StarBulletin.com

Warriors will have their hands full on defense


By

POSTED: Saturday, October 25, 2008

This one shapes up as a test of strengths.

                       
WARRIORS FOOTBALL
Nevada (4-3, 2-1 WAC) at Hawaii (3-4, 2-2), 6:05 p.m. today, Oceanic PPV Ch. 255; KKEA, 1420-AM

As expected, a veteran Hawaii defense has anchored the Warriors this season, sparking wins with turnovers and keeping them competitive in other games while a rebuilding offense searches for its identity.

Opposite the Warriors tonight will be a Nevada attack that's scored at least 44 points in each of the last four games and “;could be one of the best offenses we've played,”; Hawaii coach Greg McMackin said.

The duel between the teams' featured units highlights a pivotal Western Athletic Conference game in both teams' pursuits of postseason berths.

At 3-4 overall and 2-2 in WAC play following last week's loss at Boise State, Hawaii's margin for error in its run at a third straight bowl appearance is shrinking fast. Nevada (4-3, 2-1) is 0-4 at Aloha Stadium in WAC play and needs a win to stay within sight of the conference leaders with a run against the front-runners coming up.

Following is a look at the matchup as Hawaii enters its lone home game in a five-week stretch:

When Hawaii has the ball: McMackin said the Warriors will open things up this week as the offense tries to keep pace with the WAC's highest-scoring offense.

;

Executing that philosophy will depend heavily on the play of the Hawaii offensive line.

The Warriors gave up seven sacks against Boise State and rank next to last in the nation in sacks allowed at 3.71 per game. The line will have to hold up against a Wolf Pack front that has 20 sacks this season, led by defensive end Dontay Moch's 5 1/2 .

Hawaii sputtered last week once running back/slotback Kealoha Pilares, the Warriors' most effective weapon of late, went out with a sprained foot. In his absence, the backfield duties will be shared by a trio of backs, and David Farmer's blocking ability could make him a key part of the protection scheme.

Inoke Funaki remains UH's starting quarterback, looking to rebound from a five-interception performance, though McMackin indicated that more than one QB could see action tonight.

Greg Salas has emerged as the top playmaker among the Warriors receivers and will operate against a Wolf Pack defense that ranks fifth nationally against the run but is 119th in pass defense.

But facing three of the country's top eight air attacks—Texas Tech, Missouri and New Mexico State—does tend to slant the numbers.

When Nevada has the ball: The Wolf Pack running game is second in the country, aided in part by Colin Kaepernick's improvement as a passer.

“;To have a quarterback develop in the passing game and be an awesome runner gives them a different aspect,”; UH linebacker Adam Leonard said.

Nevada has added an option element to the pistol offense and Kaepernick has run for 11 touchdowns, while running back Vai Taua, who's averaging 105.1 yards per game in place of injured Luke Lippincott, has nine scores.

Devote too much attention to the run, though, and a receiver corps led by Marko Mitchell (85.6 ypg, four TDs) can get loose in the secondary for Kaepernick, who is completing 62.5 percent of his throws.

The numbers Kaepernick and Taua have racked up can also be credited to the work of a hefty offensive line.

“;(The pistol) gives the offensive line opportunities to move the line of scrimmage and the running back a chance to read the gaps as the holes develop,”; Leonard said.

Closing those gaps will fall on a Hawaii front seven preparing for a physical battle at the line of scrimmage. The Warriors defense kept Hawaii in contention against Boise State last week until a hail of second-half turnovers contributed to 17 second-half points.

Special teams: With the Hawaii return units skimming the bottom of the national rankings, the Warriors have made some changes in that phase of the kicking game.

Warrior special teams coach Ikaika Malloe implemented some of the adjustments to the units prior to having an emergency appendectomy on Wednesday. Aaron Bain is now slated to return punts and Malcolm Lane will return kickoffs.

Dan Kelly's field goal with 11 seconds left decided last year's meeting in Reno and he's made five of his last six kicks. Nevada's Brett Jaekle is 7-for-9 this season, but the Wolf Pack don't settle for field goals much, as he's attempted just three in the last five games.

;

 

 

KEY MATCHUP

Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick vs. UH LB Solomon Elimimian

Containing Kaepernick was a central theme for the Warriors defense last year, when it held the freshman to 23 yards rushing and 134 passing in a 28-26 win.

Elimimian played a big part in that scheme and will be in the middle of the action again tonight.

“;As a middle linebacker you're pretty keyed into the quarterback,”; UH coach Greg McMackin said. “;He's pretty important in controlling any running game.”;

The Warriors have faced multi-talented quarterbacks before in Washington's Jake Locker and Florida's Tim Tebow, and “;(Kaepernick's) definitely similar,”; Elimimian said. “;He's a dual-threat quarterback and he has a great football mind. He's right up there with them.”;

Kaepernick averages 87 rushing yards per game, and keeping the 6-foot-6 sophomore from turning the corner on the option will be among the tasks facing the Warrior defense.

As Elimimian chases Kaepernick, he'll also be running down the school's career tackles record. He's three shy of the mark of 366 set by Levi Stanley in the early 1970s.


