By

POSTED: Saturday, November 22, 2008

In 29 years of Western Athletic Conference membership, Hawaii finished in the top two in the league's final standings seven times.

               

     

 

 

Idaho at Hawaii Kickoff: 6:05 p.m. TV: PPV Ch. 255 Radio: 1420-AM The line: Hawaii by 23 1/2

With a win today and some help elsewhere around the league, year No. 30 could produce an eighth.

Hawaii, the WAC's longest-tenured member, faces Idaho to close the conference schedule today at Aloha Stadium. The Vandals are finishing up just their fourth year in the league.

To give themselves a shot at a second-place finish—and take a step toward a third straight bowl appearance—the Warriors will have to avoid a stumble similar to the one they took just three weeks ago.

True, Idaho enters the week last in the league and has won just six conference games since joining the WAC. But Utah State had similar credentials when it stunned the Warriors three weeks ago in Logan, Utah.

“;We're not taking them lightly,”; quarterback Greg Alexander said. “;We know what's at stake here and we have to go out and handle our business. We don't look back, but you can always learn from your mistakes.”;

Hawaii entered the week among three teams with three WAC losses, just behind second-place Louisiana Tech and Nevada (4-2). Boise State can reclaim the title with a win over Nevada today.

The following is a look at the matchup as Hawaii tries to break the .500 mark for the first time this season:

 

When Hawaii has the ball: The Warriors will face an Idaho defense that scrapes the bottom of the national rankings, checking in at 117th in both scoring defense (42.2 ppg) and total defense (483 ypg).

But, again, the Utah State loss provides a guard against overconfidence, as red-zone miscues overshadowed an otherwise productive day.

“;It's not really who we play,”; offensive coordinator Ron Lee said, “;it's how we play.”;

Following the bye, the Warriors hope to maintain the timing and rhythm they displayed on their road trip and Lee noted the benefits of the break in practice.

“;I feel like guys are so much faster, quarterbacks' arms are stronger. Everybody's refreshed,”; Lee said. “;I think the guys are starting to have fun. They're practicing better, they're more focused, the execution is better.”;

Kealoha Pilares figures to see action as a running back and slotback. Running back Daniel Libre sat out a practice this week with an injury, and Leon Wright-Jackson could miss the game with a sore foot.

Idaho defensive end Josh Shaw leads the Vandals with 10 tackles for losses, including three of Idaho's eight sacks, which is tied for fewest in the country.

When Idaho has the ball: Idaho quarterback Nathan Enderle will be without his main target following the loss of tight end Eddie Williams to a knee injury. Williams led the Vandals in receiving and scored two touchdowns against UH last year.

“;He was a beast,”; UH safety Keao Monteilh said. “;He was fast, he was strong, he was hard to bring down.”;

Williams' absence could put even more of the weight on a running game powered by sophomore Deonte Jackson and freshman Princeton McCarty.

While the Vandals are young at the skill positions, they start three seniors on the offensive line led by center Adam Korby. Junior guard Mike Iupati (6-foot-6, 340 pounds) also caught the attention of UH coaches.

“;They have a center and a guard who are two of the best we've seen,”; defensive line coach Dave Aranda said.

The Warriors moved speedy and versatile Ryan Mouton to free safety this week to help guard against big plays after giving up close to 400 passing yards at New Mexico State.

Middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian could finish the night second on the WAC's all-time tackles list. He enters the game fourth with 391 career stops with Boise State's Korey Hall (394) and San Jose State's Matt Castelo (397) just ahead. Robert Rodriguez (UTEP, 2001-'04) holds the conference record with 443.

Special teams: The Warriors hope to turn Idaho's strength in the kicking game into an advantage.

Vandals punter T.J. Conley leads the nation with an average of 47.2 yards per kick. But the distance on his punts could give UH's returners more room to operate, as Idaho opponents have averaged close to 15 yards per return this season.

When the Warriors kick the ball away, Damien grad Kama Bailey will be a focus for the UH coverage units. Bailey leads the Vandals in all-purpose yardage, most of his production coming on kickoff returns (22.1 yards per return).

“;He does a good job of finding just a small crack and hitting it hard,”; UH special teams coach Ikaika Malloe said.

UH's Malcolm Lane is sixth nationally in kick returns, prompting New Mexico State to kick the ball short rather than give Lane a chance to break off a big play two weeks ago.

The Warriors' front line will also have to be on alert against an Idaho kickoff team that has attempted a league-high six onside kicks and recovered four.

 

KEY MATCHUP

UH QB Greg Alexander vs. Idaho secondary

Alexander has stabilized the quarterback spot in the Warriors' last 2 1/2 games, making his progressions with greater confidence and connecting on 69 percent of his throws in that span.

His chemistry with the receivers has contributed to a string of 92 passes without an interception dating back to the season opener at Florida.

Idaho had some success defensively against the Warriors last season, intercepting five Colt Brennan passes in Moscow, Idaho.

But the Vandals' secondary has been depleted by injuries and suspensions. Safety Shiloh Keo suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in September, and cornerback Breyon Williams and safety Shelton Miles were suspended earlier this month. Keo and Williams had picks against UH last year.

