Warriors have extra You take motivation where you can find it, and Hawaii linebacker Chris Brown has a long memory.
motivation
Tonight is a chance to beat one of
Probable Starters
the teams that left the WAC
10 Warriors earn All-WAC honors
Warriors get Green Wave on Christmas
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comBrown is a senior, and tonight belongs to him and 18 other Warriors who celebrate their final regular-season game as UH football players. Also, if two-touchdown-favored Hawaii (9-3) beats San Diego State (4-8), the Warriors become the second team in school history to win 10 or more games in a season.
But Brown's got another little fact tickling his mind and stirring his competitive juices; he's playing the breakaway card.
San Diego State is one of the teams that jumped the Western Athletic Conference ship to start the Mountain West after the 1997 season, and that's enough for Brown to dislike the Aztecs.
"We don't like the fact that they left our conference. I take that personal. They must have thought they were better than us to do that," Brown said. "How dare they leave us."
Last year, UH beat two former WAC teams, Air Force and Brigham Young (although the Cougars knocked off Hawaii this season), and Brown wants to notch a win against another of the Breakaway Eight.
Things have changed a lot since 1997, when San Diego State beat Hawaii 10-3, the second of 19 consecutive losses for UH. Since then, Brown and his classmates have been the foundation of a huge turnaround. Under coach June Jones, who arrived in 1999, Hawaii is 30-19.
When: Today, 6:05 p.m. UH vs. SDSU
Where: Aloha Stadium
Tickets: $23 sideline, $17 end zone, $12 students/ seniors, UH students free (super rooter only). Available at Aloha Stadium, except for student tickets at Stan Sheriff Center. Also at Ticket Plus outlets or by calling (808) 526-4400.
TV: KFVE, delayed, 10 p.m.
Radio: 1420-AM.
Note: UH will honor 19 seniors after the game with its traditional senior walk.
Although UH does have another game, the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas, Brown said tonight's game and the Senior Walk to follow will be emotional for him.
"It's going to hit real hard. Sad. This is it. Back in the day, '99, Jeff (Ulbrich) and the guys had another game to play, but they were crying. I wouldn't be shocked if I did, too," said Brown, who will have close to 30 relatives at the game, more than his usual eight. "The bowl game is going to be important, but it's more of a fun thing, something we earned. This is the last of the work, the hard work. The bowl game is dessert. The icing on the cake."
This really is the last game for San Diego State, and it's the third time in four games that Hawaii's opponent is ending its season.
It will certainly be an emotional one for the Aztecs' seniors, as starting defensive end Akbar Gbaja-Biamila plays with a heavy heart; his mother, Bola Tito Anjorin Gbaja-Baimila, died in a car accident Sunday.
A game that might end in tears for many on the winning and losing teams should be full of cheers for exciting offensive plays. Both teams feature explosive passing attacks; Hawaii's run-and-shoot leads the country with 383.83 yards per game despite scoring only 36 points in the last two games, and San Diego State is sixth with 316.25 and the most productive receiving duo in NCAA history for one season in J.R. Tolver and Kassim Osgood.
Tolver and Osgood are second and third in the nation in receptions and third and fourth in yardage. Senior Lon Sheriff replaces concussion-plagued Adam Hall at quarterback.
Hawaii's Jeremiah Cockheran has been hot; he caught nine passes for 207 yards and a touchdown in last week's 21-16 loss to Alabama.
"For people who want to see the ball get thrown around in the air, this is a great came to come to," Warriors quarterback Tim Chang said.
The Aztecs have won four of their last seven under first-year head coach and former Aztec quarterback Tom Craft. But their defense appears to be porous, averaging a yield of 394.8 yards and 30.8 points.
Still, Chang is wary, especially because San Diego State has had a bye week to prepare.
"I expect to see a lot of their zone packages. They do different things to throw you off. They'll come at us and put some pressure on us," Chang said. "They defend the pass every day in practice, so this shouldn't be any different for them."
Jones said SDSU is much better than its record.
"Very much so. They played a hard schedule, three Pac-10 teams," Jones said. "They should've beat Fresno and they had BYU down. That's all you need to know."
Hawaii's defense could be vulnerable because of injuries. Safety Hyrum Peters and linebacker Matt Wright, both starters, suffered knee injuries Saturday. Peters is out, but Wright will probably try to play. Defensive end Kevin Jackson is also out with a turf burn infection of his right knee.
Leonard Peters (safety) and Keani Alapa (linebacker) and Brown (who joins the defensive line rotation in some schemes) are the replacements, cutting into UH's depth.
"We have to go in and make enough short throws to just keep drives going," Sheriff said. "We need to get the ball moving down the field and keep their defense on the field as long as possible."
On offense, UH's Lui Fuata is also out with a bad knee, and is replaced at center by Derek Faavi.
Most of the injured players should be back for the Hawaii Bowl against Tulane. If the Warriors should lose tonight, that becomes their final chance for double figures in victories, and dessert becomes a more important course.
"The ultimate thing is we want 10 wins," Brown said. "That's never happened since coach Jones was here. Let's go out that way."
