WARRIOR FOOTBALL

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Heading into today's game at Utah State, UH's Colt Brennan has thrown for 33 touchdowns and five interceptions.

UH can’t afford to trip

By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

LOGAN, Utah » Almost exactly 15 years ago, Utah State beat Fresno State here.

Hawaii at Utah State

Kickoff: 10 a.m.

TV: KFVE

Radio: 1420-AM

The line: Hawaii by 27

And that time -- unlike this year's version of the Bulldogs, which the Aggies upset four weeks ago for their only win -- it was a very good Fresno State team. It featured Trent Dilfer and Lorenzo Neal and finished 10-2.

Some are already calling this Hawaii team the best in school history. But there's still a lot more football to be played before its legacy is determined. It is unlikely the Warriors will stumble here. But, as Fresno State knows, anything can happen in the mountains in November.

Here's what to watch for as UH completes its road season this afternoon.

When Hawaii has the ball: Warriors quarterback Colt Brennan is beginning to garner recognition as one of the country's best players, with the asterisk of playing against a schedule perceived as weak. That stigma won't be erased this week, but Brennan can add to his gaudy stats that include a nation-leading 33 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also leads the country in passing efficiency and with a completion mark of 74 percent.

Brennan completed five touchdown passes to five different receivers in last week's 68-10 blowout of Idaho, and running back Nate Ilaoa scored once rushing and once receiving. Ilaoa is among the most versatile offensive threats in the league. He has 10 TDs, with eight coming on runs.

When USU freshman left defensive end Jon Overton is in the game, it will provide an interesting matchup since he goes up against UH senior right tackle Dane Uperesa. Both are Punahou graduates. Offensive line coach Dennis McKnight said Uperesa played his best game of the season last week against Idaho. Overton was Buffanblu teammates with Uperesa's brother Drew last year.

The Aggies have had problems tackling, so coach Brent Guy allocated three days last week and one this week to full contact.

When Utah State has the ball: Marcus Cross is the go-to man, and he's been fairly consistent, rushing for 60 or more yards in the past five games. He also has two 100-yard games.

"He's a real quick back," UH inside linebacker Adam Leonard said. "You can tell he's got great vision."

Freshman Riley Nelson has made a big difference at quarterback since taking over the starting spot in the Fresno State game and becoming the first USU quarterback to win his first start in 14 years. Kevin Robinson is the lone deep threat with the dismissal of Tony Pennyman.

UH left end Mel Purcell, who has been playing like a wild man lately, could be poised for another huge game. Aggies starting senior right tackle Malik Cin suffered a foot injury in practice Tuesday and is listed as questionable.

The Warriors will be short-handed on the defensive front, as backup ends Keala Watson, Renolds Fruean and Amani Purcell were all injured against Idaho and are not expected back until December at the earliest. Laupepa Letuli was moved over from the offensive line to help out at defensive end.

A.J. Martinez moves in at starting left cornerback in place of Gerard Lewis, who started the previous two games but did not perform well before being replaced by Martinez last week.

Special teams: UH's Ross Dickerson has won the last two WAC special teams player of the week awards. Don't expect him to get many -- if any -- kickoffs his way today for two reasons: 1) The Aggies won't score much, so they won't kick off much, and 2) When they do kick, it will unlikely be to Dickerson, who ran the opening one back 100 yards against Idaho.

USU used to be very good on special teams, but the loss of Pennyman (fifth nationally in kickoff returns last year) hurts the Aggies here, as opponents can focus on containing Robinson.

The Aggies also have not kicked a field goal all season.

Sophomore Dan Kelly regains his job of kicking PATs for Hawaii this week, along with field goals and kickoffs. Freshman Briton Forester did the extra points last week, but UH coach June Jones did not want to use kickers for two of the WAC-maximum 60 players on the road trip.

KEY MATCHUP
Hawaii vs. Mother Nature

As of last night it looked like the weather might not be too brutal for the visitors from the islands; a high of 55 degrees was expected for the 1 p.m. Mountain time kickoff, with a chance of rain in the morning and a slight possibility in the afternoon, adding up to a 40 percent likelihood of precipitation for the day.

But the skies can change quickly here, and the Warriors don't have the best history in inclement weather, losing at Boise and Reno in recent years in cold and wet conditions.

UH quarterback Colt Brennan -- who went to prep school in Boston and had a year at Colorado -- doesn't see a problem.

"I'm very acclimated to playing in cold weather. It has more of a football feeling in cold weather. But I've never played a game in the snow, so I'm hoping for cold but fair."

Even if the weather holds up, the Aggies hope to see Hawaii's five-game winning streak and WAC championship hopes disappear into the thin air of Logan's 4,775-foot elevation.

The Warriors plan to counter that element with a heavy rotation of players at many positions. Expect to see nine defensive linemen and at least six receivers shuttling in and out of the game.


