173	Jr.
SS	33	Hyrum Peters	5-8	188	Sr.
FS	17	David Gilmore	6-0	197	Sr.
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	20	John West	5-10	180	Sr.
or	82	Ross Dickerson	5-10	173	Fr.
Hold	8	Jason Whieldon	6-1	187	Sr.

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SCHEDULES
Texas-El Paso Miners (2-5, 1-1 WAC)

Aug. 30	at Arizona	L, 7-42
Sept. 6	Cal Poly	L, 13-34
Sept. 13	San Diego State	L, 0-34
Sept. 20	at Louisville	L, 14-42
Sept. 27	Sam Houston State	W, 59-14
Oct. 4	at SMU	W, 21-19
Oct. 11	Louisiana Tech	L, 35-38
Today	at Hawaii
Nov. 1	Tulsa
Nov. 8	San Jose State
Nov. 15	at Boise State
Nov. 22	at Rice
Nov. 29	Fresno State

Hawaii Warriors (4-3, 3-1 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
Oct. 18	at Louisiana Tech	W, 44-41
Today	UTEP
Nov. 1	at San Jose State
Nov. 15	at Nevada
Nov. 22	Army
Nov. 29	Alabama
Dec. 6	Boise State

Per-Game Comparison

UTEP	Category	Hawaii
21.3	Scoring	35.7
172.4	Rushing	99.7
177.7	Passing	386.4
350.1	Total Offense	486.1
18.6	First Downs	24.7
9.3	FD Rushing	5.4
7.3	FD Passing	17.3
2.0	FD Penalty	2.0
31.9	Points Allowed	32.6
166.6	Rushing Allowed	175.9
223.4	Passing Allowed	218.9
390.0	Total Offense Allowed	394.7
5-115	Interceptions -- Yards	6-4
41.6	Punting	40.2
52-401	Penalties	49-438
15-10	Fumbles-lost	13-8
29:52	Time of Possession	29:14
41-109	Third Down Conversion	36-98
7-16	Fourth Down Conversion	6-12

Key Players

Rushing	A	Yards	Avg	TD
Howard Jackson, UTEP	90	590	6.6	3
Matt Austin, UTEP	49	232	4.7	1
West Keliikipi, UH	31	204	6.6	5
John West, UH	30	203	6.8	2
Passing	A	C	I	Yards	TD
Orlando Cruz, UTEP	130	61	8	770	3
Jordan Palmer, UTEP	74	34	4	443	4
Tim Chang, UH	326	205	10	2,193	16
Jason Whieldon, UH	56	31	3	469	5
Receiving	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Jonas Crafts, UTEP	21	218	10.4	0
Howard Jackson, UTEP	12	211	17.6	1
Jeremiah Cockheran, UH	34	530	15.6	5
Chad Owens, UH	38	479	12.6	6
Tackles	S	A	Tot	FL/S
Robert Rodriguez, UTEP	31	39	70	7/2
Thomas Howard, UTEP	33	31	64	7/1
Joe Fleskowski, UTEP	31	14	45	0/0
Chris Mineo, UTEP	14	28	42	4/2
J.D. Hearn, UTEP	24	18	42	3/1
Marshall Sanford, UTEP	31	11	42	0/0
Ikaika Curnan, UH	38	24	62	7/2
Chad Kalilimoku, UH	25	23	48	7/2
Hyrum Peters, UH	32	13	45	2/2
Leonard Peters, UH	21	17	38	0/0
Abraham Elimimian, UH	28	10	38	2/0

WAC STANDINGS

	CONFERENCE			OVERALL
	W	L	Pct	W	L	Pct	Str
Boise State	3	0	1.000	6	1	.857	W4
Nevada	3	0	1.000	5	2	.714	W2
Hawaii	3	1	.750	4	3	.571	W2
Fresno State	1	1	.500	3	4	.429	L2
UTEP	1	1	.500	2	5	.286	L1
Rice	1	1	.500	1	5	.167	L1
Tulsa	1	2	.333	3	4	.429	L2
San Jose State	1	2	.333	2	4	.333	W1
Louisiana Tech	1	3	.250	3	4	.429	L1
SMU	0	4	.000	0	7	.000	L7

Today

SMU at Tulsa
San Jose State at Boise State
Louisiana Tech at Nevada
Rice at Fresno State
UTEP at Hawaii

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UH Athletics