Someone has to win
at Kibbie Dome

The winless Warriors and
Idaho Vandals meet today in the
WAC opener for both teams

MOSCOW, Idaho » Five of the nine Western Athletic Conference football teams have yet to win a game this season. That changes to no more than four tonight, but only because two of the winless, Hawaii and Idaho, meet here in the first game of the newly formed WAC.

Idaho (0-3), one of the league's three new members, is a 1 1/2-point favorite against UH (0-2), which has the longest tenure in the conference, going back to 1979.

"It's a very big game for both teams," said WAC commissioner Karl Benson, who went to high school in nearby Pullman, Wash. "It's big for their fans, for their crowds the rest of the season."

If the Warriors win, it gives them hope for contention in the WAC despite lopsided losses against No. 1 USC and at No. 22 Michigan State. If they lose, it will be to a team they beat 52-21 last year -- and they can expect an at least half-empty Aloha Stadium when they host Boise State next week.

"We need this win. It's a must. It's on the road, and in the WAC," senior guard Brandon Eaton said.

The Warriors believe a victory could be a springboard to a successful season rather than what many see as a rebuilding year.

"It's an even slate now and there's no dominant team (in the WAC)," said sophomore Keao Monteilh, who is expected to make his first start at cornerback tonight. "We have pretty high expectations. We feel we should be in there and fighting for the WAC title."

Around 16,000 are expected at the Kibbie Dome, and they are expected to make a lot of noise at Idaho's home season opener.

"It's a really original stadium for a Division I program," Idaho safety D.J. Dykes said. "It's an eye-opener for teams that come in here. It might not be the biggest attendance, but I think it gives us a pretty good home-field advantage."

Hawaii coach June Jones had originally planned to practice at Lewiston High School, but changed his mind, as the Warriors worked out at the dome yesterday.

"It's like any other stadium," he said afterward. "The lighting's good. It's definitely a fast surface, hard."

The atmosphere might resemble that of an arena league game, and the score could, too.

Neither team has impressed on defense as Idaho has yielded an average of 406.3 yards against Washington State, UNLV and Washington, and Hawaii allowed USC and Michigan State 508.5.

Both squads move the ball well at times with their passing game, both with junior college transfer quarterbacks.

Steve Wichman has beaten out Michael Harrington, and he garnered WAC Player of the Week accolades after throwing for 390 yards and three TDs in a 34-31 loss at UNLV two weeks ago.

On the same day, Colt Brennan was winning the UH starting job with nine straight completions in the second half of a 42-14 loss at Michigan State. Brennan has completed 70 percent of his 63 passes, with three touchdowns.

Brennan is among a large handful of UH starters who used last week's bye to rest injuries. He has a problematic shoulder that could be vulnerable to re-injury on the Kibbie Dome's surface.

Brennan said it's a risk-and-reward equation that comes out in UH's favor.

"I'm pretty excited. I've never played in a dome, or on AstroTurf," he said. "People say it's a lot harder on your body. But you're also a lot faster on AstroTurf, you get a lot of jump in your step. It may be more beneficial for us because of the offense we run, running around as much as we are. I'm sure we'll be putting some extra protection on my shoulder. Hopefully, I won't be getting driven into the ground too much."

In addition to Brennan, nose tackle Keala Watson, offensive linemen Brandon Eaton and Dane Uperesa, cornerback Kenny Patton, linebacker Ikaika Curnan, running back Bryan Maneafaiga and slotback Nate Ilaoa all missed practice time with injuries the past two weeks.

Most have healed up enough to play tonight, Jones said.

Running back could be problematic, though, as Maneafaiga and Ilaoa (who played against Michigan State and rushed for 76 yards) are both nursing tender hamstrings.

Jones said after practice yesterday Maneafaiga is more likely to play than Ilaoa.

"We'll see how (Ilaoa) is tomorrow, but I'm not real high on it right now," he said. "(Maneafaiga will) go until he blows up."

