Posted on: Saturday, October 16, 2004

Offensive sets tailor-made for UH, UTEP

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

While the West Coast Offense has been football's "It" scheme for the past decade, its sibling — the Northwest Offense — has created its own identity.

The head coaches of tonight's opponents — Mike Price of Texas-El Paso and June Jones of Hawai'i — have been faithful advocates of the one-back, everybody-else-goes-out passing attack. While both schemes are based on read-and-attack plays, the West Coast Offense relies more on shorter, ball-control routes. The Northwest has the flexibility of deeper patterns.

Using concepts from the old playbooks of Jack Elway, who coached at San Jose State and Stanford in the 1970s and 1980s, Price developed his version of the one-back offense at Washington State. The scheme now is used at Purdue and Bowling Green.

Jones, who was raised in Oregon, learned the basics of the four-wide offense from Mouse Davis, now UH's special teams coordinator.

A one-back offense requires agile offensive linemen, receivers of any height (or lack of height) and a quarterback who is not necessarily 6 feet 4. The scheme gives schools with shorter recruiting reaches a way to compete against richer programs, much in the way a basketball team turns to 3-point shooters when it can't sign imposing post players.

"I think when you're at schools that can't compete quite as much in the recruiting wars, you'd better do something that gives your kids a chance," Jones said. "Running what (Price) runs and running what we run, you can win with as not as good talent as USC.

"If you're at USC, you can get any player you want to recruit. Then you can do whatever you want to do. But if USC and UCLA are getting all of the players, and you're at Washington State, you'd better figure out a way to win. Nobody cares about your recruiting problems."

Here's a look at tonight's game:

Hawai'i Offense

LWO—84 Jason Rivers 6-1 189 So.

LSB—2 Chad Owens 5-9 177 Sr.

LT—70 Tala Esera 6-3 291 So.

LG—64 Samson Satele 6-2 278 So.

C—59 Derek Fa'avi 6-0 271 Jr.

RG—69 Uriah Moenoa 6-2 325 Sr.

RT—66 Brandon Eaton 6-2 291 Jr.

RSB—7 Se'e Poumele 5-9 171 Sr.

RWO—9 Britton Komine 5-10 188 Sr.

QB—14 Tim Chang 6-2 205 Sr.

RB—6 Michael Brewster 5-5 185 Sr.

RB—16 West Keli'ikipi 6-0 267 Sr.

Outlook: Against a large and loud crowd, spurred by the "Miner Maniacs" in the end zone seats (four season tickets for $140), the Warriors might need a Verizon Wireless plan to communicate offensive plays. "The crowd is going to be loud, and Timmy is going to have a tough time calling audibles (when he is) in the shot gun," UTEP's Price promised. "It's going to be noisy, and we hope to get them off a little bit and get them out of their comfort zone."

The Warriors will use hand signals to call plays, and the receivers will watch Fa'avi to know when the snap is made. "It's good to hear the count so we can get a good start, but we can just watch the ball," Komine said. "At the same time, we can tell whether the (defensive back) is close or far."

Chang has struggled in his two appearances in the Sun Bowl. "I guess it wasn't my games," said Chang, who was picked off twice in his NCAA debut in 2000 and lifted because of ineffectiveness in 2002. "Some games you're on, some games you're not. I've not yet put a good game together against them. I'm looking forward to one."

While Chang has an impressive touchdown-to-interception ratio (11-to-1) this season, his teammates marvel that he is "throwing white" — spirals that are so tight the white stripes appear to rotate in perfect alignment. "He's throwing great passes," said Owens, who leads the nation with 9.5 catches per game.

Much was made of the Warriors' emphasis on the running game against Nevada. They, in fact, had more rushing attempts against Tulsa the week before. The difference is the Warriors were more effective on trap plays to the weak side against Nevada. Keli'ikipi (1.67 broken tackles per rush) and Brewster (0.78) have been difficult to take down.

Hawai'i Defense

LE—98 Melila Purcell III 6-4 266 Jr.

LT—99 Lui Fuga 6-1 292 Sr.

RT—96 Matt Faga 6-2 317 Sr.

