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.