[ UH FOOTBALL ]
Boise State will be
a challenge for UHThe Warriors will try to end
a two-game losing streak to
the 18th-ranked Bulldogs today
As part of his job as a member of the Hawaii football team's defensive coaching staff, first-year linebackers assistant Cal Lee pitches in with a game plan suggestion here and there. Lee admits he's still feeling his way through the college game after his Saint Louis School teams dominated Hawaii high school football for two decades.
But there is at least one thing he is certain about. If UH's attempt to upset 10-point favorite Boise State tonight at Aloha Stadium is to succeed, the Warriors' (8-4, 5-2 Western Athletic Conference) defense must -- among other things -- swat the fly.
Hawaii vs. Boise State
When: Today, 6:35 p.m.Where: Aloha Stadium
TV: Live on ESPN2
Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
Parking: Gates open at 3 p.m. Parking is $5. Alternate parking at Leeward Community College, Kam Drive-In and Radford High School.
"The Fly Series" is just one part of the Broncos offense, and just one of many reasons Boise State (11-1, 7-0) is ranked 18th in the nation and racks up 494.8 yards of offense per game.
Lee has never met Broncos coach Dan Hawkins in person. But he knows all about "The Fly Series" because Lee knows all about Willamette University, where Hawkins was head coach for five years before joining the Broncos staff in 1998 and where Lee was a Little All-American linebacker in the 1960s.
"It's a series of plays they run where they put the flanker in motion (right before the snap)," Lee said. "They can do a lot of things with it. They can give the ball to the flanker, or up the middle to the fullback, or the quarterback can bootleg and pass or run."
In UH's 58-31 loss at Boise State last year, the Broncos scored a key touchdown on a flanker pass from T.J. Acree to Donny Heck after Acree took the ball on a reverse from star running back Brock Forsey.
The fly by itself sounds like a tough scheme to beat. But it's just one piece of a diverse and efficient offense designed by Chris Peterson. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award last year, the honor that goes to the top assistant coach in the nation.
"He has so many offenses, a wide variety," Lee said.
Forsey's gone, but speedy David Mikell has proved an adequate replacement. And quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie is one of the best in the nation at his position.
Also, Boise State's defense is at or near the top of the WAC in all categories.
ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2002
Hawaii quarterback Tim Chang was 35-for-57 for 360 yards and a touchdown last year vs. Boise State on Oct. 5 in Boise, Idaho.
The Broncos are fourth in the nation in scoring defense (15.0) and second in scoring offense (43.6). It's no wonder they've won nine games in a row and are headed for the Fort Worth Bowl.
"This is probably the best-coached and most-flawless team that we've played," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "They know what they're doing and we're going to play very good football to compete with them."
Warriors players agree Boise State is a bigger challenge than Alabama was (a 37-29 win for UH last week). Emotionally, it's a bigger game than the Dec. 25 Hawaii Bowl against Houston, especially since the Warriors have lost the last two meetings with the Broncos.
"They're a great team," Hawaii defensive tackle Lui Fuga said. "I think they're better than Alabama -- more disciplined, more explosive."
Senior safety and defensive captain Hyrum Peters said he is approaching the ESPN2-televised game as the WAC championship, even though the Broncos clinched their second consecutive title by clobbering Nevada 56-3 last week.
"This is going to prove to the world who No. 1 in the WAC is, whoever wins this game," Peters said.
"(Against Alabama) we beat the run first, and made them pass. We did the right thing," Peters added. "But with Boise we pretty much have to add in more extra time. Watching videos, studying them up. If we know more about what they do, we'll be ready to play."
The Broncos had their homework to do, too. Boise State's defense had two quarterbacks to prepare for, as Jones named Jason Whieldon the starter after Whieldon accounted for all five touchdowns against Alabama in relief of Chang. (Jones also said Chang will play some downs against the Broncos.)
Hawkins indicated that his defense is in for a stringent test from either quarterback.
"Offensively, they are who they are," he said.
Fuga said the Warriors have remained focused despite continual fan debate this week over the relative merits of Chang and Whieldon.
"I go with Coach's call. What's right for the team," Fuga said. "If one gets hurt, there's another one. That's good. We've got two good quarterbacks, we can keep on rolling."
Receiver Jeremiah Cockheran is one of 19 seniors who will participate in the postgame Senior Walk.
