Saturday, November 3, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
UH, San Jose State Back-and-forth scoring is lots of fun for fans, but not always for coaches. Even coaches who love offense.
light it up tonight
The Warriors' defense will have
to stop a Spartans offense
that averages 35 pointsSTARTING LINEUPS
UH-Air Force game stays on a Saturday
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com"I don't ever expect a shootout," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "You hope to play good defense."
When UH and San Jose State get together tonight at 6:05, lots of crooked numbers are expected to quickly appear on the Aloha Stadium scoreboard.
The Western Athletic Conference foes have combined for 208 points in splitting road wins the past two years.
Hawaii's defense has improved vastly and the Warriors are coming off one of the program's biggest victories ever. But no one is taking the Spartans -- especially their high-powered offense -- lightly.
Jones doesn't mess much with his team's defense. He has given the coordinator of that unit, Kevin Lempa, one directive. The usual one.
"We ask them to stop one or the other, run or pass," Jones said. "If they do that, we can usually win the game."
Lempa's choice: The run.
"That's what we've tried to stop every week, and we're getting better at it," he said.
All-time record against Spartans: 8-15-1 San Jose State vs. Hawaii
When: Today at 6:05 p.m.
Where: Aloha Stadium
Parking: Gates open at 2:30 p.m., $3 fee
Tickets: $15 for end zone seats, $19 for sidelines, $11 for students and seniors
TV: KFVE, delayed, 10 p.m.
Radio: 1420-AM, live
The Warriors defense has improved from week to week throughout the season, and is the biggest reason UH (5-2, 4-2 WAC) has won four consecutive games as it prepares to meet the Spartans (2-5, 2-2). The loser is out of the race for a possible share of the conference title.
San Jose State may be better than its record. It has lost three nonconference road games -- scheduled for financial reasons -- against traditional powerhouses. Or, the Spartans might not be as good as their 40-28 and 63-27 victories the past two weeks might seem to indicate -- they were against WAC bottom-feeders Texas-El Paso and Tulsa.
Either way, it doesn't matter to Lempa. To him, 100 points in two weeks is 100 points, even if they were scored against the league's weakest defenses. He remembers all too well the Spartans pounding the Warriors last year for 512 total yards on the way to a 57-48 victory at Aloha Stadium.
"I'm terrified about that," Lempa said. "They're very explosive, whether (Deonce) Whitaker plays or not."
Tailback Whitaker rushed for 278 yards and scored three touchdowns against UH last season. He's hobbled by a strained right knee, but last week his backups, Jarmar Julien and Lamar Ferguson combined for 322 yards on 20 carries.
"It doesn't matter if Whitaker plays or not. Their offensive line is superior. And that quarterback (Clint Carlson, who started the two wins), where's he been? And that receiver (Edell Shepherd). Every team we play has one of those guys, who can turn a hitch into a long touchdown," Lempa said. "We don't count on totally stopping their offense, we have to control it. The key is not giving up big plays. Last year they got big runs, big passes."
Hawaii leads the WAC in scoring defense, with an average yield of 22.0 points a game, and UH is second in yardage given up at 368.0.
The Warriors have come up with 10 takeaways in the four-game win streak, and the Spartans are turnover prone, having given up the football 20 times this season.
"Our defense has evolved over the last five weeks. I really believe the kids are gaining confidence in each other. If someone doesn't make a big play a guy next to him does."
UH freshman cornerback Abraham Elimimian has a sprained right ankle and is listed as probable.
"We'll probably start Hyrum (Peters) and see how Abe is in warm-ups," Lempa said.
As stopping Whitaker has mystified the Warriors, the Spartans have had their fill of UH slotback Craig Stutzmann.
In 1999, when UH beat San Jose State 62-41, Stutzmann caught eight passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Last year, he had a school-record-tying 12 catches for 160 yards and two more touchdowns.
One of those TDs last year was from Nick Rolovich, who also hit Ashley Lelie with a 51-yard scoring pass to close to 50-48 with 6:01 left. But Whitaker then scored on a 45-yard run to ice it for the Spartans.
Rolovich was in the game because starter Tim Chang had been knocked out after throwing a school-record 64 passes. Now, Rolovich is the starter and has led Hawaii to the four consecutive victories.
"They can make some plays," he said of the San Jose State defense, which is seventh in the WAC in scoring (35.0) and ninth in yardage (453.5).
UH's offense is likely to make many more plays. The Warriors are second in the league in scoring offense (36.0) and passing (350.3).
But 12-point-underdog San Jose State has as much motivation as Hawaii -- all seven WAC teams with two or fewer losses are still in the race.
"When you consider where we were two weeks ago, without a win, and now we have a chance to be a factor it's encouraging," Spartans coach Fitz Hill said. "We know the only way we can do it is one game at a time. That's the way we'll try to approach it."