David Farmer, Kala Latuselu and Mario Cox are also possibilities.

Idaho coach Nick Holt is wary of UH's run-and-shoot, regardless of who plays.

"Hawaii's offense has not changed since that staff got there," he said. "They do run the ball if you give them looks. ... They move the ball on everybody. You have to do a nice job of changing things up."

Holt may have gotten some tips on defending against the Warriors from USC coach Pete Carroll and Michigan State coach John L. Smith; he has worked for both in the past.

"I'm sure he made some phone calls," Jones said.

Hawaii defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said UH will simplify its schemes when Idaho has the ball. Assignment errors turned into defensive breakdowns that the Warriors could not afford against the Trojans and Spartans. The Vandals don't have the same kind of offensive firepower, but they are capable of exploiting mistakes.

"They've got really good receivers and quarterback and a good system," said Patton, who will start despite a separated shoulder.

Wichman's favorite target is wide receiver D.J. Smith. Smith, who is married to the sister of singer Beyonce Knowles, averages 7.3 catches and 104.7 yards per game.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Hawaii Warriors

Offense

Z	82	Ross Dickerson	5-10	185	Jr.
H	1	Ryan Grice-Mullen	5-10	174	Fr.
LT	70	Tala Esera	6-4	295	Jr.
LG	64	Samson Satele	6-3	311	Jr.
C	59	Derek Fa'avi	6-1	273	Sr.
RG	66	Brandon Eaton	6-2	297	Sr.
RT	72	Dane Uperesa	6-5	331	Jr.
Y	7	Davone Bess	5-10	187	Fr.
X	81	Ian Sample	5-10	189	Sr.
QB	15	Colt Brennan	6-3	190	Jr.
RB	3	Bryan Maneafaiga	5-9	200	Sr.
or	48	David Farmer	6-0	248	Fr.

Defense

DT	98	Melila Purcell	6-5	266	Sr.
NT	93	Keala Watson	6-3	325	Fr.
DE	91	Ikaika Alama-Francis	6-5	260	Jr.
LB	1	Kila Kamakawiwo'ole	6-3	237	Sr.
LB	45	Tanuvasa Moe	6-0	225	Sr.
LB	51	Ikaika Curnan	5-10	242	Sr.
LB	43	Brad Kalilimoku	5-10	204	So.
CB	35	Keao Monteilh	5-11	170	So.
FS	22	Lamar Broadway	6-0	186	Sr.
or	8	Landon Kafentzis	6-0	202	Sr.
SS	15	Lono Manners	5-10	199	Sr.
CB	24	Kenny Patton	6-0	184	Jr.

Specialists

P 25 Kurt Milne 5-11 208 Jr.
PK 99 Dan Kelly 6-3 199 Fr.
PR 27 Andre Taylor 5-11 171 Jr.
KR 27 Andre Taylor 5-11 171 Jr.
LS 45 Tanuvasa Moe 6-0 225 Sr.
H 25 Kurt Milne 5-11 208 Jr.

Idaho Vandals

Offense

Z	4	Desmond Belton	6-4	187	So.
LT	68	Nate VanderPol	6-6	314	Jr.
LG	50	Jade Tadvick	6-5	304	Jr.
C	72	Adam Korby	6-2	290	Fr.
RG	65	Kris Anderson	6-3	291	Fr.
RT	77	Hank Therien	6-7	320	Jr.
TE	80	Keith Greer	6-2	252	Jr.
X	86	Lee Smith	6-0	189	Fr.
QB	8	Steven Wichman	6-3	223	Jr.
RB	32	Rolly Lumbala	6-2	247	So.

