By

POSTED: Saturday, November 29, 2008

The numbers appear to add up in Hawaii's favor.

The Warriors face a Washington State team that has just two wins and ranks 103rd or lower in 13 categories nationally, placing next to last in scoring offense and defense.

Those stats contribute to Hawaii entering today's matchup as a 28 1/2 -point favorite.

But the only figure that really matters to the Warriors is one—as in the number of wins they need to qualify for the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

“;We're not going to look at any team's record or anything like that,”; Warriors linebacker Solomon Elimimian said. “;We're going to look at every team as a threat. They're trying to take something away from us.”;

The Warriors enter the game at less than full strength, with Kealoha Pilares, Hawaii's leading touchdown producer, and defensive back Ryan Mouton out with injuries.

They won't get much sympathy from Washington State, which has struggled with injuries throughout coach Paul Wulff's first season. But the Cougars' spirits got a boost with a dramatic win in last week's Apple Cup game with rival Washington.

“;Hopefully there's a level of confidence that should build off of that,”; Wulff said.

The following is a look at the matchup as Hawaii aims for its first three-game winning streak of the season:

When Hawaii has the ball: In reviewing quarterback Greg Alexander's progress of late, Hawaii coach Greg McMackin pointed to the junior's increased comfort in throwing the ball downfield.

Alexander enters the week with a streak of 118 consecutive passes without an interception, and hit two deep throws for touchdowns to Malcolm Lane in last week's win over Idaho, including an 82-yarder. He averaged 18.9 yards per completion last week, up from 12.1 in his previous three games.

“;He understands the offense now,”; Hawaii head coach McMackin said. “;You can see now he's starting to hit deep things. Before it was shorter things, now he's going on top.”;

Daniel Libre and Aaron Bain had been rotating with Pilares, who shuttled between running back and slotback, and have six touchdowns between them in the last two games.

 

Washington State linebacker Greg Trent leads the Cougars with 86 tackles, including 10 1/2 for losses. But the Cougars, who have given up 58 points or more six times, haven't put much pressure on opposing quarterbacks, coming up with just 11 sacks in 12 games.

“;We're going to be truly tested,”; Wulff said. “;They're very committed to (the passing game) and we have to be good at trying to keep things in front of us and not allow a lot of big plays.”;

When Washington State has the ball: Injuries have hampered a Cougars offense that was shut out in three of the past five games.

Two quarterbacks, Gary Rogers (neck) and Marshall Lobbestael (knee), suffered season-ending injuries. Kevin Lopina, who came back from a back injury early in the season and a concussion against Arizona State two weeks ago, is looking for his first touchdown pass of the season against 11 interceptions.

Running backs Dwight Tardy and Logwone Mitz have carried the rushing load. They combined for 145 yards last week, 54 coming on a touchdown run by Mitz.

Receiver Brandon Gibson, a first-team All-Pac-10 selection last year, is Washington State's all-time leader in receiving yards and will face a UH secondary that came up with four turnovers last week, but could be missing two starters.

Injuries to Mouton and fellow safety Erik Robinson moved Desmond Thomas and Keao Monteilh back into the starting group and both came up with interceptions last week.

Special teams: Even if he doesn't get the ball, Malcolm Lane can positively impact Hawaii's field position. Lane ranks sixth in the country in kickoff returns, averaging just under 30 yards per return. His productivity prompted recent opponents to kick the ball short rather than put the ball in his hands.

“;Malcolm understands that. If we get the field position for him on offense, it's a shorter field. So he wins either way,”; UH special teams coach Ikaika Malloe said.

Aaron Bain will resume punt return duties after Pilares took a turn at that spot last week.

Washington State kicker Nico Grasu made three clutch kicks in the Cougars' Apple Cup win to earn Pac-10 special teams player of the week honors. He made a 28-yarder on the final play of regulation to force overtime, then made two more in the extra periods, the second giving Washington State its first win over an FBS opponent this season.

