WARRIOR FOOTBALL

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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Colt Brennan is completing 73 percent of his pass attempts so far this season.

Colt looks for bounceback

Hawaii seeks a solid effort against 0-5 Aggies

STORY SUMMARY »

By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

Only around 34,000 tickets had been issued at close of business yesterday for tonight's game featuring the highest-ranked team in University of Hawaii football history.

Utah State (0-5, 0-1 WAC) at Hawaii (5-0, 2-0)

When: Today, 6:05 p.m.

Where: Aloha Stadium

The Line: Hawaii by 39

TV: Live PPV Ch. 255; replay 10 a.m. tomorrow KFVE, Ch. 5

Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM

Internet: htsportsnet.com

The Warriors (5-0, 2-0 WAC) are rated 16th in the nation (15th in the coaches poll) and have won their last nine conference games in a row. This is their best start to a season since they went 7-0 in 1981.

A bigger name and better team than tonight's opponent, Utah State (0-5, 0-1) might have drawn a larger crowd.

The Aggies do give UH quarterback Colt Brennan an opportunity to bounce back from an uncharacteristic five-interception performance at Idaho (Hawaii still won, 48-20) that cost Brennan a lot of ground in the Heisman Trophy race.

The Hawaii defense has been as hot as its offense lately, scoring four touchdowns in the last three games. But cornerback Ryan Mouton (knee), who has one of those TDs, is out tonight, and tackle Mike Lafaele (hamstring), the undisputed leader of the defense, is iffy.

But Brennan -- with a sprained ankle still not 100 percent -- and the rest of the Warriors aren't looking at this as a get-well game, even though the Aggies haven't won since they beat Fresno State, their only 2006 win.

"Coach Jones feels that compared to last year they have way better athletes. This year they're losing games, but at least they're in the game," Brennan said. "There's no doubt if we don't come out and do what we're supposed to do they can make a game out of it. Basically we just need to go out there and prepare for everything and anything and just execute."

UH averages 54.2 points per game and the offense gets 531.4 yards.

"We're making enough plays to win games," Jones said.


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COURTESY UTAH STATE
Leon Jackson III always has his hands on the ball for Utah State.


FULL STORY »

By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

If you like seeing the home team win big, this game is for you. If you prefer something more competitive, maybe Castle vs. Kahuku is a better choice.

Hawaii has outscored Utah State 113-33 since the Aggies joined the Western Athletic Conference two years ago.

The Warriors are ranked 16th in the nation and are 5-0 and 2-0 in the conference. USU is 0-5 and 0-1. Hawaii is favored by 39 points.

When Hawaii has the ball

QB Colt Brennan is coming off a game in which he was charged with five interceptions, three more than he'd ever thrown in one game. He expects to bounce back with a strong performance tonight.

Jason Rivers (27 catches, 357 yards, three TDs) is 72 yards behind Chad Owens for No. 2 on UH's all-time receiving list. Rivers is coming off not playing at Idaho because of a sore back. He is joined by Ryan Grice-Mullins (34-469-5), Davone Bess (36-410-5) and C.J. Hawthorne (27-327-3) in the nation's most prolific receiving corps.

The new offensive line has generally played well, but Brennan was sacked three times last week, and protection is paramount with the quarterback trying to get his sprained ankle back to 100 percent.

Freshman running back Kealoha Pilares shined last week, totaling 100 yards rushing and receiving.

Devon Hall, Jake Hutton and Paul Igboeli comprise a productive linebacker crew for Utah State, combining for 121 tackles.

When Utah State has the ball

CB Ryan Mouton is out with a knee sprain, which affects the Warriors' depth. But starters Gerard Lewis and Myron Newberry have been better than effective. They will, however, undergo one of their sternest tests of the season in WR Kevin Robinson. S Keao Monteilh will replace Mouton as the nickel back, with Desmond Thomas sliding into Monteilh's spot at safety in those packages.

UH defensive tackle Mike Lafaele vows to play despite a strained hamstring, but the Warriors coaches could make a strategic decision to rest him, as they did with Brennan two weeks ago, and probably still win handily.

The Aggies haven't displayed much of an attack, but they are balanced, and QB Leon Jackson III is experienced. Utah State is last in total offense in the WAC and 117th nationally with 239 yards per game. Former North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey's offense will have to score much more than its average of 15 points a game to hang with an improving Hawaii defense that has scored four touchdowns on interceptions the past three games.

Special teams

This has been the pride of the Aggies the past few seasons, but Utah schooled them last week. The Utes were helped by long punt returns in their 34-18 win last week.

