Wednesday, November 21, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
Air Force brings Lots of fun, eh, that game on Saturday night? You've got to love it when the teams combine for 103 points and it goes down to the wire, right?
tough option
attack to Hawaii
Hawaii's Kevin Lempa hopes his
defense can rebound after giving up
51 points to Miami (Ohio) last weekBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comBetter check with Kevin Lempa.
Actually, the Hawaii defensive coordinator said he didn't mind giving up 51 points to Miami (Ohio) ... because the Warriors got 52.
"If I'm a fan I want to give someone more money. You got to see everything, got your money's worth in that game," Lempa said.
"It was a defensive coordinator's nightmare," he added. "We tried every play we had, even 12 guys on the field once.
"But the bottom line is we won," he said. "I learned a long time ago if you don't play well and you give up points, if you win that overrides it. It's hard to win, so if you do it, however you do it, you gotta be happy."
For Lempa to keep his smile this week, his charges need to shackle Air Force's option attack when the Falcons (5-5) meet the Warriors (7-3) at Aloha Stadium on Saturday. It's an offense based on running the ball, unlike the RedHawks, who riddled Hawaii's secondary for 452 passing yards.
Quarterback Keith Boyea leads Air Force with 974 yards and 15 touchdowns rushing and 1,208 and five by passing.
Lempa said the Air Force option is somewhat similar to the offense run by Rice.
"They throw the ball a little bit more and the quarterback's probably a better runner and they run the ball outside more than Rice. (Rice's Ken Hatfield and Air Force's Fisher DeBerry) coached together for years (at Air Force) so a lot of things are similar."
Although the Owls beat the Warriors 27-24 and rushed for 212 yards, Lempa has pointed to that game as the turning point for UH's defense. The Warriors won five in a row from that point.
Once again, Hawaii's defenders will have to stick to their individual assignments to avoid long gains. And they will likely have to do it again without starting outside linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa and defensive end Travis Laboy, who are still out with injuries.
Also, Keani Alapa, Tinoisamoa's replacement, tried to practice yesterday with a shoulder injury from Saturday's game but was unable to continue after a few repetitions.
If Alapa can't go, Robert Grant and Patrick Harley, two former safeties, will see plenty of time at linebacker. Grant did it against Rice, but Harley has little game experience at the position.
"It's been a long time since this school's beat an option team," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "And we play Rice every year."
Hawaii is an early nine-point favorite. Also, the Warriors have momentum in their favor. UH has won six of its last seven, while Air Force has lost four of five.
"If I had a magic formula and could push a button and put something into them I would," DeBerry told the Rocky Mountain News. "I don't have an answer right now. We're playing the right guys, we're just not making the plays."
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
