Warriors will have June Jones kept saying Texas-El Paso was better than its poor record. After dispatching the Miners 31-6 last week and going into tonight's game against Southern Methodist, the Hawaii coach insists SMU is better than UTEP.
to stop the run
SMU's Kincade leads the WAC
Schedules
in rushing going into tonight
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comThat's sort of like saying the Detroit Tigers are better than the Tampa Bay Devil Rays - they probably are, but not enough to make a difference. The Warriors (2-1, 1-0 Western Athletic Conference) are
21-point favorites tonight against the Mustangs (0-4, 0-0).
"I think their quarterback's a better passer than what we faced last week. I think the running back's better and the quarterback's better, which makes them a better football team," Jones said.
Keylon Kincade is the WAC's leading rusher. If the Mustangs can run on the Warriors and get a big special teams play or two, they could have a chance.
But can SMU slow down the Hawaii offense, which averages an NCAA 10th-best 467.3 yards a game? The Mustangs allowed 52 points at Oklahoma State last week.
"We didn't play as well as we hoped at Oklahoma State," SMU first-year coach Phil Bennett said. "They got on us early and it sort of steamrolled. We just didn't get off to a good start and didn't handle the pressure when they got on us early."
This was a tough week of preparation for the Mustangs, and not just because of the distance from Dallas to Honolulu. In addition to UH's pass-happy run-and-shoot with Tim Chang at quarterback, Bennett must also be wary of hard-running Shawn Withy-Allen coming in to run options and quarterback draws. It could be a three-headed monster if Jones deems Jason Whieldon, who returned to the team Monday, worthy of playing time.
"Right now Shawn will probably go in (after Chang), but Jason knows what we're doing," Jones said. "Like I tell all of them, they're just one play away from being in there, so be ready."
Bennett publicly challenged his cornerbacks, Kevin Garrett and Jonas Rutledge (who went into the season heralded as one of the WAC's top duos), to play tougher against receivers.
Hawaii is still looking for consistency on offense. Chang's right pinkie is healed well enough for him to take snaps under center, but he played poorly against UTEP (completing 9 of 27 passes) after a bad game at Brigham Young (four interceptions).
"It was just one of those days," Chang said of the game against the Miners. "Some of the throws disturbed me."
Chang missed a lot of open receivers, but Clifton Herbert said everything wasn't his fault.
"Timmy's looked good (in practice). He's throwing the ball better," said Herbert, who caught his first career TD pass last week. "People have off nights. All kinds of things come into play. For example, we didn't run all our routes right."
UH's defense was strong last week, but at least one of its best players won't be in tonight's lineup; cornerback Abraham Elimimian is out with a hamstring pull and true freshman Kenny Patton replaces him.
Also, middle linebacker Chris Brown's left shoulder subluxation flared up again last week, and Jones said during the week that it was doubtful he would play. But defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said yesterday that Brown is good to go.
"He practiced (Thursday) and today," Lempa said. "The kid was hurt, but he has a threshold for pain. We'll see how it goes."
At any rate, expect backup Chad Kalilimoku to see extensive action.
Whoever is in will have to stop Kincade, who averages 116.5 yards per game on 28 carries.
"The majority of the time they run. What they want to do is power the ball," Brown said. "The thing that's different about this back is that he'll find any seam, and he'll cut it. Once he sees the opening, he'll take it. So this week it's stay home and do our assignments, get off the blocks quickly so we can make the plays. What we have to do is push everybody up and shut them down."
That strategy worked for Hawaii last week as Elimimian and Kelvin Millhouse played good man-to-man pass defense and allowed the rest of the Warriors to concentrate on the run. Safety Hyrum Peters earned WAC Defensive Player of the Week honors with 13 tackles and two interceptions.
"He's a special player," Jones said of Peters. "He pays attention to detail and he's always around the ball."
Safety Leonard Peters, no relation to Hyrum, returned to practice this week for the first time in more than a month after dealing with spleen and kidney injuries. If he can play, that could allow UH to move Hyrum Peters to corner (where he played last year) to relieve Patton at times.
Hawaii and SMU have played four times, with UH winning the last three. Last year the Warriors beat the Mustangs 38-31 in Dallas. It was a game full of big plays and turned the Warriors' season around; they went into the game 1-2 and the victory was the first of six in a row.
"I have a lot of good memories of that game," said Hawaii running back Thero Mitchell, who rushed for a career-high 116 yards and two touchdowns. "But I have some bad ones, too, like that kickoff return."
Rutledge took one back 92 yards for a TD that forced overtime after UH had apparently won the game. The Warriors made big special teams plays of their own, including a blocked punt TD return by Keith Bhonapha, but they are wary of SMU's kicking game. The Mustangs' punt-return team is ranked fourth in the nation, and Jones said he thinks SMU will go all out to try to block UH kicks tonight.
