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POSTED: Saturday, November 08, 2008

EL PASO, Texas » College football's coaching network will bring Hawaii coach Greg McMackin face to face with a familiar passing attack.

               

     

 

 

Hawaii at New Mexico State Kickoff: 11 a.m. TV: PPV, Dig. 255 Radio: 1420-AM The line: Hawaii by 3 1/2

After leaving Hawaii after the 1999 season, McMackin spent three years in West Texas coaching with Mike Leach as associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Texas Tech.

Leach has produced one of the nation's top passing offenses in his tenure in Lubbock, one McMackin saw regularly in practice from 2000 to 2002.

McMackin is back in the region for today's Western Athletic Conference game at New Mexico State—led by passing-game innovator Hal Mumme—and is preparing to face much the same offense.

“;(Mumme) taught Leach what he knows and that's his system,”; McMackin said, referring to the duo's tenures together at three schools, including Kentucky. “;He knows how to move the football.”;

The Warriors, 4-0 against NMSU all-time, and Aggies enter today's meeting coming off disappointing losses and needing a win to sustain their flickering postseason aspirations.

The following is a look at the matchup for Hawaii's final road game of the season:

When Hawaii has the ball: The Warriors had no problem moving the ball last week against Utah State. Scoring was another issue in the 30-14 loss. Actually, scoring on the road hasn't come easy for most of the season.

Take away a 32-point outing in its lone road win at Fresno State, and Hawaii has averaged 9.5 points on the mainland.

“;That has nothing to do with the road. We just need to execute better,”; offensive coordinator Ron Lee said. “;I think we did a good job of prepping—now we just have to go do it.”;

After not getting on the field for a five-game stretch, quarterback Greg Alexander has completed 62 percent of his passes and tossed three touchdowns and no interceptions since the last series of the Boise State game.

Alexander will be given his second start in a row, with Inoke Funaki expected to play a role in the game plan as well. Kealoha Pilares, Hawaii's leading touchdown producer, is set to return to the slotback rotation after missing the last two games.

NMSU is led by free safety Derrick Richardson, the nation's leader in tackles with 95 stops. The front is anchored by the Hawaii duo of Oren Long and La'Auli Fonoti.

When New Mexico State has the ball: With their offensive line depleted by injuries, the Aggies departed from their passing attack and ran the ball on 11 of their first 12 plays last week against Boise State to take pressure off quarterback Chase Holbrook. The strategy didn't work out all that well in a 49-0 loss in which Holbrook left the game with a sore elbow.

Holbrook said he'll be ready for today's game and McMackin expects the Aggies to return to their roots in the passing game.

Holbrook, the WAC's leading passer at 265.8 yards per game, and receivers Chris Williams, A.J. Harris and Marcus Anderson will keep the Warriors secondary busy. Williams is the league leader in receptions and yards per game and averages 134.5 all-purpose yards per game. Anderson leads the Aggies with seven receiving touchdowns.

Like Hawaii, NMSU is expected to welcome a leading rusher back to action in Marquell Colston.

Hawaii will counter NMSU's spread look with five or six defensive backs, including cornerback Ryan Mouton, who moved back to defense full-time this week after concentrating on receiver the previous two games.

Special teams: Hawaii kicker Dan Kelly was hitting field goals from beyond 55 yards in practices with relative ease this week, including a 62-yarder.

The problem last week was protection when two kicks were blocked. NMSU kicker Kyle Hughes has made all 24 of his PATs this season and is 4-for-8 on field goals, but has attempted just one in the last three games.

Hawaii's Malcolm Lane has four kickoff returns of 40 yards or more in the last two games to vault to eighth in the country.

 

KEY MATCHUP

Hawaii defensive line vs. NMSU offensive line

The Warriors have put some hard hits on Chase Holbrook in wins over NMSU the last two years. The Aggies have had trouble protecting the quarterback lately and gave up six sacks against Boise State last week.

“;We've played eight football games and we've started four different left tackles and we've started two centers, two different right tackles,”; NMSU coach Hal Mumme said. “;We've had a hard time with twists and rush because of that.”;

UH defensive end David Veikune has 4 1/2 sacks in the last two games. NMSU has started sophomore Joe Suder at right tackle for the last two games.

The Warriors have moved Francis Maka from defensive end to tackle to put more speed on the field in pass rushing situations.

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OTHER KEY STATISTICS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Hawaii	Category	NMSU
6.2	Rushing first downs/game	5.0
9.9	Passing first downs/game	12.6
1.9	First downs by penalty/game	1.8
8-66	Interceptions-return yards	9-145
39.4	Punting avg.	42.5
78-681	Penalties-yards	48-424
20-9	Fumbles-lost	17-9
31%	Third-down conversion rate	38%
40%	Fourth-down conversion rate	43%

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Rushing
	A	Yds	Avg	TD
Marquell Colston, NMSU	73	353	4.8	4
Tonny Glynn, NMSU	43	165	3.8	0
Daniel Libre, UH	59	273	4.6	1
Kealoha Pilares, UH	45	236	5.2	4

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Passing
	A	C	I	Yds	TD
Chase Holbrook, NMSU	284	188	11	2,126	16
J.J. McDermott, NMSU	34	20	2	246	0
Inoke Funaki, UH	167	95	12	1,119	6
Greg Alexander, UH	74	44	2	492	3

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Receiving
	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD
Chris Williams, NMSU	58	788	13.6	4
A.J. Harris, NMSU	49	470	9.6	2
Mike Washington, UH	38	434	11.4	4
Greg Salas, UH	33	487	14.8	2

