Warriors will have
their hands full
with Bearcats

Cincinnati is tough on both sides
of the ball, according to Jones

Team Stats

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

Today is Rivalry Saturday in college football.

So, of course, Hawaii plays ... Cincinnati?

OK, there isn't a whole lot of history. The teams have only met once, with UC winning 34-0 in Cincinnati in 1951 -- and it's not like the Warriors have held a 51-year grudge.

A member of that team, George Mamiya, said he isn't exactly lusting for revenge.

"Not really," he said. "I'm not going to the game, but I might watch it on TV."

What tonight's game at Aloha Stadium lacks in tradition, it could make up for in excitement. The Warriors (8-2, 7-1 Western Athletic Conference) and Bearcats (5-5, 4-2 Conference USA) are two of the hotter teams in Division I football, and both like to pass and both like to blitz.

Hawaii Bowl-bound UH has won five in a row (eight straight at home) and is ranked 25th in the nation after receiving a stamp of approval from the coaches in the ESPN/USA Today poll. It's the first time Hawaii is ranked since winning the Holiday Bowl in 1992.

Cincinnati has a three-game winning streak and is battling to earn its third-consecutive bowl game bid. The Bearcats, who still have a shot at the C-USA championship, must win two of their last three games.

Hawaii vs. Cincinnati Where: Aloha Stadium When: Today, 6:05 p.m. TV: KFVE (Channel 5), delay at 10 p.m. Also available live on Pay Per View. Call 625-8100 on Oahu or (866) 566-7784 on neighbor islands to subscribe. Radio: Live, 1420-AM

Both coaches said the key matchup could be UC's ball-hawking defense against UH's run-and-shoot offense, which leads the nation with 520.9 yards per game.

"Cincinnati plays as hard defensively as any team I've seen on film," Warriors coach June Jones said. "Every time you stop the projector they've got eight guys in the camera. They get after you."

The Bearcats, who have created 12 opposition turnovers compared to three of their own in their win streak, are led by defensive end Antwan Peek. The 6-foot-2, 245-pound senior is considered a first-round prospect for next spring's NFL Draft and scored touchdowns on fumble returns in UC's last two games.

But Cincinnati coach Rick Minter said the Warriors' attack is like nothing his team has encountered before.

"Our defense has been playing very well the past few games. But we haven't matched up with this type of offense. That has to be a challenge for all teams that come in to this stadium," Minter said. "That's why they're so darned successful. They run a high-tech offense, something (Jones) knows and has been born and bred with. They know the ins and outs. With our short week's preparation, certainly the advantage goes to their offensive skill."

Inside receiver Chad Owens, who has missed the last four games with a knee sprain, returned to practice and might play tonight.

Although the Warriors showed some ability to run the ball in last week's 33-28 victory at Rice, Jones' run-and-shoot is still about passing and sophomore quarterback Tim Chang -- the first unofficial candidate for the 2004 Heisman Trophy, thanks to Jones' prediction this week that Chang will win college football's biggest individual award as a senior.

Hyperbole aside, Chang is UH's all-time passing-yardage leader and has overcome doubters to lead the Warriors to a measure of national respectability.

But the Bearcats have a quarterback, Gino Guidugli, who could also be a Heisman candidate in two years.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound sophomore was the C-USA Freshman of the Year last season and has passed for 5,095 career yards with 30 touchdowns. Senior running back DeMarco McCleskey (3,035 career rushing yards, 14 TDs this year) takes some of the load off Guidugli.

"We've got to get some pressure on (Guidugli) when he throws the ball and we can't let them have the luxury of doing both things," Jones said. "They've got a tall receiver (6-3, 225-pound Jon Olinger) who makes some plays. They're very sound."

The return of junior defensive end Travis LaBoy, who missed the Rice game with lingering injuries, could help UH in the pressure area. He has nine tackles for loss including three sacks and a team-high 12 quarterback hurries in limited action this season.

Hawaii has 84 tackles for loss including 26 sacks this season.

"They bring pressure in a lot of different ways and you have to be able to pick things up," Guidugli said. "Their defense is one of the reasons their offense is so successful."

On special teams, Cincinnati could have an edge with senior Jonathan Ruffin, who was the best kicker in the nation two years ago. UC's career scoring leader with 270 points was a consensus first-team All-American and the Lou Groza Award winner in 2000 with 26 field goals. He hasn't kept up that phenomenal pace, mostly because the Bearcats' offense has improved.

"We used to be more defensive-minded, playing some old-fashioned Midwestern-style football. But when you get a difference-maker at quarterback you have to adjust your offense to it," said Minter, who has run everything imaginable in his nine years at Cincinnati.

UH defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said his hands were full preparing for the Bearcats.

"They line up in all kinds of different personnel groups. Zero, one, two tight ends," he said. "And in each package they do a lot of different things. Sometimes they have two quarterbacks on the field (George Murray at wide receiver). They have all kinds of threats."

Cincinnati might seem to have more motivation with its postseason in doubt, and conventional wisdom dictates Hawaii is looking ahead to next week's Alabama game. But UH has successfully focused on the importance of each game this season; the attention drawn to former teammate Nate Jackson's heart surgery last Thursday could be another rallying point this time.

Still, even Jones, who is known for his stirring game-eve speeches, might find it hard to lather up his troops for this one. Maybe he'll trot out a couple of players from that 1951 loss.

Or maybe not.

"We set a goal for ourselves after the Boise game to get to this point, 8-2," Jones said. "We figured we'll just let it hang out the last three games."