"We've got to get back to what we do best on special teams and that is get ourselves field position and make them play a long field and not a short field like Utah was able to do in the second quarter when they got all those points."

Robinson is second in the nation with 22.2 yards per punt return and is a threat every time he touches the ball. But he can't do it all himself.

Even with No. 1 kick returners Ryan Mouton out and Jason Rivers limited by a sore back, the Warriors can still play two deep men with TD returns this fall -- Mike Washington and Malcolm Lane. Keenan Jones is also expected to be in the mix on kickoff returns, and Davone Bess retains his spot as punt returner despite mixed results.

UH kicker Dan Kelly is gradually putting together a solid season after a slow start. He's now 4-for-6 on field goals, still perfect on PATs and had a good day kicking off last week.

Jackson does double duty as punter with 42.4 per kick.

KEY MATCHUP

June Jones' offense vs. Brent Guy's defense

Brent Guy's résumé includes stints as defensive coordinator at Boise State and Arizona State, and he is one of the WAC's better tacticians. Last year Guy decided to go after Colt Brennan and try to disrupt the Warriors' passing game before the ball got out of the quarterback's hand.

"They had a bye before us and they did a lot of homework," UH coach June Jones said. "During the game they had some keys that we have and they were the first team to identify them."

The thing is, even if Guy had schemed perfectly, it probably wouldn't have made a difference. The talent disparity was so huge that UH won 63-10. Also, Jones adjusted to the Aggies' blitzing by devastating them with shovel passes.

"We were able to make plays, and because they were taking a shot, anytime we made a play it was usually a pretty big one," Brennan said. "They left a lot of man-to-man coverage, so if you break the line of scrimmage, you have a chance to score."

The Utah State defense is a year more experienced, and the Aggies do have seven interceptions in five games. But they've only made five sacks, and it's doubtful they'll be disruptive enough to truly affect Brennan. Linebacker Paul Igboeli popped him the hardest he was hit all season in the third quarter last year and Brennan threw an interception on the play. But he came back and led a touchdown drive.

"We still made it work and we still made plays. Our players really executed well in those situations," Jones said. "Brent's a good football coach, a real good defensive coach and he'll have his guys ready to play this week."


Utah State

0-5, 0-1 WAC
Probable Starters

Offense
LT 52 Spencer Johnson 6-5 283 Fr.
LG 74 Shawn Murphy 6-5 315 Sr.
C 56 Ryan Tonnemacher 6-3 288 Jr.
RG 63 Pace Jorgensen 6-5 335 Sr.
RT 77 Derek Hoke 6-9 310 Jr.
TE 84 Will Fausel 6-3 268 Sr.
or 88 Jimmy Bohm 6-2 286 Sr.
WR 6 Kevin Robinson 6-0 199 Sr.
WR 14 Otis Nelson 6-2 214 Jr.
FB 32 Jacob Actkinson 6-0 218 Fr.
TB 1 Aaron Lesue 5-10 195 Sr.
QB 7 Leon Jackson III 6-1 206 Sr.

Defense
LE 13 Carl Singleton 6-2 235 Sr.
LT 57 Frank Maile 6-1 275 Sr.
RT 96 Alan Bishop 6-5 277 So.
RE 58 Ben Calderwood 6-2 268 Jr.
Aggie 45 De'von Hall 6-3 220 Jr.
MLB 53 Jake Hutton 6-0 231 Jr.
Sam 31 Paul Igboeli 6-0 206 So.
LC 9 Kejon Murphy 5-8 160 So.
SS 26 James Brindley 5-10 191 So.
FS 39 Caleb Taylor 6-3 197 Jr.
RC 23 Joshua Taylor 6-0 179 Jr.
or 3 Marquise Charles 5-8 171 Jr.

Specialists
KO 1 Chris Ulinski 6-2 207 So.
PK 38 Peter Caldwell 6-4 213 Fr.
P 7 Leon Jackson III 6-1 206 Sr.
H 7 Leon Jackson III 6-1 206 Sr.
Snap 89 Patrick Scales 6-4 235 Fr.
KR 6 Kevin Robinson 6-0 199 Sr.

