WARRIOR FOOTBALL

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ASSOCIATED PRESS
New Mexico State quarterback Chase Holbrook threw to Jeremiah Williams during a loss to Idaho on Oct. 7.

Offense to rule the day

By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

EL PASO, Texas » Hawaii and coach June Jones were involved in a quarterback matchup similar to tonight's between UH's Colt Brennan and New Mexico State's Chase Holbrook when Nick Rolovich outdueled Miami (Ohio) freshman Ben Roethlisberger in a 52-51 thriller in 2001. Rolo passed for 500 yards and seven touchdowns and Big Ben tossed for 452 yards and three scores. A total of 106 passes were thrown.

Hawaii at New Mexico State

Kickoff: 2:05 p.m.

TV: PPV, Dig. 255

Radio: 1420-AM

The line: Hawaii by 20 1/2

Aggies coach Hal Mumme recalls something like this in 1997. He was at Kentucky, where he had Tim Couch doing the slinging. The Wildcats played Tennessee, and Peyton Manning was the quarterback for the Volunteers. Couch and Manning combined for a mere 85 passes and seven touchdowns. That could be surpassed by the third quarter tonight. The good news for Hawaii fans is Tennessee won that game 59-31, partly because of the Vols' superior running game, led by Jamal Lewis (not to mention a little defense). The Warriors are distinctly stronger than NMSU in the running game tonight, with Nate Ilaoa.

When Hawaii has the ball: Two-time reigning WAC Offensive Player of the Week Colt Brennan hasn't thrown an interception in two games, and his pick-free streak is up to 89 passes.

Ian Sample has a streak going, too. The wide receiver has two touchdowns in three straight games. Ross Dickerson, moved back from wideout to his original position, slotback. He had a great game against Fresno State last week with 10 receptions for 115 yards and one touchdown.

The offensive line has also improved with each game. "It's hard to be physical when you're pass blocking, but they find a way," Jones said.

The Aggies are banged up on defense, with three starters likely out. The loss of end La'auli Fonoti, nose guard Jeremy Weeks and middle linebacker Michael Hernishin makes a defense that's thin to begin with weaker still.

Cornerback Courtney Bryan has NFL potential, but he can't cover four receivers by himself.

"Not to disrespect them or anything, but they look about the same as last year," UH receiver Davone Bess (who leads the nation in catches per game) said of the NMSU secondary.

When New Mexico State has the ball: Chase Holbrook -- the nation's No. 1 yardage passer, with Brennan right behind him -- has been bothered a bit by a hip pointer, but will play. Although NMSU's best plays are short crossing patterns, Holbrook is more than capable of throwing long. It was a 65-yard bomb in high school that convinced Mumme he could quarterback his offense.

Chris Williams is the best receiver in the Aggies stable, with 46 catches for the season. NMSU comes in waves; six other players have at least 10 catches, and eight others at least one grab.

Jeremiah Williams usually gets the ball on the rare occasions that the Aggies run, and has been effective in short yardage. He leads the team with six touchdowns, four rushing and two receiving.

Holbrook is not that mobile, as the 23 sacks allowed by a young offensive line will attest.

UH inside linebackers Adam Leonard and Solomon Elimimian have been sturdy against the run. They hope to join the secondary in making plays against the pass tonight.

"We need to get some interceptions going," Leonard said. "All of our inside linebackers are athletic, can play the run or the pass. Hopefully we'll get an opportunity to get some balls."

UH turned all three Fresno State turnovers into touchdowns last week.

Special teams: NMSU's kicking has been so bad that Mumme begged the student body, any student body, male or female, to step forward. No ladies so far, but a guy from the golf team and another fellow expressed interest, but not much talent, so the Aggies are stuck for now with Matt Pratt. Pratt is 2-for-7 in field goals, and Mumme said he would have a hard time trading him "for an old football." Chris Williams is a threat returning kicks (23.9 average) and especially punts (21.0). The problem is hardly anyone punts against NMSU. Williams has managed only three chances. Dan Kelly is 4-for-5 on field goals for UH, but the Warriors botched two more PAT tries last week. Fortunately for Hawaii, they weren't needed in a 31-point win.


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KEY MATCHUP
New Mexico St. receivers vs. Hawaii cornerbacks

Chris Williams wasn't even listed as a starter for the Aggies in training camp, but he replaced an injured Tim Tolbert and now he's second in the nation with 121 receiving yards per game. He's coming off his best game, grabbing 13 balls for 191 yards against Boise State.

Williams is a diminutive 5-feet-8 and 155 pounds. He's a major reason the Warriors are deploying Gerard Lewis (5-9, 168) and Myron Newberry (5-8, 164) as the starting cornerbacks. They aren't much bigger than Williams, but they have the speed to cover him and have been playing the best lately among UH's six-man cornerback by committee.

Starter Kenny Patton was lost to a broken collarbone last week; some combination of Guyton Galdeira, A.J. Martinez, Ryan Keomaka and C.J. Hawthorne will spell Lewis and Newberry when needed.

"Especially in this game, we need the speed," Warriors defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said. "The Texas guys (home state of both Lewis and Newberry) have also been playing the ball the best."