Even if the Mustangs win the special teams battle, the Warriors should do enough offensively and defensively to win the war. And being at home for the first time since the season-opening win against Eastern Illinois is a plus.
"I've heard it's a tough place to play. It puts you behind schedule, trying to get acclimated," said Bennett, who arrived with his team Wednesday. "The longer we're over there, the better we can adapt to the situation, especially the sleep situation."
Hawaii vs. SMU
When: Today, 6:05 p.m.
Where: Aloha Stadium
Tickets: $21 sideline,
$16 end zone, $12 students/seniors, UH students free (super rooter only).
TV: KFVE (Channel 5), delayed at 10 p.m., with rebroadcast Sunday at 9 a.m. Also available live on Pay-Per-View.
Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
Southern Methodist
OFFENSE
TB 32 Keylon Kincade 5-11 205 Jr. FB 24 Kris Briggs 5-11 231 Sr. LT 76 Judson Davis 6-5 300 Sr. LG 62 Brad Kieschnick 6-3 283 Fr. C 69 Steve Reindl 6-3 278 Jr. RG 70 Townsend Hargis 6-4 280 So. RT 75 Sterling Harris 6-6 300 Jr. TE 86 John Hampton 6-3 249 Sr. WR 25 Cody Cardwell 5-10 180 Sr. WR 5 Johnnie Freeman 5-11 190 Sr. QB 11 Tate Wallis 6-3 216 Fr.
DEFENSE
DE 90 Melvin Williams 6-2 245 So. DT 14 Allan Adami 6-4 257 So. NG 92 Lute Croy 6-2 292 Sr. DE 97 Eric Peterson 6-4 238 Sr. LB 46 Brian Bischoff 6-1 219 Jr. LB 55 Vic Viloria 5-11 235 Sr. LB 45 Jarrian James 6-0 209 Jr. CB 3 Jonas Rutledge 6-0 188 Jr. SS 6 Rico Harris 6-2 212 So. FS 4 Ruben Moodley 6-0 186 Jr. CB 1 Kevin Garrett 5-10 196 Sr.
SPECIALISTS
P 41 Ryan Mentzel 6-1 185 Fr. PK 31 Chris McMurtray 6-1 206 Fr. or 18 Trent Stephenson 5-7 175 So. LS 63 Grant Eidson 6-1 265 Fr. PR 25 Cody Cardwell 5-10 180 Sr. KR 3 Jonas Rutledge 6-0 188 Jr. H 11 Tate Wallis 6-3 216 Fr.
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. LB 44 Matt Wright 6-1 225 Sr. LB 54 Chris Brown 6-1 255 Sr. or 56 Chad Kalilimoku 5-11 243 Jr. LB 10 Pisa Tinoisamoa 6-0 218 Sr. CB 24 Kenny Patton 6-0 170 Fr. SS 33 Hyrum Peters 5-8 188 Jr. FS 17 David Gilmore 6-0 197 Jr. 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.
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Schedules
SOUTHERN METHODIST
Aug. 31 Navy L, 7-38 Sept. 7 Texas Tech L, 14-24 Sept. 14 at Texas Christian L, 6-17 Sept. 21 at Oklahoma State L, 16-52 Today at Hawaii Oct. 5 at San Jose State Oct. 12 at Fresno State Oct. 19 Louisiana Tech Oct. 26 at Rice Nov. 2 Nevada Nov. 16 at Texas-El Paso Nov. 23 Tulsa
HAWAII
Aug. 31 Eastern Illinois W, 61-36 Sept. 6 at Brigham Young L, 32-35 Sept. 21 at Texas-El Paso W, 31-6 Today 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
Per-game comparison
SMU UH 10.8 Points 41.3 32.8 Points Allowed 25.7 305.0 Total Offense 467.3 171.2 Rushing yards 140.3 133.8 Passing yards 330.7 -1.75 Turnovers -0.33
Team leaders
Passing A C I Yards TD Tate Wallis, SMU 103 48 6 535 2 Tim Chang, UH 109 48 6 736 4 Rushing A Yards Avg TD Keylon Kincade, SMU 113 466 4.1 2 Mike Bass, UH 20 146 7.3 0 Receiving Rec Yards Avg TD Cody Cardwell, SMU 15 219 14.5 1 Justin Colbert, UH 9 178 14.1 2 Scoring TD FG XP Pts Avg Keylon Kincade, SMU 2 0 0 12 3.0 Kris Briggs, SMU 2 0 0 12 3.0 Justin Ayat, UH 0 4 14 26 8.7 Tackles Solo Assist Avg FL/S Vic Viloria, SMU 37 6 10.8 4/0 Hyrum Peters, UH 22 7 11.5 1/1
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