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BACK TO TOP
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Probable starters

CINCINNATI

OFFENSE
WR	3	Tye Keith	5-8	187	Sr.
LT	75	Kyle Takavitz	6-4	299	So.
LG	72	Kirt Doolin	6-4	300	Sr.
C	66	Josh Shneyderov	6-2	272	Jr.
RG	68	Travis McGee	6-3	301	Jr.
RT	67	Josh Gardner	6-5	284	Sr.
TE	82	A.J. Lucius	6-3	242	So.
WR	9	LaDaris Vann	5-9	198	Sr.
WR	84	Jon Olinger	6-3	225	Sr.
QB	8	Gino Guidugli	6-3	220	So.
RB	31	DeMarco McCleskey	5-11	215	Sr.
DEFENSE
DE	91	Andre Frazier	6-5	213	So.
DT	95	DeMarcus Billings	6-0	264	Sr.
DT	85	Trent Cole	6-4	227	So.
DE	93	Derrick Adams	6-0	253	Sr.
LB	58	Jason Hunt	6-4	241	Sr.
LB	51	Willis Edwards	5-11	231	Sr.
LB	42	Tyjuan Hagler	6-2	220	Jr.
CB	24	Blue Adams	5-10	188	Sr.
SS	45	Doug Monaghan	6-3	210	So.
FS	26	Ivan Fields	5-11	186	Sr.
CB	29	Zach Norton	6-0	184	Jr.
SPECIALISTS
K	16	Jonathan Ruffin	5-10	182	Sr.
P	12	Chet Ervin	6-3	171	Fr.
H	14	Joe Wolke	6-0	179	Fr.
LS	82	Justin LaForgia	6-5	212	Fr.
SS	50	Rob Dixon	6-0	228	Fr.
PR	3	Tye Keith	5-8	187	Sr.
KR	25	Tedric Harwell	5-11	184	Jr.

HAWAII

OFFENSE
WR	18	Justin Colbert	5-8	170	Sr.
WR	81	Clifton Herbert	5-8	170	Jr.
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	84	Britton Komine	5-9	184	So.
WR	19	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.
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.
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	20	John West	5-10	180	Jr.
H	7	Shawn Withy-Allen	6-4	219	Sr.

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Schedules

HAWAII (8-2, 7-1 WAC)

Aug. 31	Eastern Illinois	W, 61-36
Sept. 6	at Brigham Young	L, 32-35
Sept. 21	at Texas-El Paso	W, 31-6
Sept. 28	Southern Methodist	W, 42-10
Oct. 5	at Boise State	L, 31-58
Oct. 12	Nevada	W, 59-34
Oct. 19	Tulsa	W, 37-14
Oct. 25	at Fresno State	W, 31-21
Nov. 2	San Jose State	W, 40-31
Nov. 16	at Rice	W, 33-28
Today	Cincinnati
Nov. 30	Alabama
Dec. 7	San Diego State

CINCINNATI (5-5, 3-4)

Sept. 2	Texas Christian	W, 36-29
Sept. 14	West Virginia	L, 32-35
Sept. 21	Ohio State	L, 19-23
Sept. 28	at Temple	W, 35-22
Oct. 5	Miami (Ohio)	L, 26-31
Oct. 12	at Tulane	L, 17-35
Oct. 26	Memphis	W, 48-10
Nov. 7	at Louisville	W, 24-14
Nov. 16	Houston	W, 47-14
Today	at Hawaii
Nov. 30	Alabama-Birmingham
Dec. 6	at Eastern Carolina

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Per-game comparison

Cincinnati		Hawaii
29.8	Points	39.7
23.6	Points Allowed	27.3
408.2	Total Offense	520.9
145.4	Rushing yards	125.0
262.8	Passing yards	395.9
even	Turnovers	-0.20

KEY PLAYERS

Passing	A	C	I	Yards	TD
Gino Guidugli (UC)	347	191	14	2,522	14
Tim Chang (UH)	454	253	13	3,322	19
Rushing	A	Yards	Avg	TD
DeMarco McCleskey (UC)	208	912	4.3	14
John West (UH)	43	354	8.2	5
Receiving	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
LaDaris Vann (UC)	62	732	11.8	5
Justin Colbert (UH)	67	952	14.2	6
Scoring	TD	FG	XP	Pts	Avg
DeMarco McCleskey (UC)	14	0	0	84	8.4
Justin Ayat (UH)	0	13	46	85	8.5
Tackles	S	A	Tot	Avg	FL/S
Doug Monaghan (UC)	43	32	75	7.5	1/0
Pisa Tinoisamoa (UH)	62	23	85	8.5	12/3.5

WAC STANDINGS

	CONFERENCE			OVERALL
	W	L	Pct	W	L	Pct	Str
Boise State	7	0	1.000	10	1	.909	W8
Hawaii	7	1	.875	8	2	.800	W5
Fresno State	4	2	.667	6	5	.556	W2
San Jose State	4	3	.571	6	6	.500	W2
Nevada	4	3	.571	5	6	.455	L1
Rice	3	5	.375	4	7	.364	L2
LaTech	2	4	.333	3	7	.300	L2
SMU	2	5	.286	2	9	.182	W1
UTEP	1	6	.143	2	9	.182	L4
Tulsa	1	6	.143	1	10	.091	L3

Today
UTEP at Louisiana Tech
Tulsa at SMU
Boise State at Nevada
Fresno State at San Jose State
Cincinnati at Hawaii

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UH Athletics