WARRIOR FOOTBALL

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RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan is among the NCAA leaders in most passing statistics.

Panthers pound with Webb

By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

EVERYONE knows Hawaii has two former NFL head coaches on its staff in June Jones and Jerry Glanville. But were you aware that three Eastern Illinois alumni are current NFL head coaches? They are Mike Shanahan (Broncos), Sean Payton (Saints) and Brad Childress (Vikings).

Hawaii vs. Eastern Illinois at Aloha Stadium

Kickoff: 6:05 p.m.

TV: PPV, Dig. 255

Radio: 1420-AM

The line: N/A

Here's the trivial and not so trivial to look for when the Warriors host the Panthers tonight for the third time since 1999:

When Eastern Illinois has the ball: The Panthers have quite a few players with Division I-A talent, the most obvious being receiver Micah Rucker, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound matchup nightmare. He's a transfer from Minnesota, and he's caught 16 passes for 395 yards and six touchdowns in four games.

Vincent Webb is another big weapon with 139.5 rushing yards per game, ranking him third in Division I-AA. He went for 208 in last week's win over Samford.

"Vincent's having an outstanding year for us. He's our team captain, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher and he's had an exceptional first four games," EIU acting coach Mark Hutson said.

The Warriors will try to stop him with new starters at one or both outside linebacker spots; Karl Noa replaces Tyson Kafentzis (out with a fractured ankle) and Brashton Satele is being considered on the other side to take over for C.J. Allen-Jones, who started the first three games.

Solomon Elimimian (knee sprain) looks ready to resume his inside linebacker activities.

UH returns C.J. Hawthorne to a starting spot in place of A.J. Martinez in a seemingly endless quest to find the best two corners. Kenny Patton, with a big interception last week, is safe for now on the other side.

"We're alternating them until someone stands out as clearly better than the others," defensive backs coach Rich Miano said.

When Hawaii has the ball: The ankle sprain to slotback Ryan Grice-Mullins caused a shuffle that will probably have Ian Sample starting at wideout replacing Ross Dickerson, who will either start in Grice-Mullins' spot or play a lot there in rotation with Aaron Bain. True freshman Malcolm Lane may also get some plays on the outside.

"I think he can play. He can go," UH receivers coach Ron Lee said of Lane.

Quarterback Colt Brennan is again among the nation's leaders in most passing stats, and he's No. 1 in points responsible for with 21.33 per game.

He and left tackle Tala Esera will be especially aware of EIU defensive end Pierre Walters, who has four sacks among his eight tackles for loss.

"I expect zone, a lot of zone blitzing," Brennan said. "I expect them to bring some pressure, and they do have good athletes. They have some fast kids, some kids who can fly around and some kids who can give us some problems. It's another week, another defense and us making the adjustments."

If the Panthers come too hard, Brennan will flip shovel passes and screens to Nate Ilaoa. In addition to being UH's leading rusher, he has 12 catches for 177 yards.

Special teams: Jones is right when he says Hawaii actually outplayed Boise State in special teams last week except for three bad snaps by the Warriors. The problem is the miscues on two point-after attempts and a field-goal try had a direct effect on the scoreboard of a close game. Third-string quarterback Inoke Funaki replaces punter Kurt Milne as the holder this week.

On the positive side, Dan Kelly has made every kick he's gotten his foot on: all 10 PATs and a 42-yard field goal.

Also, UH's return and coverage teams are significantly improved from last fall.

Myron Newberry has displayed sure hands and happy feet on punt returns, and Dickerson nearly broke a kickoff return for a TD after dropping the ball.

Panthers kicker Zach Yates has made at least one field goal in nine straight games.


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KEY MATCHUP
Panthers RB Vincent Webb vs. Warriors front seven

Eastern Illinois' best hopes for an upset depend on controlling the ball and the clock. This would decrease the number of possessions for both teams, and give the Panthers a better chance of not letting the score get away from them.

To do this, Webb must consistently grind out yardage -- something Boise State was able to do against the Warriors, but both Alabama and UNLV could not.

On a typical zone play, EIU's linemen go to assigned areas to lead the interference and Webb reads how the defense reacts to his blockers' movements.

If the defense does not respond quickly, his blockers outnumber them at the point of attack, and Webb can get a big gain by simply following them.

If too many defenders follow the blockers, Webb cuts back against the grain and turns the defense's quick pursuit into costly over-pursuit.

"What Webb does better than most backs is he makes his cut up in the line of scrimmage (rather than earlier, behind the line)," UH defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said. "That makes it more difficult and makes you have to play very disciplined."


Hawaii

1-2, 0-1 WAC
Probable Starters

Offense
X 84 Jason Rivers 6-2 192 Jr.
H 7 Davone Bess 5-10 195 So.
LT 70 Tala Esera 6-4 308 Sr.
LG 65 Hercules Satele 6-2 288 Jr.
C 64 Samson Satele 6-3 298 Sr.
RG 55 John Estes 6-2 290 Fr.
RT 72 Dane Uperesa 6-4 310 Sr.
Y 85 Aaron Bain 5-9 183 So.
or 82 Ross Dickerson 5-10 198 Sr.
Z 3 Ian Sample 5-10 196 Sr.
QB 15 Colt Brennan 6-3 196 Jr.
RB 4 Nate Ilaoa 5-9 254 Sr.

