UTEP blowouts
can be deceiving

The Miners are a lot better
than their last 2 losses, in which
they were outscored 145-17

Schedules / Stats

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

EL PASO, Texas >> They're really not that bad.

That's what Hawaii's Warriors keep saying about the Texas-El Paso Miners, UH's opponents in tonight's Western Athletic Conference opener for both football teams.

"They're not half as bad as their scores make them look," Hawaii defensive end La'anui Correa said. "They run at people. They got a bunch of yards against Oklahoma."

But no points. UTEP lost 68-0 at Norman last week. That was somewhat expected. But getting belted 77-17 at Kentucky the week prior wasn't.

UH right tackle Uriah Moenoa said the real Miners are the ones who beat Sacramento State 42-12 to open the season Aug. 31 -- at home.

"I don't believe those other scores," Moenoa said. "If you look at film, this is a really good team. They just had some bad luck over the past two weeks. They're real hungry after the beating they took from us last year and now we're going into their house. We gotta bring our 'A' Game, and Coach is putting in some new plays."

Hawaii coach June Jones is taking the Miners seriously.

"We know this game is big for them," he said. "They played hard against Oklahoma, and they'll play hard against us."

The Warriors posted a UTEP pasting of their own last fall at Aloha Stadium, running away to a 66-7 rout spurred by three interception returns for touchdowns.

"I like to think both teams are different teams than last year," UTEP coach Gary Nord said. "All we can do is take care of our own team. Hawaii looks like a good solid team everywhere you look. They're more than just offense. They've got all kinds of speed on defense and good special teams."

UH is favored by 19 1/2 points, although UTEP has beaten Hawaii the last three times at the Sun Bowl, by a combined 103-47. The Miners are 12-4 at home since 1999.

The Warriors come off a bye week after losing 35-32 at Brigham Young. It gave Hawaii lots of time to rest, but it also gave sophomore starting quarterback Tim Chang lots of time to think about not having won on the road yet.

"I'm a lagging 0-for-4 (as a starter away from home)," said Chang, whose broken pinkie finger on his throwing hand still needs three weeks to completely heal. "It's been on my mind, but I know it's hard to win on the road. We were so close (against BYU). There are so many plays running through my mind over and over again, making me think we should have won."

Chang was intercepted four times against the Cougars, but he is fourth in the nation in total offense with 348.5 yards per game.

Jones said he expects UTEP will go after Chang.

"Defensively they're going to play us very aggressive," Jones said. "They'll dog us, blitz us, come after us. We'll make some plays against their man-to-man, they play a lot of man-to-man. That's how they beat us down there a couple years ago."

Chang said he threw the ball behind receivers too much against BYU, and that caused some of the interceptions.

"I feel a lot more comfortable now, more accurate," Chang said. "At this point, the pain's all gone from the finger. After a while you get numb to the pain."

Shawn Withy-Allen will likely replace Chang in situations requiring an under-center snap, because of Chang's finger.

Former Hawaii head coach Bob Wagner is no longer the UTEP defensive coordinator, and Nord switched from the flex defense back to a 4-2-5 alignment. So far, it hasn't helped.

The Oklahoma loss marked the eighth time in the last 10 games in which the Miners have given up 400 or more yards, despite some good play from all-WAC safety D.J. Walker and linebacker Robert Rodriguez.

The Miners took their starters out early against Oklahoma. That didn't help the score, but it kept UTEP healthy for this game. Backup tailback Sherman Austin is doubtful with a high ankle sprain, but injuries aren't a problem otherwise.

Sophomore tailback Howard Jackson has emerged as the Miners' top offensive threat. He's rushed for 266 yards and four touchdowns. UTEP averages 204.3 yards on the ground per game.

"Jackson brings a lot to our running game -- good running awareness, quickness and speed," Nord said. "But he's young. You like your main back to come into the season with experience. He hadn't touched the ball much before the season started."

Quarterback Jon Schaper hasn't put up good numbers (40 percent completions, three TDs and three interceptions), but Nord is happy with the sophomore's progress.

The offensive line, led by senior left tackle Ariel Famaligi, has protected him well, allowing only one sack against Kentucky and Oklahoma.

The Miners like to run the option 15 or so times a game, and the Warriors have worked extensively on stopping it. The Warrior defense -- which might include two new starters in safety David Gilmore and end Houston Ala -- won't be reminiscing about last year's dream game against UTEP.

"That's as well as we've played defensively," defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said. "We played all the things we planned, and they worked.

"If you look back two years ago, the score was 7-0, we're winning, we block a punt, it should be 14-0. But they call a penalty, boom, it's 7-7. It was just like us last year. It's 7-0, they're driving. If they hit that touchdown (instead of giving up an interception for a touchdown), it's another game. Big plays made a big difference."

UH linebacker Matt Wright was in the middle of all that, recovering the fumble in the end zone two years ago that gave the Warriors early hopes of winning on the road, and running the first interception back for a TD in last year's blowout.

"They're going to be fired up, especially with what happened to them last week and against us last year," Wright said. "But all that stuff on the side, we just have to forget about it. All you know is you have to go to their house. We just have to stick to our game plan and good things will happen for us."

Whieldon returning: UH quarterback Jason Whieldon is returning to Hawaii tomorrow and will resume classes and rejoin the Warriors on Monday, two sources close to the team have confirmed.

Jones has declined to comment on a television report earlier this week that Whieldon, who said he quit the team last Monday, had changed his mind. Whieldon did not return repeated calls from the Star-Bulletin to his Orange, Calif., home Thursday and yesterday. Whieldon left the team for family reasons, he said last week.