 

KEY MATCHUP

Hawaii front four vs. Washington State O-line

After recording eight sacks in their first seven games, the Warriors have 19 in the last four, seven coming from the line in last week's win over Idaho.

UH head coach Greg McMackin called off the blitz early on. The front four's ability to control the line of scrimmage left the linebackers free to flow to the ball and helped limit Idaho to 1.2 rushing yards per carry. The pressure also contributed to three interceptions.

Tackles Keala Watson and Josh Leonard controlled the middle of the line, while David Veikune and John Fonoti are playmakers off the edge.

They'll face a Washington State line that hasn't had much chance to develop continuity in starting seven different combinations this season. The Cougars have surrendered 38 sacks for 311 yards in losses.

Center Kenny Alfred and right tackle Micah Hannam are the only linemen who have started all 12 games this season. Vaughn Lesuma, who is from Laie, has started the last four games at left tackle.

---

 

OTHER KEY STATISTICS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Hawaii	Category	WASH. ST.
6.5	Rushing first downs/game	5.6
10.4	Passing first downs/game	7.0
1.7	First downs by penalty/game	1.6
13-230	Interceptions-return yards	9-118
39.6	Punting avg.	39.9
97-859	Penalties-yards	90-860
25-13	Fumbles-lost	36-15
35%	Third-down conversion rate	27%
45%	Fourth-down conversion rate	53%

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Rushing
	A	Yds	Avg	TD
Dwight Tardy, WSU	120	428	3.6	2
Logwone Mitz, WSU	77	389	5.1	3
Daniel Libre, UH	79	378	4.8	5
Kealoha Pilares, UH	54	281	5.2	5

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Passing
	A	C	I	Yds	TD
Kevin Lopina, WSU	147	85	11	818	0
M. Lobbestael, WSU	103	53	4	571	4
Inoke Funaki, UH	168	95	12	1,119	6
Greg Alexander, UH	130	84	2	1,044	8

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Receiving
	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD
Brandon Gibson, WSU	56	655	11.7	2
Jeshua Anderson, WSU	33	305	9.2	2
Mike Washington, UH	45	548	12.2	4
Greg Salas, UH	41	593	14.5	2

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Tackles
	S	A	Tot	FL/S
Greg Trent, WSU	50	36	86	10.5/1
Xavier Hicks, WSU	45	29	74	1/0
Romeo Pellum, WSU	49	14	63	2/0
Chima Nwachukwu, WSU	31	25	56	0.5/0
Solomon Elimimian, UH	47	44	91	9/2.5
Adam Leonard, UH	36	29	65	6/1
David Veikune, UH	40	20	60	13.5/6.5
Jameel Dowling, UH	38	20	58	2.5/1.5

WASHINGTON STATE
2-10 (1-8 Pac-10)
PROBABLE STARTERS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Offense
X	85	Jeshua Anderson	6-2	186	So.
F	29	Kevin Norrell	5-9	180	Fr.
LT	55	Vaughn Lesmua	6-4	323	Sr.
LG	78	Steven Ayers	6-4	311	Fr.
C	69	Kenny Alfred	6-2	300	Jr.
RG	72	B.J. Guerra	6-3	293	Fr.
RT	76	Micah Hannam	6-4	284	So.
TE	80	Devin Frischknecht	6-3	251	Sr.
Z	4	Brandon Gibson	6-1	200	Sr.
QB	9	Kevin Lopina	6-3	228	Jr.
RB	31	Dwight Tardy	5-11	201	Jr.
Defense
LE	93	Kevin Kooyman	6-6	247	Jr.
LT	92	A'i Ahmu	6-0	280	Sr.
RT	90	Toby Turpin	6-6	276	So.
RE	58	Matt Mullennix	6-6	253	Sr.
WLB	46	Louis Bland	5-10	203	Fr.
MLB	52	Greg Trent	5-11	230	Sr.
SLB	38	Cory Evans	6-2	235	Sr.
LCB	10	Romeo Pellum	5-10	179	So.
SS	21	Chima Nwachukwu	5-11	197	So.
FS	26	Xavier Hicks	6-0	196	Jr.
RCB	6	Markus Dawes	5-11	197	Sr.
Specialists
KO	28	Patrick Rooney	5-11	190	Jr.
PK	18	Nico Grasu	6-1	195	So.
P	8	Reid Forrest	6-0	183	So.
KR	29	Kevin Norrell	5-9	180	Fr.
PR	29	Kevin Norrell	5-9	180	Fr.
H	8	Reid Forrest	6-0	183	So.
LS	63	Zach Enyeart	6-0	263	So.

