UAB working
to prepare

Has UAB seen an offense like Hawaii's run-and-shoot?

"No," Blazers defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt said.

Anything close?

"Uh," Bolt began. "Memphis. Tulane. Everybody throws it around a little bit, you know, lines up in a spread offense.

"But this is unique. Especially when you've got a quarterback like (Tim) Chang, wideouts like Chad (Owens). It makes a difference."

So, can you simulate it?

"It's haaaaaard," Bolt said. "Can't do it. Speed. Speed of the game. Speed of the game and accuracy of the quarterback."

But UAB has to try something in order to get its defense ready for Friday's Hawaii Bowl. And so Bolt has the scouts running what he hopes is enough of a look that game day won't be a shock.

He has four wides. He has a reserve quarterback, Chris Williams, mimicking Chang. He has play after play scouted off Hawaii game tape.

Playing Hawaii in a bowl situation helps.

"I think that any time you play (against) this style of offense you'd like to have a little more time to get it," UAB head coach Watson Brown said. "We're in a passing league for sure, but we don't play exclusive four-wide offenses. And so we had to spend some extra time on that and I think that'll help us."

How many UH plays are they practicing for?

"Who knows," said Williams, who must run them. "Maybe 50, maybe more."

"A BUNCH," Bolt said, adding a big laugh. "A bunch. You saw all them cards! We just try to do something every day. We've got their basic routes. But they do a lot of things. And that's why they're good."

Third-team All-America receiver Roddy White said he's looking forward to a back-and-forth game. He, too, had to laugh when asked what his defense thought of that prediction.

"They think they're going to get a couple stops," he said. "We think we're going to get a couple stops. They're (Hawaii) pretty good at home on offense."

And that, White knows, could lead to fireworks, as last year's bowl proved.

"We throw the ball a whole lot," White said. "We're averaging about 30 attempts a game. So, we'll go in this one, probably try to throw about 50 times before it's over."

Bolt said the plan is to throw multiple looks at UH in order to slow down the Hawaii offense.

"I think you gotta mix it," he said. "You can't keep the same thing. You've got to keep them guessing a little bit. But (Chang's) a four-year starter. He's seen every coverage you can come up with. So nothing we throw at him is going to be any different.

"Gotta play hard," Bolt said, "get in the right place, put a little pressure on him."

Williams, who is Chang for a week, is getting a taste of that now. He's become a fan of the Hawaii offense, even if all he has to go by is what the coaches show him on the scouts' 5x7 cards.

"I'm just doing everything I can to make my team better," he said. "And throwing the ball 100 times a day in practice -- going from 20 a day to 100 a day is actually kind of fun."

Short day, no pads: After a rusty first day of practice Sunday, Brown said he saw improvement in yesterday's workout at Aloha Stadium.

The Blazers left early and practiced without shoulder pads -- they went in helmets and shorts only -- in order to fit in yesterday's press conference.

The shoulder pads will be back today, Brown said. And he sees the rust coming off as game day approaches.

"That week off for finals fell at the wrong time, but I believe our guys are getting it back," he said.

He later added: "We're really excited. I can't imagine us not being really spirited and ready to play."

Advice: Brown said he sought and received advice on how to play in the Hawaii Bowl from the bowl's previous Conference USA representatives, Houston and Tulane.

"The two things I got out of it was, get them off the plane, take them straight to the field and work them out," Brown said. "And get there in the morning, where they can get the first day of feeling the different time change."