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[ UH FOOTBALL ]




Warriors will have
their hands full
with Bearcats

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

Team Stats


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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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.



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



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



UH Athletics



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