With Williams out, a green Idaho defense got even younger last week as freshman Kenneth Patten made his first start at cornerback.

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OTHER KEY STATISTICS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Hawaii	Category	Idaho
6.6	Rushing first downs/game	7.7
10.3	Passing first downs/game	8.6
1.7	First downs by penalty/game	1.5
10-189	Interceptions-return yards	9-54
39.2	Punting avg.	47.2
89-776	Penalties-yards	70-682
24-12	Fumbles-lost	20-11
35%	Third-down conversion rate	41%
40%	Fourth-down conversion rate	24%

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

	A	Yds	Avg	TD
Deonte Jackson, UI	144	647	4.5	3
Princeton McCarty, UI	70	454	6.6	3
Daniel Libre, UH	72	361	5.0	3
Kealoha Pilares, UH	49	255	5.2	4

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

	A	C	I	Yds	TD
Nathan Enderle, UI	308	165	14	1,913	18
Chris Joseph, UI	31	15	2	170	0
Inoke Funaki, UH	168	95	12	1,119	6
Greg Alexander, UH	106	70	2	780	5

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD
Eddie Williams, UI	54	687	12.7	6
Preston Davis, UI	24	261	10.9	3
Mike Washington, UH	41	474	11.6	4
Greg Salas, UH	40	578	14.4	2

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

	S	A	Tot	FL/S
Virdell Larkins, UI	67	10	77	2/0
Jonathan Faraimo, UI	49	18	67	4/0.5
Justin Allen, UI	44	21	65	3/1
Jeromy Jones, UI	26	22	48	0/0
Solomon Elimimian, UH	37	41	78	6.5/2.5
David Veikune, UH	37	19	56	11.5/5
Adam Leonard, UH	29	25	54	6/1
Jameel Dowling, UH	34	19	53	2.5/1.5

Idaho

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Offense
LT	71	Billy Bates	6-5	273	Sr.
LG	77	Mike Iupati	6-6	330	Jr.
C	72	Adam Korby	6-2	292	Sr.
RG	65	Kris Anderson	6-3	283	Sr.
RT	79	Bryce Sinclair	6-5	327	Jr.
Y	89	Peter Bjorvik	6-4	245	Jr.
X	86	Lee Smith	6-0	196	Sr.
H	80	Jim Reuber	6-3	254	Sr.
Z	7	Preston Davis	6-1	191	Fr.
SL	22	Max Komar	5-10	202	Jr.
TB	3	Deonte Jackson	5-8	191	So.
QB	10	Nathan Enderle	6-5	223	So.
Defense
END	98	Josh Shaw	6-2	250	Sr.
NOSE	44	Faleaoga Faumui	6-0	299	Jr.
T	95	Aaron Lavarias	6-3	262	So.
RUSH	57	Taylor Rust	6-2	235	Sr.
SLB	45	Jonathan Faraimo	5-11	251	So.
MLB	31	Justin Allen	5-11	215	So.
WLB	1	Robert Siavii	6-2	195	Fr.
FS	24	Virdell Larkins	6-0	191	Jr.
SS	6	Jeromy Jones	6-0	200	Jr.
CB	27	Isaac Butts	6-0	175	So.
CB	23	Kenneth Patten	5-9	183	Fr.
Specialists
KO	99	Vicente Rico	6-1	225	Sr.
PK	19	Tino Amancio	5-9	215	Sr.
P	14	T.J. Conley	6-3	220	Sr.
KR	25	Kama Bailey	5-9	209	Fr.
	81	Steve Brown	5-10	168	So.
PR	25	Kama Bailey	5-9	209	Fr.
H	14	T.J. Conley	6-3	220	Sr.
LS	35	Joel Jones	6-1	240	Sr.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

DATE	OPP.	RESULT
Aug. 30	at Arizona	L, 70-0
Sept. 6	Idaho State	W, 42-27
Sept. 13	Western Michigan	L, 51-28
Sept. 20	at Utah State	L, 42-17
Sept. 27	at San Diego State	L, 45-17
Oct. 4	Nevada	L, 49-14
Oct. 11	at Fresno State	L, 45-32
Oct. 18	at Louisiana Tech	L, 46-14
Oct. 25	New Mexico State	W, 20-14
Nov. 1	San Jose State	L, 30-24
Nov. 15	Boise State	L, 45-10
Today	at Hawaii

HAWAII

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Offense
Z	89	Malcolm Lane	6-1	180	Jr.
H	5	Mike Washington	5-9	170	Sr.
LT	77	Aaron Kia	6-5	290	Jr.
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	78	Keoni Steinhoff	6-3	295	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	21	Kealoha Pilares	5-11	190	So.
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	13	Brashton Satele	6-1	255	Jr.
CB	3	Jameel Dowling	6-3	200	Sr.
FS	2	Ryan Mouton	5-10	175	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.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

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
Nov. 8	at New Mexico State	W, 42-30
Today	Idaho
Nov. 29	Washington State
Dec. 6	Cincinnati