Peters, normally a strong safety but playing the SAM, or the strong side linebacker in UH's 4-4 defense, deflected Williams' pass late in the second quarter on a third-and-8 passing situation. While the play worked out in his favor, it also could have cost him, he acknowledged.

Peters crept up to the line of scrimmage on the offense's right side and came blitzing in an arc toward Williams. Peters not only has to pressure the quarterback, but to contain him in the pocket. The blitzers are told not to leave their feet. Peters did, stuffing Williams' pass the way a middle blocker roofs a hitter in volleyball.

"In my mind, in practice every day, you don't want to jump," Peters explained. "If the quarterbacks are smart, they'll pump it and run around you. ... But my mind was telling me he was going to throw the ball. He needed that pass, so I jumped without thinking, without knowing I was going to block it. My coaches told me don't do that too much."

Excuse Peters for the freelancing, but the SAM was near the ball all night. He led the Warriors with nine tackles, six of them unassisted. He also had an interception, the senior's sixth of his career. His play helped keep the Warriors at a comfortable distance from the Mountaineers.

"Everybody came down together as a team," Peters said of the defense's success. "It was kind of shaky at the beginning, but we caught back up and just started kicking their butt after that."

After falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter, the Mountaineers scored 10 points in the second quarter to UH's 48-yard field goal by Justin Ayat.

"We had some mixed up calls," said Peters. "But things happen like that and we bounced right back. And good teams bounce right back."

Middle linebacker Chad Kalilimoku also made big plays on defense, registering seven unassisted tackles, including two for losses totaling 12 yards. He also had one of UH's four sacks. Defensive end Travis LaBoy, tackle Abu Ma'afala and JILL, or free safety David Gilmore, also had a sack apiece.

"We had to shut down their option," said Kalilimoku. "Each of us had a responsibility and had to take care of it."

With the Division I-AA Appalachian State out of the way, the Warriors will begin preparing for USC on Sept. 13 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.