1 Aaron Lesue 5-10 195 Sr.
PR 6 Kevin Robinson 6-0 199 So.

Schedule

Date Opp. Result
Aug. 30 UNLV L, 23-16
Sept. 8 at Wyoming L, 32-18
Sept. 15 at Oklahoma L, 54-3
Sept. 22 San Jose State L, 23-20
Sept. 29 at Utah L, 34-18
Today at Hawaii
Oct. 20 Nevada
Oct. 27 Louisiana Tech
Nov. 3 at Fresno State
Nov. 10 Boise State
Nov. 17 at New Mexico State
Nov. 24 at Idaho

Hawaii

5-0, 2-0 WAC
Probable Starters

Offense
X 84 Jason Rivers 6-2 189 Sr.
H 7 Davone Bess 5-10 195 Jr.
LT 62 Keith AhSoon 6-1 315 Jr.
LG 65 Hercules Satele 6-2 293 Sr.
C 55 John Estes 6-2 292 So.
RG 73 Larry Sauafea 6-2 294 Sr.
RT 78 Keoni Steinhoff 6-3 282 Jr.
Y 1 Ryan Grice-Mullins 5-11 180 Jr.
Z 2 C.J. Hawthorne 5-11 168 Sr.
QB 15 Colt Brennan 6-3 201 Sr.
RB 4 Leon Wright-Jackson 6-1 211 So.

Defense
LE 54 Amani Purcell 6-4 277 Sr.
LT 96 Fale Laeli 6-1 292 Jr.
RT 67 Michael Lafaele 6-1 302 Sr.
or 93 Keala Watson 6-3 300 Jr.
RE 12 Karl Noa 6-4 251 Sr.
BUC 44 Adam Leonard 6-0 236 Jr.
MAC 17 Solomon Elimimian 5-11 218 Jr.
STUB 43 Brad Kalilimoku 5-10 221 Sr.
CB 3 Myron Newberry 5-9 174 Sr.
FS 35 Keao Monteilh 5-11 193 Jr.
SAM 31 Jake Patek 6-0 204 Sr.
CB 23 Gerard Lewis 5-9 175 Sr.

Specialists
P 45 Tim Grasso 5-11 221 Jr.
PK 86 Dan Kelly 6-3 212 Jr.
SNP 57 Jake Ingram 6-4 234 Jr.
HLD 45 Tim Grasso 5-11 221 Jr.
KR 5 Mike Washington 5-7 173 Jr.

29 Keenan Jones 5-11 181 Sr.
PR 7 Davone Bess 5-10 195 Jr.

Schedule

Date Opp. Result
Sept. 1 Northern Colorado W, 63-6
Sept. 8 at Louisiana Tech W, 45-44 (OT)
Sept. 15 at UNLV W, 49-14
Sept. 22 Charleston Southern W, 66-10
Sept. 29 at Idaho W, 48-20
Today Utah State
Oct. 12 at San Jose State
Oct. 27 New Mexico State
Nov. 10 Fresno State
Nov. 23 Boise State
Dec. 1 Washington

How They Compare

[image chart]

Who Has The Advantage

[image chart]

Other Key Statistics

Utah State Category Hawaii
13.6 First downs/game 27.6
7.6 Rushing first downs/game 4.6
4.8 Passing first downs/game 20.6
1.2 First downs by penalty/game 2.4
2.0 Turnovers lost 2.8
1.8 Turnovers gained 2.6
10-77 Interceptions-return yards 10-287
42.4 Punting avg 43.4
34-309 Penalties-yards 36-360
8-6 Fumbles-lost 13-4
24% Third-down-conversion rate 46%
67% Fourth-down-conversion rate 60%

Individual Leaders

Rushing

A Yds Avg TD
Derrvin Speight, USU 47 169 3.6 1
Curtis Marsh, USU 44 149 3.4 0
Kealoha Pilares, UH 31 192 6.2 1
Leon Wright-Jackson, UH 23 132 5.7 1

Passing

A C I Yds TD
Leon Jackson III, USU 103 67 3 566 2
Colt Brennan, UH 182 133 6 1,631 15
Tyler Graunke, UH 60 34 4 474 4

Receiving

Rec Yds Avg TD
Kevin Robinson, USU 26 263 10.1 1
Otis Nelson, USU 9 58 6.4 1
Davone Bess, UH 36 410 11.4 5
Ryan Grice-Mullins, UH 34 469 13.8 5

Tackles

S A Tot FL/S
De'von Hall, USU 18 26 44 3/0
Jake Hutton, USU 19 21 40 2/1
Paul Igboeli, USU 15 22 37 2.5/0
Caleb Taylor, USU 15 18 33 5/0
Antonio Taylor, USU 10 15 25 0/0
Solomon Elimimian, UH 30 23 53 5.5/1
Adam Leonard, UH 19 20 39 5/1
Jake Patek, UH 16 14 30 2/0
Brad Kalilimoku, UH 17 6 23 5/.5
Myron Newberry, UH 12 9 21 0/0



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