"Senior Night's going to be great. My mom's coming out here for this game, and she's going to be wearing an old-school Hawaii jersey. My brother had someone make it overseas. There's a lot of Cockheran fans everywhere.
"(Boise's) a better team than Alabama. It will be a challenge for us mentally and physically."
Probable starters
BOISE STATE
Offense
Defense
WR 87 Tim Gilligan 5-9 180 Sr. WR 83 Jerry Smith 510 174 Sr. LT 73 Daryn Colledge 6-5 276 So. LG 68 Tyrone Tutogi 6-1 277 Sr. C 66 Mike MacLeod 6-2 286 Sr. RG 70 Michael Ansel 6-3 299 Jr. RT 60 Jason Turner 6-4 269 Sr. TE 91 Derek Schouman 6-2 215 Fr. QB 7 Ryan Dinwiddie 6-1 192 Sr. TB 3 David Mikell 5-11 205 Sr. FB 30 Greg Swenson 5-10 219 Sr.
Specialists
DE 92 Julius Roberts 6-5 243 Jr. DT 90 Paul Allen 6-2 293 Sr. DT 69 Dane Oldham 6-3 270 Sr. DE 96 Mike Williams 6-2 245 Fr. OLB 13 Travis Burgher 6-1 212 Sr. MLB 25 Korey Hall 6-0 225 Fr. OLB 40 Andy Avalos 5-10 222 Jr. ROV 1 Chris Carr 5-9 184 Jr. FS 21 Wes Nurse 5-10 195 Sr. CB 6 Julius Brown 5-10 187 Sr. CB 16 Gabe Franklin 5-10 181 Jr.
K 85 Tyler Jones 6-1 200 Jr. P 42 Kyle Stringer 5-8 185 Fr. Hold 2 Mike Sanford 6-4 214 Jr. LS/FG 74 Mike Dominguez 6-2 245 Fr. LS/P 82 Kevin Louwsma 6-5 252 Sr. KR 1 Chris Carr 5-9 184 Jr. PR 87 Tim Gilligan 5-8 180 Sr. Hawaii
Offense
Defense
WR 84 Britton Komine 5-10 187 Jr. or 85 Jason Rivers 6-2 187 Fr. WR 2 Chad Owens 5-9 174 Jr. LT 70 Tala Esera 6-3 283 Fr. LG 64 Samson Satele 6-3 289 Fr. C 59 Derek Faavi 6-1 273 So. RG 69 Uriah Moenoa 6-2 365 Jr. RT 66 Brandon Eaton 6-3 287 So. WR 38 Gerald Welch 5-8 205 Jr. WR 19 Jeremiah Cockheran 6-0 190 Sr. QB 8 Jason Whieldon 6-0 191 Sr. RB 20 John West 5-10 180 Sr. or 1 Mike Bass 5-7 174 Jr. or 6 Michael Brewster 5-6 180 Jr. or 16 West Keli'ikipi 6-1 266 Jr.
Specialists
LE 93 Houston Ala 5-11 260 Sr. LT 97 Isaac Sopoaga 6-3 336 Sr. RT 92 Lance Samuseva 6-0 309 Sr. RE 1 Travis LaBoy 6-4 254 Sr. SLB 46 Keani Alapa 6-1 229 Sr. MLB 56 Chad Kalilimoku 5-11 240 Sr. WLB 51 Ikaika Curnan 5-11 218 So. CB 37 Abraham Elimimian 5-10 173 Jr. SS 33 Hyrum Peters 5-8 188 Sr. FS 17 David Gilmore 6-0 197 Sr. CB 3 Kelvin Millhouse 6-1 205 Sr.
P 25 Kurt Milne 6-0 204 Fr. K 26 Nolan Miranda 5-8 172 Fr. or 47 Justin Ayat 6-0 220 Jr. Snap 45 T.J. Moe 6-0 220 So. PR 21 Clifton Herbert 5-7 159 Sr. or 2 Chad Owens 5-9 174 Jr. KR 20 John West 5-10 180 Sr. Hold 8 Jason Whieldon 6-1 187 Sr.