A.J. Harris (37 receptions, two touchdowns) and Derek Dubois (33 catches, five scores) and others will get open if too much attention is paid to Williams.


Hawaii

4-2, 2-1 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.
or 1 Ryan Grice-Mullins 5-11 179 So.
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 43 Brad Kalilimoku 5-10 213 Jr.
MAC 44 Adam Leonard 6-0 236 So.
BUCK 41 Solomon Elimimian 6-0 224 So.
WILL 26 Micah Lau 5-9 218 Jr.
CB 38 Myron Newberry 5-8 164 Jr.
FS 42 Leonard Peters 6-1 211 Sr.
SS 31 Jake Patek 6-0 202 Jr.
CB 23 Gerard Lewis 5-9 168 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
Oct. 7 Nevada W, 41-34
Oct. 14 at Fresno State W, 68-37
Tonight 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

New Mexico State

2-4, 0-2 WAC
PROBABLE STARTERS

Offense
X 18 A.J. Harris 6-1 210 So.
H 2 Akieem Jolla 6-3 200 Sr.
LT 69 Mike Martinez 6-3 335 So.
LG 79 Maveu Heimuli 6-4 387 Fr.
C 55 James Farrelly 6-3 294 Jr.
RG 65 Polo Gutierrez 6-1 296 So.
RT 68 Ray Zielinski 6-2 313 So.
Y 40 Nick Cleaver 6-3 235 Jr.
Z 28 Chris Williams 5-8 155 Sr.
QB 12 Chase Holbrook 6-5 235 So.
RB 30 Jeremiah Williams 6-0 205 So.
Defense
LE 45 Maurice Murray 6-3 290 Jr.
NG 72 Sioeli Fakalata 6-4 295 Fr.
RE 44 Brandon McKinney 6-3 290 So.
W 8 Tim McManigal 6-0 231 Sr.
M 51 Michael Conner 5-11 211 Fr.

42 Dante Floyd 6-0 232 Jr.
LOB 59 Michael Brewer 6-3 265 Jr.
ROB 17 Nathan Nuttall 6-0 225 Sr.
RC 27 Courtney Bryan 5-11 210 Sr.
LC 36 Alex Bernard 5-8 185 Jr.
SS 3 Eric Carrie 5-9 205 Jr.
FS 22 Derrick Richardson 5-11 190 So.
Specialists
PK 48 Matt Pratt 5-10 175 So.
P 5 Jared Kaufman 6-1 186 Jr.
Snap 1 Dan White 6-1 201 Jr.
KR 18 A.J. Harris 6-1 210 So.

28 Chris Williams 5-8 155 So.
PR 28 Chris Williams 5-8 155 So.
Hold 5 Jared Kaufman 6-1 186 Jr.

Schedule

Date Opp. Result
Aug. 31 SE Louisiana W, 30-15
Sept. 9 New Mexico L, 34-28
Sept. 16 Texas Southern W, 48-14
Sept. 30 at UTEP L, 44-38
Oct. 7 at Idaho L, 28-20
Oct. 15 Boise State L, 40-28
Tonight Hawaii
Oct. 28 at Nevada
Nov. 4 San Jose State
Nov. 11 at Fresno State
Nov. 25 at Utah State
Dec. 2 LaTech

How They Compare

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Other Key Statistics


Hawaii Category N. mexico st.
26.0 First downs/game 26.0
6.0 Rushing first downs/game 6.0
19.0 Passing first downs/game 19.5
1.0 First downs by penalty/game 2.0
2.5 Turnovers lost/game 3.0
1.7 Turnovers gained/game 2.0
6-120 Interceptions-return yards 7-89
39.3 Punting avg 44.2
47-397 Penalties-yards 50-484
13-9 Fumbles-lost 16-11
54% Third-down-conversion rate 46%
22% Fourth-down-conversion rate 67%

Individual Leaders

Rushing

A Yds Avg TD
Nate Ilaoa, UH 54 430 8.0 6
Colt Brennan, UH 34 103 3.0 2
Jeremiah Williams, NMSU 57 268 4.7 4
Justine Buries, NMSU 32 132 4.1 1

Passing

A C I Yds TD
Colt Brennan, UH 242 177 5 2,271 23
Tyler Graunke, UH 14 13 0 126 1
Chase Holbrook, NMSU 318 216 7 2,577 18
Alex Gibson, NMSU 7 5 0 57 0

Receiving

Rec Yds Avg TD
Davone Bess, UH 49 569 11.6 6
Ross Dickerson, UH 31 336 10.8 3
Chris Williams, NMSU 46 726 15.8 5
A.J. Harris, NMSU 37 396 10.7 2

Tackles

S A Tot FL/S
Adam Leonard, UH 31 18 49 2/1
Leonard Peters, UH 24 17 41 1/0
Solomon Elimimian, UH 16 9 25 .5/0
Jake Patek, UH 14 11 25 0/0
Melila Purcell, UH 9 13 22 4/1
Tim McManigal, NMSU 11 44 55 5/2
Eric Carrie, NMSU 12 24 36 6/0
Derrick Richardson, NMSU 13 18 31 0/0
Michael Hernishin, NMSU 10 18 28 6/0
Courtney Bryan, NMSU 14 13 27 1/0



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