OTHER KEY STATISTICS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

     

 

 

HawaiiCategoryNevada
6.3Rushing first downs/game15.6
9.4Passing first downs/game9.6
2.0First downs by penalty/game1.0
7-61Interceptions-return yards8-109
38.0Punting avg.42.5
62-565Penalties-yards51-443
15-7Fumbles-lost12-10
26%Third-down conversion rate42%
50%Fourth-down conversion rate47%
29.7Pts. allowed/game29.7

 

       

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing

AYdsAvgTD
Vai Taua, NEV1157366.49
Colin Kaepernick, NEV726138.511
Kealoha Pilares, UH452365.24
Daniel Libre, UH452044.51
Passing

ACIYdsTD
Colin Kaepernick, NEV16810541,34810
Nick Graziano, NEV291521450
Inoke Funaki, UH14583119885Tyler Graunke, UH563033883
Receiving

RecYdsAvgTD
Marko Mitchell, NEV3159919.34
Mike McCoy, NEV241727.20
Mike Washington, UH323009.41
Greg Salas, UH2538015.22
Tackles

SATotFL/S
Uche Anyanwu, NEV3310432/0
Joshua Mauga, NEV2416405.5/2.5
Jonathon Amaya, NEV238310/0
Kevin Grimes, NEV1711280/0
Solomon Elimimian, UH2624504.5/1
David Veikune, UH2715425/0
Jameel Dowling, UH2215371/1
Brashton Satele, UH1915345/1

Nevada
4-3 (2-1 WAC)
PROBABLE STARTERS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
Offense
Z4Marko Mitchell6-3210Sr.
X14Chris Wellington6-1185So.
F89Mike McCoy6-0190Sr.
T50Mike Gallett6-6295So.
G62John Bender6-8325So.
C61Dominic Green6-3295Sr.
G63Kenneth Ackerman6-4280Jr.
or65Brad Eskew6-4295Sr.
T73Alonzo Durham6-4285Jr.
TE42Kevin Bohr6-3240Jr.
QB10Colin Kaepernick6-6215So.
RB34Vai Taua5-10225So.
Defense
E55Dontay Moch6-1245So.
T94Mundrae Clifton6-2290Sr.
T95Nate Agaiava6-2285So.
E99Kevin Basped6-6240So.
or58Ryan Coulson6-3255So.
SAM52J-M Johnson6-2220Fr.
MIKE30Joshua Mauga6-2245Sr.
WOLF33Brandon Marshall6-1230Fr.
or36Mike Bethea6-3245Jr.
CB45 Antoine Thompson6-1195Jr.
SS49Jonathon Amaya6-2190Jr.
FS17Uche Anyanwu6-4220Sr.
CB28MikeEvans5-10180So.
Specialists
K13Brett Jaekle6-4210Sr.
P48Brad Langley6-0200So.
KR84Brian Fludd5-9160Sr.

14Chris Wellington6-1185So.
PR49Jonathon Amaya6-2190Jr.
H15Luke Collis6-3210Fr.
LS58Ryan Coulson6-3255Fr.

SCHEDULE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
DATEOPP.RESULT
Aug. 30Grambling StateW, 49-13
Sept. 6Texas TechL, 35-19
Sept. 13at MissouriL, 69-17
Sept. 27at UNLVW, 49-27
Oct. 4at IdahoW, 49-14
Oct. 11New Mexico StateL, 48-45
Oct. 18Utah StateW, 44-17
Todayat Hawaii
Nov. 7at Fresno State
Nov. 15San Jose State
Nov. 22Boise State
Nov. 29at Louisiana Tech

HAWAII
3-4 (2-2 WAC)
PROBABLE STARTERS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Offense
Z89Malcolm Lane6-1180Jr.
H5Mike Washington5-9170Sr.
LT77Aaron Kia6-5290Jr.
LG50Laupepa Letuli6-4320Jr.
C55John Estes6-2295Jr.
RG51Lafu Tuioti-Mariner6-0300Sr.
RT78Keoni Steinhoff6-3295Sr.
Y85Aaron Bain5-8190Sr.
X1Greg Salas6-2200So.
QB11Inoke Funaki5-11190Jr.
RB26Daniel Libre5-8185Sr.
or48David Farmer6-1245Sr.
Defense
DE94David Veikune6-3265Sr.
DT93Keala Watson6-3320Sr.
DT99Josh Leonard6-3305Sr.
DE58John Fonoti6-2255Jr.
STUB44Adam Leonard6-0235Sr.
MLB17Solomon Elimimian6-0225Sr.
BUCK59R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane5-11225Jr.
CB2Ryan Mouton5-10175Sr.
FS35Keao Monteilh5-11200Sr.
SS7Erik Robinson5-10200Sr.
CB23Calvin Roberts5-11175Sr.
Specialists
K86Dan Kelly6-3225Sr.
P49Tim Grasso5-11210Sr.
KR89Malcolm Lane6-1180Jr.
PR85Aaron Bain5-8190Sr.
LS57Jake Ingram6-4235Sr.
H49Tim Grasso5-11210Sr.

SCHEDULE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
DATEOPP.RESULT
Aug. 30at FloridaL, 56-10
Sept. 6Weber StateW, 36-17
Sept. 13at Oregon StateL, 45-7
Sept. 27San Jose StateL, 20-17
Oct. 4at Fresno StateW, 32-29 OT
Oct. 11Louisiana TechW, 24-14
Oct. 17at Boise StateL, 27-17
TodayNevada
Nov. 1at Utah State
Nov. 8at New Mexico State
Nov. 22Idaho
Nov. 29Washington State
Dec. 6Cincinnati