Defense
DT 67 Mike Lafaele 6-0 302 Jr.
DE 98 Melila Purcell 6-5 276 Sr.
DE 91 Ikaika Alama-Francis 6-6 285 Sr.
STUB 12 Karl Noa 6-4 238 Jr.
MAC 44 Adam Leonard 6-0 236 So.
BUCK 41 Solomon Elimimian 6-0 224 So.
or 43 Brad Kalilimoku 5-10 213 Jr.
WILL 33 C.J. Allen-Jones 6-1 224 So.
or 13 Brashton Satele 6-2 243 Fr.
CB 24 Kenny Patton 6-0 188 Sr.
FS 42 Leonard Peters 6-1 211 Sr.
SS 31 Jacob Patek 6-0 202 Jr.
CB 19 C.J. Hawthorne 5-11 161 Jr.

Specialists
P 25 Kurt Milne 6-0 205 Sr.
PK 86 Dan Kelly 6-3 202 So.
PR 38 Myron Newberry 5-8 164 Jr.
KR 24 Kenny Patton 6-0 188 Sr.

82 Ross Dickerson 5-10 198 Sr.
Snap 57 Jake Ingram 6-4 268 So.
Hold 11 Inoke Funaki 5-11 195 Fr.

Schedule

Date Opp. Result
Sept. 2 at Alabama L, 25-17
Sept. 16 UNLV W, 42-13
Sept. 23 at Boise State L, 41-34
Tonight Eastern Illinois
Oct. 7 Nevada
Oct. 14 at Fresno State
Oct. 21 at New Mexico State
Oct. 28 Idaho
Nov. 4 at Utah State
Nov. 11 Louisiana Tech
Nov. 18 San Jose State
Nov. 25 Purdue
Dec. 2 Oregon State

Eastern Illinois

2-2, 1-0 Ohio Valley Conference
Probable Starters

Offense
WR 9 Ryan Voss 6-5 194 Sr.
LT 75 Eric Johnson 6-4 295
LG 63 Drew Cairo-Gross 6-1 315 Jr.
C 65 Steve Sobolewski 6-4 287 Sr.
RG 77 Jon Reuter 6-5 281 Sr.
RT 73 Anthony Rubican 6-5 300 Jr.
TE 86 Adam Parsill 6-4 250 Sr.
WR 80 MIcah Rucker 6-6 230 Jr.
FL 3 Jermaine Mobley 6-0 189 Sr.
QB 10 Mike Donato 6-1 192 Jr.
RB 29 Vincent Webb 5-10 206 Sr.

Defense
LE 55 Michael Torres 6-0 243 Jr.
LT 90 Tim Kelly 6-4 270 Jr.
RT 97 Jeff Sobol 6-3 260 So.
RE 91 Pierre Walters 6-5 252 So.
SAM 6 Lucius Seymour 5-10 210 Sr.
MLB 54 Donald Thomas 5-10 228 Jr.
WILL 47 Matt Westrick 6-0 240 Jr.
CB 2 Ben Brown 6-0 185 Sr.
ROV 1 Tristan Burge 6-0 214 Sr.
FS 26 Seymour Loftman 5-11 191 So.
CB 7 B.J. Brown 5-11 170 Sr.

Specialists
PK 27 Zach Yates 5-11 175 So.
P 27 Zach Yates 5-11 175 So.
Snap 86 Adam Parsill 6-4 250 Sr.
KR 15 Quinten Ponius 5-9 198 So.

19 Adam Kesler 5-9 178 So.
PR 19 Adam Kesler 5-9 178 So.

5 Charles Owens 5-10 178 Sr.
Hold 11 Justin Duhai 6-1 197 Sr.

Schedule

Date Opp. Result
Sept. 2 at Illinois L, 42-17
Sept. 9 Indiana State W, 31-21
Sept. 16 at Illinois State L, 44-30
Sept. 23 at Samford W, 24-13
Tonight at Hawaii
Oct. 7 Southeast Missouri
Oct. 14 at Eastern Kentucky
Oct. 21 Murray State
Oct. 28 at Tennessee Martin
Nov. 4 Tennessee State
Nov. 14 at Tennessee Tech
Nov. 21 Jacksonville State

How They Compare

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Other Key Statistics


E. Illinois Category Hawaii

20.5 First downs/game 24.0

6.5 Rushing first downs/game 6.0

7.3 Passing first downs/game 17.7

1.0 First downs by penalty/game 0.3

1.0 Turnovers lost 2.5

2.8 Turnovers gained 0.5

2-2 Interceptions-return yards 2-52

38.2 Punting avg 37.6

24-233 Penalties-yards 26-197

7-2 Fumbles-lost 8-6

40% Third-down-conversion rate 43%

67% Fourth-down-conversion rate 17%

Individual Leaders

Rushing

A Yds Avg TD
Vincent Webb, EIU 96 558 5.8 3
Norris Smith, EIU 46 291 6.3 1
Nate Ilaoa, UH 25 199 8.0 2
Reagan Mauia, UH 11 51 4.6 0

Passing

A C I Yds TD
Mike Donato, EIU 78 47 6 645 8
Cole Stinson, EIU 13 7 2 52 0
Colt Brennan, UH 115 79 4 1,034 9
Tyler Graunke, UH 9 8 0 65 0

Receiving

Rec Yds Avg TD
Micah Rucker, EIU 16 395 24.7 6
Jermaine Mobley, EIU 12 87 7.2 0
Davone Bess, UH 24 302 12.6 3
Ryan Grice-Mullins, UH 15 260 17.3 2

Tackles

S A Tot FL/S
Donald Thomas, EIU 18 19 37 2/0
Tristan Burge, EIU 13 20 33 1/0
Lucius Seymour, EIU 16 13 29 1/0
Ben Brown, EIU 14 10 24 0/0
Seymour Loftman, EIU 12 12 24 0/0
Adam Leonard, UH 11 15 26 1/1
Leonard Peters, UH 13 11 24 1/0
Jake Patek, UH 6 10 16 0/0
Kenny Patton, UH 9 5 14 0/0
Melila Purcell, UH 5 8 13 2/0



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