UH knew what to
expect vs. Idaho

Hawaii saw similar defensive
schemes against USC

It's amazing what you can learn in a 63-14 loss that can help you later.

In the case of Hawaii's defeat against USC on Sept. 3, the Warriors got a sneak preview of Idaho's defense ... or, at least, its schemes.

Quarterback Colt Brennan and the UH coaches said the Trojans and Vandals used similar defensive plays, and it helped UH's offense in Saturday's 24-0 win at Idaho.

"They did a lot of things the same as far as coverages," said Brennan, who passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns against the Vandals.

A reason for the similarity is Idaho head coach Nick Holt was the USC linebackers coach from 2001 to 2003, and he considers Trojans head coach Pete Carroll (a defensive specialist) a mentor.

"Their coverages and a lot of their zone dogs (were alike)," UH quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison said. "Just how they approached their pressure was similar.

"It helps you because you kind of go in knowing that you'd see some of the same things as against SC. At least you can start out with a foundation. Our quarterbacks had been through that, and understood where people were going."

UH head coach June Jones also said the familiarity was helpful.

"They are very similar," Jones said. "And we're just a little further along and Colt's a little further along. He's still not there, he didn't see some things. But he made some very courageous throws. He's going to be a great player for us."

Brennan completed 34 of 44 passes Saturday, running his season total to 78-for-107, or 73 percent. He has thrown for six touchdowns and just one interception (which was due to a receiver's error as much as his own). He has thrown 103 passes since the lone interception, by USC's Darnell Bing.

"I always knew right from the beginning he was very accurate," Morrison said of Brennan, a sophomore transfer who has been at UH only since the summer. "The thing that's interesting is his ability to pick up what we're doing so quickly. He's accurate anyway and gets the ball out quickly."

Morrison said he wasn't surprised by Brennan's ability to scramble.

"Not at all. You watch highlight tape from his JC and running was one of the most impressive things," Morrison said. "We knew he had that ability coming in. He's learning more about where to run and when to run now."

Brennan's favorite target Saturday was freshman slot Davone Bess, who caught 10 passes for 106 yards, including two touchdowns.

Bess said the Warriors (1-2, 1-0 Western Athletic Conference) will be ready for three-time WAC champion Boise State (1-2, 0-0) this Saturday at Aloha Stadium.

"Idaho actually played harder than USC and Michigan State," he said. "If we would've played like we did tonight against those two teams, we definitely would've been in the game."

Two other true freshmen contributed for Hawaii on Saturday: Linebacker Solomon Elimimian intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter, and kicker Dan Kelly knocked a 44-yard field goal through the Kibbie Dome uprights.

"Solomon Elimimian is a player," Jones said Saturday. "He does his assignments. He does his job. We have another (true freshman linebacker) who didn't play tonight, Adam Leonard. We think he can play. It's gonna be kind of fun."

Elimimian said he is confident the Warriors will be ready for the Broncos on Saturday after UH's first shutout since 1999.

"I think we need to get back and start watching a lot of film of Boise and just get a great game plan we can execute against them," Elimimian said.

Sample has MRI: Senior starting wide receiver Ian Sample underwent an MRI yesterday for the bruised left knee he suffered in Saturday's game. Results were not available last night.

Two Warriors are WAC nominees: UH nominated Brennan as WAC Offensive Player of the Week and senior linebacker Kila Kamakawiwo'ole for defensive honors.

Hawaii statistics

TEAM STATISTICS

	HAWAII	OPP
FIRST DOWN	66	58
Rushing	15	22
Passing	44	31
Penalty	7	5
RUSHING YARDAGE	224	416
Yards gained rushing	304	487
Yards lost rushing	80	71
Rushing attempts	74	95
Average per rush	3.0	4.4
Average per game	74.7	138.7
Touchdowns rushing	0	6
PASSING YARDAGE	977	754
Att-Comp-Int	139-94-2	80-49-2
Average per pass	7.0	9.4
Average per catch	10.4	15.4
Average per game	325.7	251.3
Touchdowns passing	7	7
TOTAL OFFENSE	1201	1170
Total plays	213	175
Average per play	5.6	6.7
Average per game	400.3	390.0
KICK RETURNS: No-Yds	12-266	9-183
PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds	3-30	3-52
INT. RETURNS: No-Yds	2-6	2-65
FUMBLES-LOST	5-2	4-0
PENALTIES-YARDS	29-237	21-221
PUNTS-AVG	12-37.2	13-42.8
TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME	34:17	25:43
3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS	19/42	14/33
4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS	0/6	2/3