STARTING LINEUPS
San Jose State
Offense WR 3 Edell Shepherd (6-1, 170, SR) LT 74 Chris Fe'esago (6-3, 328, Sr) LG 70 Joseph Hayes (6-4, 291, SO) C 64 Bruno Contreras (6-2, 306, SR) RG 78 Joel Tautuaa (6-4, 365, SR) RT 59 Tim Provost (6-6, 287, JR) TE 89 George Campos (6-4, 260, SR) QB 14 Clint Carlson (6-2, 217, SR) HB 4 Jarmar Julien (6-0, 225, JR) TB 21 Deonce Whitaker (5-6, 185, Grad.) WR 1 Casey Le Blanc (5-10, 193, SR) Defense DE 99 Kevin Michaelis (6-4, 254, Grad.) DT 45 Brandon Miles (6-0, 252, JR) DT 50 Larry Dawson (5-11, 290, SR) DE 99 David Coats (6-2, 245, SR) LB 49 Alvin Dean (6-0, 226, SR) LB 83 Ethan Allen (6-3, 228, JR) LB 6 Patrick Battle (5-11, 228, SR) LC 5 Alex Wallace (5-10, 169, SR) RC 11 Willie Adams (5-10, 171, SR) SS 22 Melvin Cook (5-9, 188, SO) FS 37 Larry Thompson (6-0, 188, SR) P 97 Bryce Partridge (6-3, 185, SO, SQ) K 13 Nick Gilliam (5-8, 170, JR, 1V) Hold 14 Clint Carlson (6-2, 217, SR, 1V) PR 10 Charles Pauley (5-9, 162, JR) 5 Alex Wallace (5-10, 169, SR) KR 10 Charles Pauley (5-9, 162, JR) 5 Alex Wallace (5-10, 169, SR) Snap 89 George Campos (6-4, 260, SR)
University of Hawaii
Offense WR 18 Justin Colbert (5-7, 160, JR) LT 53 Lui Fuata (6-2, 313, JR) LG 76 Manly Kanoa (6-4, 320, SR) C 66 Brian Smith (6-2, 284, SR) RG 65 Vince Manuwai (6-2, 285, JR) RT 69 Uriah Moenoa (6-4, 331, FR) WR 85 Channon Harris (5-8, 151, SR) QB 12 Nick Rolovich (6-2, 200, SR) RB 1 Mike Bass (5-6, 158, FR) WR 2 Craig Stutzmann (5-11, 194, SR) WR 8 Ashley Lelie (6-3, 197, JR) Defense LE 58 La'anui Correa (6-4, 267, JR) LT 70 Mike Iosua (6-3, 272, SR) RT 92 Lance Samuseva (5-11, 285, SO) RE 1 Travis Laboy (6-5, 253, SO) OLB 46 Keani Alapa (6-0, 222, SO) MLB 54 Chris Brown (6-2, 258, JR) OLB 10 Pisa Tinoisamoa (6-0, 217, JR) CB 17 Kelvin Millhouse (6-1, 198, SO) CB 33 Hyrum Peters (5-8, 190, SO) S 3 Jacob Espiau (5-10.196, SR) S 12 Nate Jackson (5-10, 163, JR) P 49 Mat McBriar (6-1, 202, JR) K 47 Justin Ayat (5-11, 203, FR) Hold 22 Jared Flint (6-5, 210, SR) PR 21 Clint Herbert (5-7, 162, SO) 82 Chad Owens (5-8, 175, FR) KR 80 Mark Tate (6-1, 212, FR) 82 Chad Owens (5-8, 175, FR) Snap 66 Brian Smith (6-2, 284, SR)
WAC STANDINGS
CONFERENCE OVERALL W L PF PA W L PF PA Str Boise State 4 1 181 109 5 3 259 195 W3 La. Tech 4 1 191 144 4 3 255 222 W1 Rice 3 1 143 109 6 2 203 197 L1 Hawaii 4 2 222 142 5 2 252 154 W4 Fresno St. 2 2 139 119 6 2 264 207 L2 San Jose St. 2 2 140 120 2 5 180 245 W2 SMU 2 3 111 143 2 4 128 169 W2 Nevada 1 3 107 147 1 6 144 261 L4 UTEP 1 4 92 198 2 6 157 286 L4 Tulsa 0 5 80 203 1 6 138 227 L6 Today
Boise State at Louisiana Tech
SMU at Nevada
Rice at Fresno State
San Jose State at Hawaii
Tulsa at Oklahoma (non-conference game)
Oct. 26
Hawaii 38, Fresno State 34
Oct. 27
Louisiana Tech 41, Rice 38 (OT)
SMU 40, UTEP 14
San Jose State 63, Tulsa 27
Boise State 49, Nevada 7
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