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BACK TO TOP
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Warriors vs. Miners Who: Hawaii (1-1) at Texas-El Paso (1-2) When: 3 p.m. Hawaii time TV: KFVE (Channel 5) Radio: 1420-AM Of note: Hawaii has won one of its last eight Western Athletic Conference openers

Schedules

Hawaii

Aug. 31	Eastern Illinois	W, 61-36
Sept. 6	at Brigham Young	L, 32-35
Today	at Texas-El Paso
Sept. 28	Southern Methodist
Oct. 5	at Boise State
Oct. 12	Nevada
Oct. 19	Tulsa
Oct. 25	at Fresno State
Nov. 2	San Jose State
Nov. 16	at Rice
Nov. 23	Cincinnati
Nov. 30	Alabama
Dec. 7	San Diego State

Texas-El Paso

Aug. 31	Sacramento State	W, 42-14
Sept. 7	at Kentucky	L, 17-77
Sept. 14	at Oklahoma	L, 0-68

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Today	Hawaii
Sept. 28	at San Jose State
Oct. 5	at New Mexico State
Oct. 19	Rice
Oct. 26	at Tulsa
Nov. 2	Boise State
Nov. 9	at Nevada
Nov. 16	Southern Methodist
Nov. 23	at Louisiana Tech

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Per-game comparison

Hawaii		UTEP
46.5	Points	19.7
35.5	Points Allowed	52.3
516.5	Total Offense	344.3
148.0	Rushing yards	204.3
368.5	Passing yards	140.0
-1.5	Turnovers	-1.7

Team leaders

Passing	A	C	I	Yards	TD
Tim Chang	82	39	5	651	3
Jon Schaper	81	33	3	368	3
Rushing	A	Yards	Avg	TD
Mike Bass	13	127	9.8	0
Howard Jackson	44	266	6.0	4
Receiving	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Justin Colbert	6	159	26.5	2
Terrance Minor	12	188	15.7	3
Scoring	TD	FG-XP	Points	Avg
Thero Mitchell	4	0-0	24	12.0
Howard Jackson	4	0-0	24	8.0
Tackles	Solo	Assist	Avg	FL/S
Pisa Tinoisamoa	11	12	11.5	2/0
D.J. Walker	26	5	10.3	1/0

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Hawaii

Offense

WR	18	Justin Colbert	5-8	170	Sr.
WR	2	Chad Owens	5-9	177	So.
LT	70	Wayne Hunter	6-6	299	Jr.
LG	77	Shayne Kajioka	6-3	308	Jr.
C	53	Lui Fuata	6-2	315	Sr.
RG	65	Vince Manuwai	6-2	309	Sr. RT	69	Uriah Moenoa	6-3	327	So.
WR	21	Clifton Herbert	5-8	157	Jr.
WR	88	Neal Gossett	5-10	177	Sr.
QB	14	Tim Chang	6-2	191	So.
RB	24	Thero Mitchell	5-10	210	Sr.

Defense

LE	58	La'anui Correa	6-5	264	Sr.
LT	97	Isaac Sopoaga	6-3	315	Jr.
RT	92	Lance Samuseva	5-11	290	Jr.
RE	93	Houston Ala	6-1	250	Jr.
OR	1	Travis Laboy	6-4	249	Jr.
LB	44	Matt Wright	6-1	225	Sr.
LB	54	Chris Brown	6-1	255	Sr.
LB	10	Pisa Tinoisamoa	6-0	218	Sr.
CB	37	Abraham Elimimian	5-10	173	So.
SS	33	Hyrum Peters	5-8	188	Jr.
FS	17	David Gilmore	6-0	197	Jr.
OR	23	Sean Butts	6-3	202	Sr.
CB	3	Kelvin Millhouse	6-1	205	Jr.

Specialists

P	49	Mat McBriar	6-0	221	Sr.
K	47	Justin Ayat	5-11	205	So.
LS	45	Tanuvasa Moe	5-11	218	Fr.
PR	1	Mike Bass	5-6	158	So.
KR	6	Michael Brewster	5-6	176	So.
H	7	Shawn Withy-Allen	6-4	219	Sr.

Texas-El Paso

Offense

SE	82	Terrance Minor	6-1	185	Sr.
LT	55	Ariel Famaligi	6-4	310	Sr.
LG	67	Curtis Castle	6-3	270	Sr.
C	52	Chris Kerr	6-4	275	Jr.
RG	53	Robert Clayton	6-4	290	Jr.
RT	77	Trey Darilek	6-6	290	Jr.
TE	83	Jonas Crafts	6-4	250	So.
QB	8	Jon Schaper	6-2	210	So.
TB	4	Howard Jackson	5-10	155	So.
FB	5	Rovann Cleveland	6-0	240	Jr.
FL	80	Chris Francies	6-2	190	Fr.

Defense

LE	44	Karmul High	6-4	255	Sr.
LT	71	Sam Clarke	6-2	275	Jr.
RT	57	Dan Kerr	6-4	265	Jr.
RE	94	Rick Fette	6-4	245	Sr.
SS	14	Mark Dowdy	5-11	190	Jr.
LB	43	Robert Rodriguez	6-1	235	So.
LB	25	Camar Jackson	6-3	245	Sr.
CB	15	Weldon Cooks	6-2	180	Sr.
RV	11	Tim Woodard	5-11	190	Jr.
FS	16	D.J. Walker	6-3	210	Sr.
CB	6	Jahmal Fenner	5-8	180	So.

Specialists

P	48	Bryce Benekos	6-6	200	So.
PK	38	Keith Robinson	5-11	210	So.
KO	48	Bryce Benekos	6-6	200	So.
H	48	Bryce Benekos	6-6	200	So.
LS	47	Jon Dorenbos	6-0	245	Sr.
KR	6	Jahmal Fenner	5-8	180	So.
PR	6	Jahmal Fenner	5-8	180	So.

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UH Athletics