SCHEDULE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

DATE	OPP.	RESULT
Aug. 30	Oklahoma State	L, 39-13
Sept. 6	California	L, 66-3
Sept. 12	at Baylor	L, 45-17
Sept. 20	Portland State	W, 48-9
Sept. 27	Oregon	L, 63-14
Oct. 4	at UCLA	L, 28-3
Oct. 11	at Oregon State	L, 66-13
Oct. 18	USC	L, 69-0
Nov. 1	at Stanford	L, 58-0
Nov. 8	Arizona	L, 59-28
Nov. 15	at Arizona State	L, 31-0
Nov. 22	Washington	W, 16-13			2OT
Today	at Hawaii

hawaii
6-5 (5-3 WAC)
PROBABLE STARTERS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Offense
Z	89	Malcolm Lane	6-1	180	Jr.
H	5	Mike Washington	5-9	170	Sr.
LT	77	Aaron Kia	6-5	290	Jr.
LG	50	Laupepa Letuli	6-4	320	Jr.
C	55	John Estes	6-2	295	Jr.
RG	51	Lafu Tuioti-Mariner	6-0	300	Sr.
RT	78	Keoni Steinhoff	6-3	295	Sr.
Y	85	Aaron Bain	5-8	190	Sr.
X	1	Greg Salas	6-2	200	So.
QB	12	Greg Alexander	6-3	230	Jr.
RB	48	David Farmer	6-2	245	Sr.
Defense
DE	94	David Veikune	6-3	265	Sr.
DT	93	Keala Watson	6-3	320	Sr.
DT	99	Josh Leonard	6-3	305	Sr.
DE	58	John Fonoti	6-2	255	Jr.
STUB	44	Adam Leonard	6-0	235	Sr.
MLB	17	Solomon Elimimian	6-0	225	Sr.
BUCK	13	Brashton Satele	6-1	255	Jr.
CB	3	Jameel Dowling	6-3	200	Sr.
FS	24	Desmond Thomas	6-2	170	Sr.
SS	35	Keao Monteilh	5-11	200	Sr.
CB	23	Calvin Roberts	5-11	175	Sr.
Specialists
K	86	Dan Kelly	6-3	225	Sr.
P	49	Tim Grasso	5-11	210	Sr.
KR	89	Malcolm Lane	6-1	180	Jr.
PR	85	Aaron Bain	5-8	190	Sr.
LS	57	Jake Ingram	6-4	235	Sr.
H	49	Tim Grasso	5-11	210	Sr.

SCHEDULE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

DATE	OPP.	RESULT
Aug. 30	at Florida	L, 56-10
Sept. 6	Weber State	W, 36-17
Sept. 13	at Oregon State	L, 45-7
Sept. 27	San Jose State	L, 20-17
Oct. 4	at Fresno State	W, 32-29 OT
Oct. 11	Louisiana Tech	W, 24-14
Oct. 17	at Boise State	L, 27-7
Oct. 25	Nevada	W, 38-31
Nov. 1	at Utah State	L, 30-14
Nov. 8	at New Mexico State	W, 42-30
Nov. 15	Idaho	W, 49-17
Today	Washington State
Dec. 6	Cincinnati