GameDay: Hawaii at Nevada

Stephen Tsai writes about the QB situation.

But practices are different from games, and while declaring himself to be physically fit, Brennan acknowledged he has no vote in the decision regarding his availability.

ESPN yesterday retracted its report that Brennan would not play, citing "misinformation." UH spokesman Derek Inouchi said it will be a "game-time" decision.

Brennan did not practice Monday and Tuesday. He was limited to five passes Wednesday. During yesterday's walk-through practice, Tyler Graunke took almost all of the snaps. Graunke, who has started one game this season, and Inoke Funaki are the only other quarterbacks on the travel roster.

Also from Tsai's article:

The Warriors also can clinch a share of the WAC title with a victory tonight.

UPDATE: Anonymous points out that this isn't necessarily the case.

Stephen Tsai's gameday preview has a breakdown of the offense, defense and specialists for both teams, highlights the creativity of June Jones and Chris Ault, and notes how the Warriors will adjust to the altitude.

Altitude? It's about attitude. "Once we get running and sweating, we'll be all right," Newberry said of playing at 4,546 feet above sea level. "We run a lot, anyway."

In preparation for Reno's breathtaking thinner air, the Warriors ran extra sprints this week. "Nobody runs more than we do in practice; it's like a track meet," said Rich Miano, who coaches the defensive backs. "They'll be fine."

Dave Reardon discusses the reasons why some are calling this the ultimate trap game, takes a look at offense, defense and special teams for both UH and Nevada, and has this key matchup:

Hawaii blocking vs. Nevada defense

Nevada isn't much of a blitzing team, but the Wolf Pack might try to become more of one tonight for its own good.
If Colt Brennan plays six days after suffering a concussion, it is Nevada's duty to go after him and try to get him out of the game and disrupt the Hawaii offense.

And even if Tyler Graunke and/or Inoke Funaki play instead of Brennan, a physical pass rush is a good idea against a passing team that is forced to use less experienced backups at quarterback.

Nevada is 70th in the nation with 1.9 sacks per game and has been credited with just five quarterback hurries in nine games. UH is 55th at protecting the quarterback, yielding the same number of sacks as Nevada has produced. Of course, the sack-per-pass-attempt rate is much better for Hawaii than for most other schools.

Ferd Lewis adds that it's hard to win in Nevada.

In his 23 years as head coach, Ault has won 82.5 percent of the games here, including 18 of the last 22.

Opponents decry how hard it can be to win at Aloha Stadium. But even the Warriors' numbers — a 60 percent winning percentage overall and 72.9 in the June Jones era — pale by comparison.

In his gameday preview, Dan Hinxman of the Reno Gazette-Journal talks to Chris Ault about some keys to the game.

"They're terrific," Ault said. "They have three of the best receivers in the country, in fact, four. They have great speed, and they do a tremendous job of running after the catch.

"We've got to stop the big play. They're going to move the ball. They'll do some things where maybe you say, 'God, you should have had that.' But the bottom line is we've got to be consistent, play hard and get around the football."

In a column of random thoughts, Joe Santoro of the Nevada Appeal muses about Nevada's chances against Hawaii.

How realistic a chance does the Wolf Pack have of beating Hawaii? Well, if the Pack defense actually shows up for a possession or two, the Pack's chances are good. Hawaii has never won a game in Reno. But if the Pack defense continues its disappearing act, Hawaii will act out its version of That 70s Show and light up the scoreboard well into Saturday morning. Odds are the final score tonight is going to make the Pack-Boise final look like a World Cup soccer game. And if the game goes into overtime, well, better bring a sleeping bag to Mackay, folks.

And here's the line of the day:

Don't forget that this Pack team plays defense as often as Brittney Spears wears underwear and had two untested quarterbacks with more syllables in their last names than game experience when the year started.

Darrell Moody of the Nevada Appeal has a long article profiling Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick.

"We were just trying to keep it simple," Kaepernick said of his early success. "To come in after the game and see the numbers, it was a little surreal. Now that I have done it, I know I can do it. Instincts took over a couple of times out there."

Kaepernick has thrown for 1,237 yards and 13 touchdowns in the past five games, and ranks fifth in total offense (244.7), third in passing efficiency (155) and seventh in passing yardage per game (178.3) in the WAC.

David Fox of Rivals.com takes a look at the Warriors' season so far, and profiles Colt Brennan.

Ferd Lewis writes that there are a lot of NFL scouts and fans in Nevada to see Colt Brennan play.

And Susan Essoyan writes about Colt's concussion and the attention it has brought to concussions in sports.