Rushing
	G	Att	Net	Avg	TD	Long
Ilaoa	2	9	76	8.4	0	41
Graunke	3	15	41	2.7	0	12
Brennan	3	20	35	1.8	0	19
Maneafaiga	2	12	30	2.5	0	10
Farmer	3	7	26	3.7	0	10
Latuselu	2	7	11	1.6	0	5
Cox	1	3	7	2.3	0	8
TEAM	3	1	-2	-2.0	0	-2
Total	3	74	224	3.0	0	41
Passing
	G	Att	Comp	Int	Yds	TD	Long
Brennan	3	107	78	1	816	6	43
Graunke	3	31	16	0	161	1	36
Milne	3	1	0	1	0	0	0
Total	3	139	94	2	977	7	43
Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Bess	3	20	194	9.7	3	33
Grice-Mullen	3	17	184	10.8	0	32
Sample	3	12	172	14.3	1	27
Washington	3	12	77	6.4	0	10
Dickerson	3	11	181	16.5	1	43
Maneafaiga	2	8	75	9.4	1	27
Latuselu	2	4	7	1.8	0	4
Linkner	2	3	29	9.7	0	22
Farmer	3	3	17	5.7	1	7
Ilaoa	2	2	3	1.5	0	3
Taylor	3	1	32	32.0	0	32
Ferguson	1	1	6	6.0	0	6
Total	3	94	977	10.4	7	43
Total Offense
	G	Plays	Rush	Pass	Tot	Avg
Brennan	3	127	35	816	851	283.7
Graunke	3	46	41	161	202	67.3
Ilaoa	2	9	76	0	76	38.0
Maneafaiga	2	12	30	0	30	15.0
Farmer	3	7	26	0	26	8.7
Latuselu	2	7	11	0	11	5.5
Cox	1	3	7	0	7	7.0
TEAM	3	1	-2	0	-2	-0.7
Total	3	213	224	977	1201	400.3
Scoring
	TD	FG	1XP	2XP	Tot
Bess	3	0	0	0	18
Kelly	0	2	5	0	11
Maneafaiga	1	0	0	0	6
Dickerson	1	0	0	0	6
Farmer	1	0	0	0	6
Sample	1	0	0	0	6
Graunke	0	0	0	1	2
Total	7	2	5	1	55
Punting
	No.	Yds	Avg	Long
Milne	12	447	37.2	49
Total	12	447	37.2	49
Punt Returns
	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Taylor	2	32	16.0	0	22
Bess	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Total	3	30	10.0	0	22
Kick Returns
	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Taylor	6	159	26.5	0	40
Kafentzis, T.	5	88	17.6	0	24
Ferguson	1	19	19.0	0	19
Total	12	266	22.2	0	40
Tackles
	G	UT	AT	Tot
Moe	3	14	5	19
Kamakawiwo'ole	3	9	6	15
Patton	3	11	4	15
Kalilimoku	3	11	3	14
Alama-Francis	3	6	7	13
Manners	3	10	2	12
Broadway	3	4	6	10
Elimimian	3	7	2	9
Purcell	3	3	5	8
Keomaka	3	6	0	6
Peters	1	5	0	5
Kafentzis, T.	2	3	0	3
Curnan	2	2	1	3
Monteilh	2	1	2	3
TEAM	3	3	0	3
Fonoti	2	1	1	2
Milne	3	2	0	2
Kafentzis, L.	2	2	0	2
Akpan	2	2	0	2
Watson	1	0	1	1
LaCount	2	1	0	1
Lafaele	1	0	1	1
Peoples	1	1	0	1
Mauia	2	1	0	1
Malala	3	1	0	1
Grice-Mullen	3	1	0	1
Fruean	3	0	1	1
Laeli	1	1	0	1
Saole	1	1	0	1
Paepule	2	1	0	1
Fergerstrom	2	1	0	1
Total	3	111	47	158

Misc.
Sacks (No.-Yds.): Kamakawiwo'ole 2-15, Alama-Francis 2-10, Elimimian 1-8, Broadway, 1-7. Total: 6-40.
Interceptions (No.-Yds.): Elimimian 1-6, Patton 1-0. Total: 2-6.
Fumbles (Total-Fumbles Forced-Fumbles Recovered): Patton 1-1-0, Alama-Francis 1-1-0, Paepule 1-1-0.
Blocked kicks: None.