Schedules
BOISE ST. BRONCOS (11-1, 7-0 WAC)
Sept. 6 Idaho State W, 62-0 Sept. 13 at Idaho W, 2410 Sept. 20 at Oregon State L, 24-26 Sept. 27 Wyoming W, 33-17 Oct. 4 at Louisiana Tech W, 43-37 Oct. 11 Tulsa W, 27-20 Oct. 18 at SMU W, 45-3 Oct. 25 San Jose State W, 77-14 Oct. 30 at BYU W, 50-12 Nov. 15 UTEP W, 51-21 Nov. 21 at Fresno State W, 31-17 Nov. 29 Nevada W, 56-3 Today at Hawaii Hawaii Warriors (8-4, 5-2 WAC)
Aug. 30 Appalachian State W, 40-17 Sept. 13 at Southern California L, 32-61 Sept. 19 at Nevada-Las Vegas L, 22-33 Sept. 27 Rice W, 41-21 Oct. 4 at Tulsa L, 16-27 Oct. 11 Fresno State W, 55-28 Oct. 18 at Louisiana Tech W, 44-41 Oct. 25 UTEP W, 31-15 Nov. 1 at San Jose State W, 13-10 Nov. 15 at Nevada L, 14-24 Nov. 22 Army W, 59-28 Nov. 29 Alabama W, 37-29 Today Boise State
Per-game comparison
Boise State Category Hawaii 43.6 Scoring 33.7 157.0 Rushing 102.9 379.2 Passing 337.8 494.8 Total Offense 482.1 24.1 First Downs 23.8 8.3 FD Rushing 5.0 13.7 FD Passing 16.7 2.2 FD Penalty 2.2 15.0 Points Allowed 27.8 85.3 Rushing Allowed 161.0 245.9 Passing Allowed 224.2 331.2 Total Offense Allowed 385.2 17-128 Interceptions -- Yards 12-66 40.8 Punting 39.2 87-828 Penalties 91-820 20-11 Fumbles-lost 19-9 30:17 Time of Possession 28:42 80-175 Third Down Conversion 66-168 8-25 Fourth Down Conversion 6-16
Key players
Rushing A Yards Avg TD David Mikell, BSU 220 1,024 4.7 11 Donny Heck, BSU 90 328 3.6 4 John West, UH 56 362 6.5 4 Michael Brewster, UH 39 321 8.2 0 Passing A C I Yards TD Ryan Dinwiddie, BSU 380 237 4 3,702 28 Jared Zabransky, BSU 23 11 1 180 1 Tim Chang, UH 540 317 18 3,614 23 Jason Whieldon, UH 98 62 4 884 10 Receiving Rec Yards Avg TD Tim Gilligan, BSU 66 1,164 17.6 6 Lawrence Bady, BSU 25 615 24.6 4 Chad Owens, UH 79 1,051 13.3 8 Jeremiah Cockheran, UH 49 771 15.7 8 Tackles S A Tot FL/S Andy Avalos, BSU 39 57 96 6.5/1 Wes Nurse, BSU 36 42 78 4/0 Korey Hall, BSU 34 44 78 7.5/2.5 Chris Carr, BSU 34 31 65 3/0 Gabe Franklin, BSU 37 19 56 1/0 Ikaika Curnan, UH 64 41 105 10/3 Hyrum Peters, UH 61 21 82 4/3 Chad Kalilimoku, UH 45 35 80 12/2 Abraham Elimimian, UH 52 17 69 2/0 Travis LaBoy, UH 51 16 67 20/12
WAC standings
CONFERENCE OVERALL W L Pct W L Pct Str Boise State 7 0 1.000 11 1 .909 W9 Tulsa 6 2 .750 8 4 .667 W5 Fresno State 6 2 .750 8 5 .615 W1 Hawaii 5 2 .714 8 4 .667 W2 Rice 5 3 .625 5 7 .417 W3 Nevada 4 4 .500 6 6 .500 L1 Louisiana Tech 3 5 .375 5 7 .417 L2 San Jose State 2 6 .250 3 8 .273 L2 UTEP 1 7 .125 2 11 .154 L7 SMU 0 8 .000 0 12 .000 L12 Last week's results
Rice 49, Louisiana Tech 14
TCU 20, SMU 13
Boise State 56, Nevada 3
Fresno State 23, UTEP 20
Hawaii 37, Alabama 29
Today's game
Boise State at Hawaii
