WARRIOR FOOTBALL

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SB FILE / OCTOBER 2004
Cornerback Kenny Patton dove for Kamehameha alum Caleb Spencer in the 2004 game at Aloha Stadium. The two will be on the field again tonight when Hawaii plays Nevada.

Arms race ends tonight

By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

IT'S billed as "Military Night," as Nevada and Hawaii meet in a college football game tonight. You still can't bring weapons into Aloha Stadium, but plenty will be on display. The Warriors will run-and-shoot with their shotgun and Nevada -- which earned continued possession of a cannon last week by beating its rival UNLV -- will brandish its pistol.

Hawaii vs. Nevada at Aloha Stadium

Kickoff: 6:05 p.m.

TV: PPV, Dig. 255

Radio: 1420-AM

The line: Hawaii by 12

And the players have all got guns. (Except for the kickers, of course.)

When Nevada has the ball: It's a mistake to think of the Wolf Pack offense as a finesse operation just because they spread the field horizontally with a one-back formation.

"The run is the No. 1 thing for us -- we've got to stop the run," Warriors linebacker Solomon Elimimian said. "They're very physical, but we are too, so we have to gang-tackle and just play our defense."

Nevada coach Chris Ault knew Robert Hubbard would be capable at the lone running back spot, but worried about depth before the season. Freshman Brandon Fragger has performed so well, he might supplant the senior, who was out with a bruised knee last week. Fragger rushed for 146 yards against UNLV.

Caleb Spencer was considered Nevada's most dependable receiver headed into the season, but the Kamehameha graduate has no touchdowns this fall and did not catch a pass last week for the first time in 28 games.

UH's secondary seems to be solidifying, with C.J. Hawthorne and Kenny Patton at the corners and Leonard Peters and Jake Patek at the safeties. But defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said A.J. Martinez, Myron Newberry and Gerard Lewis will continue to get opportunities at corner.

C.J. Allen-Jones reclaimed his starting position at weakside linebacker, and Karl Noa is back on the other side.

"I don't think it's the system, I think it's the players," Glanville said. "I've noticed that my system works a lot better with better players."

When Hawaii has the ball: The Warriors, who have allowed just nine sacks in four games, suffered five last year against the Wolf Pack, who play out of a base 3-4.

"It's actually a 3-4 in name only, because we do so many different things out of it," Ault said.

One of those things is blitz.

"I think defensively they'll have some new wrinkles ... as they do every time we play them," UH coach June Jones said. "We didn't block 'em very well last year in the offensive line. I think that was our worst game."

And end J.J. Milan, Nevada's leader this year with five sacks, wasn't even playing because of injury.

UH will have to slow down the pressure. The return of 280-pound backup fullback Reagan Mauia after resting a tender shoulder last week should help.

Quarterback Colt Brennan had stretches of perfection last week, but that was against a Division I-AA team. He is among the nation's leaders in most passing and total offense categories, and leads in touchdowns responsible for with 15.

Slotback Davone Bess leads the country in receptions per game (7.75). He said the Warriors can continue their offensive production (500.5 yards per game, third in the nation) against Nevada.

"It's just a matter of us feeling comfortable," he said. "Colt's feeling comfortable, the O-line's comfortable. Everybody's feeling comfortable and poised."

Special teams: Nevada hasn't done anything spectacular in the return game, and that's a relief for Hawaii since it will be missing three starters from its kickoff coverage unit due to injuries.

Wolf Pack punter Zacary Whited has performed well, planting six of 12 punts inside the opponents' 20 and averaging 41.2 yards per kick.

UH punter Kurt Milne didn't play last week for the first time since his redshirt year. The Warriors didn't punt, and Inoke Funaki has replaced him as holder. David Farmer is the new short snapper, while Jake Ingram retains the duty for punts.

KEY MATCHUP
Hawaii QB Colt Brennan vs. Nevada CB Joe Garcia

The history between these two goes back to a high school all-star game in 2001 when Garcia intercepted Brennan twice.

"One of them I just threw it up there and he got it, the other one got tipped and it just landed in his hands," the Hawaii quarterback said.

Last year, Garcia intercepted a Brennan pass to thwart a fourth-quarter drive by the Warriors and set up the Wolf Pack's final score at Reno.

"Yeah, he's gotten me every time we played," Brennan said.

Actually, not.

Brennan's Saddleback team routed Garcia's Long Beach squad twice in 2004, when both were in junior college.

Brennan and Garcia are now established as two of the best players at their positions in the WAC, if not the nation. Both are leaders statistically and on watch lists for postseason awards.

Garcia is 20th in the NCAA in interceptions with three, and Brennan's five interceptions in 156 attempts is a pretty good ratio, especially considering he has 14 touchdown passes.