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Tackles
	S	A	Tot	FL/S
Derrick Richardson, NMSU	42	53	95	2.5/0
Nick Paden, NMSU	24	49	73	5/2
Alphonso Powell, NMSU	25	30	55	4/0
Jason Scott, NMSU	20	34	54	6/1
Solomon Elimimian, UH	33	35	68	5.5/1.5
David Veikune, UH	36	19	55	10.5/4.5
Jameel Dowling, UH	32	17	49	2.5/1.5
Adam Leonard, UH	28	18	46	6/1

HAWAII
4-5, 3-3 WAC
PROBABLE STARTERS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Offense
Z	89	Malcolm Lane	6-1	180	Jr.
H	5	Mike Washington	5-9	170	Sr.
LT	95	Vaughn Meatoga	6-1 305 Sr.
LG	50	Laupepa Letuli	6-4	320	Jr.
C	55	John Estes	6-2	295	Jr.
RG	51	Lafu Tuioti-Mariner	6-0	300	Sr.
RT	51	Francis Maka	6-2 240 Sr.
Y	85	Aaron Bain 5-8 190 Sr.
X	1	Greg Salas	6-2	200	So.
QB	12	Greg Alexander	6-3	230	Jr.
RB	26	Daniel Libre	5-8	185	Sr.
Defense
DE	94	David Veikune	6-3	265	Sr.
DT	93	Keala Watson	6-3	320	Sr.
DT	99	Josh Leonard	6-3	305	Sr.
DE	58	John Fonoti	6-2	255	Jr.
STUB	44	Adam Leonard	6-0	235	Sr.
MLB	17	Solomon Elimimian	6-0	225	Sr.
BUCK	59	R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane	5-11	225	Jr.
CB	2	Ryan Mouton	5-10	175	Sr.
FS	24	Desmond Thomas	6-2	170	Sr.
SS	7	Erik Robinson	5-10	200	Sr.
CB	23	Calvin Roberts	5-11	175	Sr.
Specialists
K	86	Dan Kelly	6-3	225	Sr.
P	49	Tim Grasso	5-11	210	Sr.
KR	89	Malcolm Lane	6-1	180	Jr.
PR	85	Aaron Bain	5-8	190	Sr.
LS	57	Jake Ingram	6-4	235	Sr.
H	49	Tim Grasso	5-11	210	Sr.

SCHEDULE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

DATE	OPP.	RESULT
Aug. 30	at Florida	L, 56-10
Sept. 6	Weber State	W, 36-17
Sept. 13	at Oregon State	L, 45-7
Sept. 27	San Jose State	L, 20-17
Oct. 4	at Fresno State	W, 32-29 OT
Oct. 11	Louisiana Tech	W, 24-14
Oct. 17	at Boise State	L, 27-7
Oct. 25	Nevada	W, 38-31
Nov. 1	at Utah State	L, 30-14
Today	at New Mexico State
Nov. 22	Idaho
Nov. 29	Washington State
Dec. 6	Cincinnati

NEW MEXICO STATE
3-5, 1-3 WAC
PROBABLE STARTERS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Offense
RT	74	Joe Suder	6-5	346
Jr. C	62	Mike Grady	6-3	302	Fr.
LG	76	Chuck Taylor	6-3	345
So. LT	73	Patrick Blount	6-3	345	So.
QB	12	Chase Holbrook	6-5	246	Sr.
Z	28	Chris Williams	5-8	157	Sr.
X	18	A.J. Harris	6-0	210	Sr.
H	10	Marcus Anderson	5-8	166	Jr.
TE	17	Kyle Nelson	6-4	232	So.
Y	81	Kenneth Buckley	5-9	187	So.
RB	3	Marquell Colston	5-9	205	Jr.
Defense
LT	24	Justen Alford	6-2	227	Jr.
N	9	La'Auli Fonoti	6-4	253	Sr.
RT	95	Oren Long	6-2	260	Sr.
LE	35	Chris Nwoko	6-1	228	Sr.
M	42	Nick Paden	6-3	235	Jr.
RE	34	Jason Scott	5-10	207	Jr.
LBS	41	Brennen Baiamonte	6-1	211	Sr.
RBS	31	Alphonso Powell	5-9	182	So.
LC	4	Davon House	6-0	172	So.
RC	20	Marvin Betts	5-9	180	Sr.
FS	22	Derrick Richardson	5-10	190	Sr.
Specialists
K	96	Kyle Hughes	6-0	184	So.
P	96	Kyle Hughes	6-0	184	So.
KR	28	Chris Williams	5-8	157	Sr.
PR	28	Chris Williams	5-8	157	Sr.
LS	17	Kyle Nelson	6-4	232	So.
H	29	Doug McDaniel	5-10	193	Sr.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

SCHEDULE
DATE	OPP.	RESULT
Sept. 4	Nicholls State	Canceled
Sept. 13	at Nebraska	L, 38-7
Sept. 20	at UTEP	W, 34-33
Sept. 27	New Mexico	L, 35-24
Oct. 4	Alcorn State	W, 45-10
Oct. 11	at Nevada	W, 48-45
Oct. 18	San Jose State	L, 31-14
Oct. 25	at Idaho	L, 20-14
Nov. 1	Boise State	L, 49-0
Today	Hawaii
Nov. 15	at Fresno State
Nov. 22	Louisiana Tech
Nov. 29	at Utah State