GameDay: Hawaii vs Utah State

Dave Reardon's gameday preview has probable starting lineups, stats, a look at offense, defense and special teams for both UH and USU, some sneaky accompanying-photo editorializing, as well as this 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."

Stephen Tsai's gameday preview has breakdowns of both teams' offense, defense and special teams, as well as details about the fire drill.

A fire drill is a discipline in which the defense practices interception returns. It is a choreographed response to a chaotic situation, with the defensive linemen blocking one way, a defensive back targeting a receiver, and the returner running a planned route.

"We work on that every day," Newberry said. "That's why we get a lot of touchdowns on defense just from that drill."

This season, the Warriors have four interception returns for touchdowns, including two in last week's 48-20 victory over Idaho. They are averaging 28.7 yards per interception return.

He said he implemented the fire drills when he was defensive coordinator at Miami. It came from the realization that offenses suffer a quick emotional letdown after being intercepted.

"We felt offenses were a little relaxed at that point, and they were upset with themselves," McMackin said. "It was a mental point."

Cool. Tsai also has a pregame injury report.

The Warriors enter with improved health on offense. Left wideout Jason Rivers, who missed the last six quarters because of lower-back tightness, is expected to start.

Brennan, who is recovering from a sprained right ankle, is running without a limp.

Defensive right tackle Michael Lafaele has a sore right knee caused by a strained hamstring. Although he was held out of the last three practices, Lafaele vowed to play.

"It's not that bad," he said.

Jay Hinton of the Deseret Morning News has a preview.

"A year ago when we played them (in Week 9), he had not thrown an interception when he got to us," Guy said. "This year he's already thrown six of them and five of them were last game, so that's something we'll have to try to build on and use as motivation for our kids in that we've got to get the ball turned over."

Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune writes that the Aggies hope to pull off the upset.

To pull off a monumental upset, Utah State must somehow contain Brennan, who has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 30 straight games. As a team, Hawaii has scored 40 points or more in 19 of Brennan's 30 career starters.

"He has a very quick release and a strong arm, so it's very hard to get to him," said Utah State coach Brent Guy. "Even if you get a guy free, he can get rid of the ball. And what makes him deadly is he knows where to get rid of it. Some guys have quick releases and can get rid of the ball. But they can't complete it."

Here's a preview from the AP.

No. 16 Hawaii (5-0, 2-0 Western Athletic Conference) has its highest ranking in school history and probably needs to stay perfect to be the next BCS busters.

"Hopefully our guys realize what's at stake. We can't have one slip up," Hawaii coach June Jones said.

And finally, Ferd Lewis has a few words for Herman Frazier now that the 2008 schedule is complete.

Now, that wasn't really so hard, was it?

A completed 2008 University of Hawai'i football schedule and 10 months before the kickoff of the season opener, too. What a concept.

But the final chapter on the 2007 schedule debacle remains to be written. The looming question to be answered is whether the lollygagging on this season schedule ultimately hurts the Warriors or curiously ends up helping them.

If UH should manage to go through the regular season 12-0 and find itself in a lucrative Bowl Championship Series game, then Frazier's folly will actually have paid off for the Warriors, having eased their way. But, should they go undefeated and get passed over by the BCS then there will be no doubt who dropped the ball.

Let's hope we can all look back on this whole 2007 schedule drama in a few months and have a good laugh. And we can watch as A.D. Herman makes like Pee-Wee Herman and says:


"I meant to do that!"