Defense

DE	93	Charles Campbell	6-3	228	Jr.
DT	94	Ryan Davis	6-0	267	Jr.
DT	91	Siua Musika	6-1	288	So.
DE	99	Mike Bonelli	6-2	241	Sr.
LB	47	Cole Snyder	5-11	222	Sr.
LB	13	Mike Anderson	6-3	231	Sr.
LB	31	Josh Bousman	6-2	221	So.
CB	10	Jason Martin	5-9	178	Jr.
FS	16	Tone Taupule	6-1	184	Jr.
SS	49	D.J. Dykes	6-3	201	So.
CB	21	Herb Cash	5-11	172	Sr.

Specialists

P	14	T.J. Conley	6-3	210	Fr.
PK	43	Mike Barrow	5-11	157	Jr.
PR	23	Wes Williams	5-10	165	Fr.
KR	6	Antwaun Sherman	5-7	178	Sr.
LS	35	Joel Jones	6-1	217	Fr.
H	7	Michael Harrington	6-4	207	Sr.

SCHEDULES

Hawaii (0-2, 0-0 WAC)

Sept. 3	USC	L, 63-17
Sept. 10	at Michigan State	L, 42-14
Today	at Idaho
Oct. 1	Boise State
Oct. 8	at Louisiana Tech
Oct. 15	New Mexico State
Oct. 22	at San Jose State
Oct. 29	Fresno State
Nov. 5	at Nevada
Nov. 12	Utah State
Nov. 25	Wisconsin
Dec. 3	San Diego State

Idaho (0-3, 0-0 WAC)

Sept. 1	at Washington State	L, 38-26
Sept. 10	at UNLV	L, 34-31
Sept. 17	at Washington	L, 34-6
Today	Hawaii
Oct. 1	Utah State
Oct. 8	at Nevada
Oct. 22	Fresno State
Oct. 29	at New Mexico State
Nov. 12	Louisiana Tech
Nov. 19	at Boise State
Nov. 26	at San Jose State

Statistical comparison

UH	Category	UI
15.5	Scoring	21.0
91.5	Rushing	60.7
306.5	Passing	253.3
398.0	Total Offense	314.0
22.5	First Downs	18.0
6.0	FD Rushing	4.7
13.5	FD Passing	11.3
3.0	FD Penalty	2.0
52.5	Points Allowed	35.3
187.5	Rushing Allowed	197.0
321.0	Passing Allowed	209.3
508.5	Total Offense Allowed	406.3
1-0	Interceptions-Yards	4-45
37.3	Punting	36.5
19-158	Penalties	28-242
4-2	Fumbles-lost	7-2
32:07	Avg. Time of Possession	32:11
11-25	Third Down Conversion	15-44
0-4	Fourth Down Conversion	1-3

Key players

Rushing	A	Yards	Avg	TD
Nate Ilaoa, UH	9	76	8.4	0
Tyler Graunke, UH	9	33	3.7	0
Antwaun Sherman, UI	17	99	5.8	1
Rolly Lumbala, UI	24	80	3.3	0
Passing	A	C	I	Yards	TD
Colt Brennan, UH	63	44	1	469	3
Tyler Graunke, UH	28	14	0	144	1
Steven Wichman, UI	81	51	3	720	4
Michael Harrington, UI	12	7	0	40	1
Receiving	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Ross Dickerson, UH	7	141	20.1	0
Ryan Grice-Mullen, UH	12	119	9.9	0
Daniel Smith, UI	22	314	14.3	2
Wendell Octave, UI	7	149	21.3	1
Tackles	S	A	Tot	FL/S
Brad Kalilimoku, UH	10	3	13	3.5/0
Kenny Patton, UH	11	0	11	0/0
Tanuvasa Moe, UH	9	2	11	1/0
Ikaika Alama-Francis, UH	5	5	10	2/2
Lono Manners, UH	8	1	9	0/0
Cole Snyder, UI	31	11	42	4/1
Josh Bousman, UI	14	5	19	2/2
David Vobora, UI	8	7	15	1/0
Charles Campbell, UI	11	3	14	0/0
D.J. Dykes, UH	11	3	14	2/0