Nevada

3-2, 0-1 WAC
Probable Starters

Offense
X 89 Mike McCoy 6-0 190 So.
FL 84 Marko Mitchell 6-4 195 So.
ST 75 Charles Manu 6-3 300 Jr.
SG 66 Kyle Robertson 6-3 290 Jr.
C 76 Jimmy Wadhams 6-3 290 Sr.
WG 60 Drew Cairo-Gross 6-1 315 Jr.
WT 61 Dominic Green 6-3 295 So.
Y 83 Anthony Pudewell 6-4 250 Sr.
Z 87 Caleb Spencer 6-0 180 Sr.
QB 3 Jeff Rowe 6-5 225 Sr.
RB 19 Robert Hubbard 5-11 195 Sr.
Defense
LE 91 J.J. Milan 6-5 270 Sr.
NT 57 Matt Hines 6-1 285 Jr.
RE 48 Erics Clark 6-6 270 Jr.
SAM 44 Jeremy Engstrom 6-1 247 Jr.
WOLF 30 Joshua Mauga 6-2 245 So.
MIKE 33 Jason DeMars 6-2 255 Sr.
BANDIT 56 Ezra Butler 6-2 248 Jr.
CB 23 Joe Garcia 6-0 180 Sr.
SS 29 Justin Jackson 6-1 195 Jr.
FS 28 Nick Hawthorne 6-0 200 Sr.
CB 35 Paul Pratt 5-10 185 Jr.
Specialists
PK 13 Brett Jaekle 6-4 210 So.
P 69 Zacary Whited 6-2 190 Jr.
Snap 82 Travis Branzell 6-4 240 So.
KR 2 Dwayne Sanders 5-10 175 Fr.

19 Robert Hubbard 5-11 195 Sr.
PR 23 Joe Garcia 6-0 180 Sr.

80 Alex Rosenblum 5-9 185 Sr.
Hold 12 Travis Moore 6-2 215 Sr.

Schedule
Date Opp. Result
Sept. 1 at Fresno State L, 2-19
Sept. 9 at Arizona State L, 52-21
Sept. 16 Colorado State W, 28-10
Sept. 22 Northwestern W, 31-21
Sept. 30 at UNLV W, 31-3
Tonight at Hawaii
Oct. 21 San Jose State
Oct. 28 New Mexico State
Nov. 4 at Idaho
Nov. 11 Utah State
Nov. 25 Boise State

Hawaii

2-2, 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 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.
WILL 33 C.J. Allen-Jones 6-1 224 So.
CB 24 Kenny Patton 6-0 188 Sr.
FS 42 Leonard Peters 6-1 211 Sr.
SS 31 Jake 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 89 Malcolm Lane 6-1 181 Fr.

82 Ross Dickerson 5-10 198 Sr.
SS 48 David Farmer 6-0 231 So.
LS 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
Sept. 30 Eastern Illinois W, 44-9
Tonight 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

How They Compare

chart

Other Key Statistics


Nevada Category Hawaii

20.2 First downs/game 24.5

10.4 Rushing first downs/game 5.5

8.8 Passing first downs/game 19.0

1.0 First downs by penalty/game 0.5

1.4 Turnovers lost 3.0

2.8 Turnovers gained 1.2

8-152 Interceptions-return yards 5-66

37.7 Punting avg 37.6

20-166 Penalties-yards 31-257

4-2 Fumbles-lost 10-7

46% Third-down-conversion rate 50%

50% Fourth-down-conversion rate 12%

Individual Leaders

Rushing

A Yds Avg TD
Robert Hubbard, UN 83 425 5.0 2
Brandon Fragger, UN 32 184 5.3 2
Nate Ilaoa, UH 34 245 7.1 3
Reagan Mauia, UH 11 51 4.6 0

Passing

A C I Yds TD
Jeff Rowe, UN 121 79 4 872 8
Travis Moore, UN 4 2 1 19 1
Colt Brennan, UH 156 109 5 1,443 14
Inoke Funaki, UH 11 6 0 128 0

Receiving

Rec Yds Avg TD
Caleb Spencer, UN 25 248 9.9 0
Marko Mitchell, UN 19 183 9.6 1
Davone Bess, UH 31 360 11.6 3
Jason Rivers, UH 17 248 14.6 3

Tackles

S A Tot FL/S
Joshua Mauga, UN 20 10 30 2/0
Ezra Butler, UN 17 10 27 .5/1.5
Nick Hawthorne, UN 23 3 26 .5/0
Jason DeMars, UN 9 10 19 0/0
Matt Hines, UN 8 9 17 1.5/0
Adam Leonard, UH 20 16 36 1/1
Leonard Peters, UH 14 13 27 1/0
Melila Purcell, UH 8 9 17 3/1
Jake Patek, UH 7 10 17 0/0
Kenny Patton, UH 10 5 15 0/0



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