Hawaii

6-2, 4-1 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 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 8 Tyson Kafentzis 6-1 230 So.
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 34 A.J. Martinez 5-10 179 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
Oct. 21 at New Mexico State W, 49-30
Oct. 28 Idaho W, 68-10
Today at Utah State
Nov. 11 Louisiana Tech
Nov. 18 San Jose State
Nov. 25 Purdue
Dec. 2 Oregon State

Utah State

1-7, 1-3 WAC
PROBABLE STARTERS
Offense
WR 6 Kevin Robinson 6-0 195 Jr.
LT 74 Shawn Murphy 6-4 307 Jr.
LG 56 Ryan Tonnemacher 6-3 275 So.
C 75 Brent DeLadurantey 6-3 308 Sr.
RG 63 Pace Jorgensen 6-5 332 Jr.
RT 76 Malik Cin 6-4 320 Sr.
TE 86 Rob Myers 6-4 237 So.
WR 82 Xavier Bowman 6-3 193 Fr.
QB 12 Riley Nelson 6-1 196 Fr.
FB 25 Lynwood Johnson 6-1 235 So.
TB 4 Marcus Cross 5-11 209 Jr.
Defense
LE 97 Bevan Howard 6-0 265 So.
LT 57 Frank Maile 6-1 257 Jr.
RT 93 Ben Childs 5-11 264 Jr.

77 Derek Hoke 6-9 307 So.
RE 58 Ben Calderwood 6-2 260 So.
Sam 31 Paul Igboeli 6-1 202 Fr.
MLB 40 Derrick Cumbee 6-1 206 So.
Aggie 45 Devon Hall 6-3 205 So.
LC 8 Drew Pearson 6-0 168 Jr.
SS 39 Caleb Taylor 6-3 192 So.
FS 9 Terrance Washington 5-11 198 Sr.
RC 3 Marquise Charles 5-8 167 So.
Specialists
K 38 Bryan Shields 6-1 172 Fr.
P 7 Leon Jackson III 6-1 200 Jr.
H 17 Ryan Bohm 5-11 210 So.
Snap 89 Ryan Wilson 6-3 258 Sr.
KR 6 Kevin Robinson 6-0 195

82 Xavier Bowman 6-3 193 Fr.
PR 6 Kevin Robinson 6-0 195 Jr.

SCHEDULE

Date Opp. Result
Sept. 2 at Wyoming L, 38-7
Sept. 9 at Arkansas L, 20-0
Sept. 16 Utah L, 48-0
Sept. 23 at BYU L, 38-0
Sept. 30 Idaho L, 41-21
Oct. 7 Fresno State W, 13-12
Oct. 14 at San Jose State L, 21-14
Oct. 21 at LaTech L, 45-38
Today Hawaii
Nov. 11 at Nevada
Nov. 18 at Boise State
Nov. 25 New Mexico State

How They Compare

chart

Other Key Statistics

Hawaii Category Utah State

26.4 First downs/game 14.3

5.9 Rushing first downs/game 6.8

19.4 Passing first downs/game 6.0

1.1 First downs by penalty/game 1.5

2.0 Turnovers lost 0.8

1.9 Turnovers gained 1.6

8-149 Interceptions-return yards 4-55

39.8 Punting avg 36.2

61-517 Penalties-yards 37-334

14-7 Fumbles-lost 15-11

58% Third-down-conversion rate 30%

40% Fourth-down-conversion rate 36%

Individual Leaders

Rushing

A Yds Avg TD
Nate Ilaoa, UH 75 531 7.1 8
Colt Brennan, UH 45 194 4.3 2
Marcus Cross, USU 155 637 3.9 3
Riley Nelson, USU 44 213 3.8 0

Passing

A C I Yds TD
Colt Brennan, UH 311 230 5 2,934 33
Tyler Graunke, UH 29 23 0 313 2
Leon Jackson, USU 113 55 6 453 1
Riley Nelson, USU 74 45 2 564 6

Receiving

Rec Yds Avg TD
Davone Bess, UH 59 663 11.2 8
Ross Dickerson, UH 39 518 13.3 5
Marcus Cross, USU 22 189 8.6 1
Kevin Robinson, USU 21 299 14.2 4

Tackles

S A Tot FL/S
Adam Leonard, UH 40 27 67 2.5/1
Leonard Peters, UH 27 23 50 1/0
Solomon Elimimian, UH 20 22 42 2/0
Melila Purcell, UH 18 15 33 9/4
Jake Patek, UH 17 13 30 1/0
Devon Hall, USU 27 24 51 4/0
Antonio Taylor, USU 28 22 50 0/0
Derrick Cumbee, USU 16 26 42 3.5/0
Caleb Taylor, USU 22 20 42 2/0
Paul Igboeli, USU 15 22 37 4.5/2



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