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Probable starters
SAN DIEGO STATE
OFFENSE
LT 79 Brendan Darby 6-7 300 Jr. LG 72 Jasper Harvey 6-3 285 Fr. C 60 Johnathan Ingram 6-2 300 Sr. RG 78 Gerald Sykes 6-3 310 Jr. RT 68 Raul Gomez 6-3 305 Sr. TE 81 Raleigh Fletcher 6-4 280 Jr. FL 16 J.R. Tolver 6-2 205 Sr. SB 2 Ronnie Davenport 6-1 195 Sr. SE 1 Kassim Osgood 6-5 210 Sr. RB 4 Fred Collins 5-11 190 Fr. QB 13 Lon Sheriff 6-3 215 Sr. DEFENSE
DE 50 Amon Arnold 6-4 265 Sr. DT 96 Jared Ritter 6-3 260 Sr. DT 99 Brook Miller 6-4 280 Jr. DE 94 Akbar Gbaja-Biamila 6-5 250 Sr. LB 45 Stephen Larson 6-1 230 So. LB 34 Kirk Morrison 6-2 235 So. LB 48 Matt McCoy 6-0 215 Fr. CB 26 Jeff Shoate 5-10 180 Jr. SS 42 Josh Dean 6-0 210 So. FS 5 Marviel Underwood 5-10 190 So. CB 3 Rickey Sharpe 6-1 190 Sr. SPECIALISTS
PK 17 Tommy Kirovski 5-11 195 Sr. P 27 Brian Simnjanovski 6-3 220 Sr. LS 53 Casey Naylor 6-2 220 So. or 59 Robbie Ryan 6-4 220 So. PR 20 Mike Franklin 5-7 170 Fr. KR 11 Jermaine Moore 5-11 190 Jr.
HAWAII
OFFENSE
WR 18 Justin Colbert 5-8 170 Sr. WR 84 Britton Komine 5-9 184 So. LT 70 Wayne Hunter 6-6 299 Jr. LG 77 Shayne Kajioka 6-3 308 Jr. C 59 Derek Faavi 6-0 266 Fr. RG 65 Vince Manuwai 6-2 309 Sr. RT 69 Uriah Moenoa 6-3 327 So. WR 4 Nate Ilaoa 5-9 204 Fr. WR 19 Jeremiah Cockheran 6-0 193 Jr. 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 46 Keani Alapa 6-0 221 Jr. or 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. FS 42 Leonard Peters 6-1 174 Jr. SS 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 2 Chad Owens 5-9 177 So. KR 2 Chad Owens 5-9 177 So. H 7 Shawn Withy-Allen 6-4 219 Sr.
Schedules
SAN DIEGO STATE (4-8)
Aug. 29 at Fresno State L, 14-16 Sept. 7 at Colorado L, 14-34 Sept. 14 Arizona State L, 28-39 Sept. 21 at Idaho L, 38-48 Sept. 28 UCLA L, 7-43 Oct. 12 Utah W, 36-17 Oct. 19 at Wyoming W, 24-20 Oct. 26 UNLV W, 31-21 Nov. 2 at Brigham Young L, 10-34 Nov. 9 at New Mexico L, 8-15 Nov. 16 Colorado State L, 21-49 Nov. 23 at Air Force W, 38-34 Dec. 7 at Hawaii
HAWAII (9-3, 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 Nov. 23 Cincinnati W, 20-19 Nov. 30 Alabama L, 16-21 Today San Diego State Dec. 25 vs. Tulane in Hawaii Bowl
Per-game comparison
SDSU Hawaii 22.4 Points 36.1 30.8 Points Allowed 26.1 384.8 Total Offense 491.7 68.6 Rushing yards 107.8 316.2 Passing yards 383.8 -0.33 Turnovers -0.60
Key players
Passing A C I Yards TD Lon Sheriff (SDSU) 80 48 1 253 2 Tim Chang (UH) 549 302 18 3,913 22 Rushing A Yards Avg TD James Truvillion (SDSU) 115 389 3.4 3 John West (UH) 46 359 7.8 5 Receiving Rec Yards Avg TD J.R. Tolver (SDSU) 110 1,502 13.7 11 Justin Colbert (UH) 75 1,056 14.1 6 Scoring TD FG XP Pts Avg J.R. Tolver (SDSU) 11 0 2 68 5.7 Justin Ayat (UH) 0 14 49 91 7.6 Tackles S A Tot Avg FL/S Kirk Morrison (SDSU) 47 31 78 6.5 8/3 Pisa Tinoisamoa (UH) 82 31 113 9.4 17/5.5
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Five University of Hawaii players were named to the Western Athletic Conference football first team yesterday. 10 Warriors earn
All-WAC honors
Star-Bulletin staff
Wide receiver Justin Colbert, offensive lineman Vince Manuwai, linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa, defensive back Hyrum Peters and punter Mat McBriar made the first team. All are seniors except Peters, who is a junior.
Manuwai was named to the CBS Sportsline.com All-America team Thursday.
Senior offensive lineman Lui Fuata, sophomore quarterback Tim Chang, junior defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga, senior linebacker Chris Brown and junior cornerback Kelvin Millhouse earned spots on the All-WAC second team.
Sophomore wide receivers Britton Komine and Chad Owens also received votes.
Undefeated league champion Boise State took three of the four top individual awards: running back Brock Forsey (offensive player of the year), defensive back Quintin Mikell (defensive player of the year) and Dan Hawkins (coach of the year).
Fresno State quarterback Paul Pinegar is freshman of the year.
UH Athletics
