Navy

At the beginning of the season we knew this one was going to be a tough one. Everyone who plays a well run triple option attack knows how difficult it is to stop. Just ask Corwin Brown and Charlie Weiss of Notre Dame who lost to the Midshipmen the past two years.
Besides the #3 rushing attack and highest graduation rate in the nation, Navy also has a passing game this year. Jr. QB Ricky Dobbs is considered to be Navy’s best passer over the last decade. If the Navy ground game wasn’t enough, the Warriors now have to worry about getting beat through the air as #4 can realy sling the rock.

For this game, coach Mac and Defensive Coordinator Cal Lee only need to visit to the Hawaii film room for the scouting report on Navy. Throughout the 1990’s, UH ran Paul Johnson’s triple option attack and it was this offense which gave Hawaii its first WAC title and Holiday Bowl Victory. This offense was able to effectively move the ball on the ground as well as the air using small undersized athletes nobody wanted. When the highly ranked BYU Cougars rolled into town nearly 20 years ago with Heisman Trophy Winner, Ty Detmer, they found out all about the Johnson triple option attack. That night Hawaii QB Garrett Gabriel looked more like the Heisman trophy Winner passing for nearly 400 yards on the Cougar defense. BYU was expecting a heavy dose of the run but little did they know that they would get killed through the air.

Johnson is no longer at Navy but neverthless his successor and star pupil, Kenny Niumatalolo is carrying on the legacy. At 8-3 Navy, is again bowl bound and scaring everyone they face. On Saturday, the Midshipmen are favored by 9 but many feel it should be more.

The keys for the game are simple. Offensively the Warriors must protect Moniz and keep the chains moving. If Hawaii continues to go 3 and out like they did last week at San Jose, it will be a long night with Navy quickly running away with the score. Hawaii must outscore Navy to have any chance of winning.

Defensively, the interior linemen need to hold point and stop the dive play. Maetoga, Savaiianea, and Tufaga must have the game of their lives and assert their physical dominance. The bread and butter for Navy is the dive and much of their success feeds off their success with the interior run game. Strong interior play will help the linebackers and secondary who must play smart assignment football and avoid being out of position. The cut blocks and occaisional deep pass are also something that the Warriors should be concerned about.

Can Hawaii win and be one step closer to a bowl on Christmas Day? The answer is yes but the Warriors will need to play almost perfect tomorrow. That means no stupid penalties, turnovers and fooling coaching decisions. If they decide to go for it on 4th and 10 inside Navy’s 25 yard line instead of opting for the easy 3, then for sure Coach Mac will be opening presents with the grand kids on Christmas Day instead of preparing to face June and SMU.

San Jose State Preview

The San Jose State Spartans are 1-8 with their only victory coming over an FCS opponent. Spartan's Head Coach Dick Tomey will resign at the end of the season and wants desperately wants to beat his old team one final time. UH has had problems on the road and the Warrior’s leading receiver and starting QB are questionable for Saturday’s game. Hawaii’s next two games will be against Navy and Wisconsin and they may be looking past San Jose. This week’s game has the potential to be very worrisome and an over confident Warrior team may not find their way past San Jose.

Listed as 3 point favorites, Hawaii should take care of business because the Spartans are down right bad. They cannot move the ball and have not stopped anyone all year. UH however has had a history of playing poorly on the road and we all know what happened last year when the Warriors stumbled over another one win team in Logan UT.

The keys for the the game are simple. Offensively they need to protect Moniz and his bruised ribs. Other receivers must take up the slack for Salas who will likely see limited action due to his sprained ankle. Defensively the Warriors just need to make tackles and not give up big plays. San Jose will probably shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers and that will no doubt help the defense.

The Warriors should win this Saturday and be one step closer to a reunion with June Jones. Final score Hawaii 31 San Jose State 14.

New Mexico State

Last week Utah State dared Hawaii to run and that is what Hawaii did against a 3-man front and 8 men dropping in coverage. If the Warriors had run for anything less than 250 yards, I would be concerned. Don’t count on the same this week, as any D-coordinator with half a brain would not dare duplicate the Utah State game plan. Aggie Head Coach Dewayne Walker is smart enough to not let that happen this week.

This Saturday calls for heavy thunder showers and Hawaii as 20 point favorites. My money is on the weather man and not Hawaii. The Warriors have traditionally played poorly when heavy favorites. New Mexico State has no chance of winning but if the Warriors don’t take care of business it could end up close.

The keys to the game are simple. The offense needs to score and all of that starts with protecting Moniz. Last week was an anomaly and will not happen again for another 100 years so don’t expect the Warriors to turn into a running team from now on. Defensively Hawaii needs to make tackles and force turnovers.

Looking ahead the Warriors have San Jose State on the road and that game is very winnable. The Spartans are struggling to put it mildly and Dick Tomey’s Offense doesn’t scare anyone. The week after San Jose, UH faces Navy and the Triple Option. This one will be tough but not impossible. Coach Mac is a better Defensive Coordinator than Mr. “Sour Grapes” Corwin Brown of Notre Dame. The question will be: can the Hawaii Linebackers execute the game plan? They have failed miserably all year in stopping the run. Finally to wrap up the season is Wisconsin. If there is anybody left on defense after the Navy game, then Warriors will have a chance. Hawaii’s run and shoot in the past has matched up well against Big 10 defenses designed to stop the run so scoring should not be a problem. If the defense can force a few turnovers, things may get very interesting.

Hawaii’s chances for a bowl appearance are nearly impossible and many have already written the team off. Some of us are still not giving up. Just imagine a Hawaii Bowl against June Jones and SMU. Gandalf versus Bilbo. That would be a great Christmas present! The first step is taking care of business this Saturday. As long as the team does not fall flat on its face like OG Ray Hisatake did last week coming out of the tunnel, then things should go as planned for now at least.

Utah State Previes

Two years ago the Warriors were undefeated and preparing to make its first BCS appearance. Tonight Hawaii is 2-6, winless in the WAC and 2 ½ point underdogs at home to another 2-6 team. My how things have changed since the departure of June Jones.

Hawaii still has a mathematical chance of making the Hawaii Bowl if it can win out but that scenario is about as likely as G.W. Bush being elected President of Iraq. Tonight is a winnable game for the Warriors but it will be tough.

Utah State QB Diondre Borel is a multi-threat nightmare, a poor man’s Jacory Harris and someone the Warriors will need to keep in check in order to have any chance at winning.

Offensively the Warriors cannot shoot themselves in the foot like they did last week versus the WolfPack. A 5th year Sr Tackle who I refuse to embarrass cannot continue to have 4 false start and 2 holding penaly performances if Hawaii has any shot at winning.

The odds are stacked against Hawaii but being the “homer” that I am, I predict a victory tonight and the end to the 6 game losing streak. Final score Hawaii 42 Utah State 37.