RE—30 Kila Kamakawiwo'ole 6-3 241 Jr.

SLB—5 Chad Kapanui 6-0 226 Sr.

MLB—55 Watson Ho'ohuli 5-11 225 Sr.

WLB—45 Tanuvasa Moe 5-11 210 Jr.

LCB—37 Abraham Elimimian 5-10 185 Sr.

LS—42 Leonard Peters 6-1 184 Jr.

RS—15 Lono Manners 5-10 204 Jr.

RCB—28 Cam. Hollingsworth 5-11 167 Jr.

Outlook: Last week against Nevada, the Warriors intercepted two passes and forced a fumble on a goal-line stand. But they also missed 17 tackles, including 14 in the second half for an additional 72 yards. Nevada's two fourth-quarter touchdowns came after missed tackles. It won't get any easier this week without two injured starters — middle linebacker Ikaika Curnan and right cornerback Kenny Patton. Both remained in Honolulu. Ho'ohuli and Hollingsworth will make their first NCAA starts.

Jones said Moe, who was the designated long-snapper last season, has emerged as the Warriors' best linebacker. Even at 210 pounds, he is able to fight off offensive linemen who elude UH's defensive tackles.

Hawai'i Specialists

PK—47 Justin Ayat 6-0 193 Sr.

P/H—25 Kurt Milne 6-0 195 So.

LS—61 Bryce Runge 5-11 236 Jr.

KR—3 Bryan Maneafaiga 5-8 184 Jr.

PR—2 Chad Owens 5-9 177 Sr.

Outlook: Ayat hopes to benefit from El Paso's slight elevation; the thin air keeps the football airborne longer. Because the Sun Bowl is cut into the side of a mountain, "not much wind gets in there," Ayat said. "The wind shouldn't be a factor."

After relinquishing long punt and kickoff returns, the Warriors will use more starters on special teams.

UTEP Offense

WR—10 Chris Marrow 5-8 170 So.

TE—83 Jonas Crafts, 6-3 245 Sr.

LT—74 Josh House 6-4 290 Jr.

LG—79 Jose Garcia 6-2 320 Jr.

C—60 Bo Morris 6-2 260 Sr.

RG—52 Ben Graniello 6-3 290 Sr.

RT—75 Robert Espinosa 6-3 310 Sr.

WR—3 Johnnie Lee Higgins 6-0 175 So.

WR—80 Chris Francies 6-1 190 Jr.

QB—7 Jordan Palmer 6-5 230 So.

TB—4 Howard Jackson 5-9 160 Sr.

Outlook: Price's one-back offense is designed to divide-and-conquer, with receivers split wide, then cutting and weaving through the defense. But with only a third of the offense installed, the Miners will look first to Jackson. At a luncheon last month, Price announced he was writing a book entitled: "101 Ways to Get Jackson the Ball." In the first half against New Mexico State, Jackson touched the ball on all but seven plays. He can align in the slot in a five-receiver set, or as a tailback, where he uses his speed (4.3 seconds over 40 yards) to sprint to the perimeter or cut inside. UH's Jones said Jackson is one of the league's three best runners. "If we give him the same holes that (Nevada's Chance) Kretschmer had, those will be 80-yard touchdown runs," Jones said.

Palmer, who is holding off Omar Duarte for the starting job at quarterback, has a menu of speedy receivers. Higgins can run 40 yards in 4.4 seconds and Marrow is athletic enough to catch underthrown passes. The sleeper is Jayson Boyd, an Oregon State transfer, who rarely drops passes.

UTEP Defense

LE—47 Alex Obomese 6-3 220 So.

LT—70 Chris Mineo 6-2 275 Jr.

RT—63 Zach West 6-4 295 So.

RE—92 Ibok Ibok 6-3 250 Sr.

SLB—40 Thomas Howard 6-3 230 Jr.

MLB—43 Robert Rodriguez 6-1 230 Sr.

WLB—45 Godwin Akinduro 6-4 220 Sr.

LCB—3 Adrian Ward 5-10 170 Sr.

SS—14 Mark Dowdy 5-11 190 Sr.

FS—9 Quintin Demps 6-0 195 Fr.

RCB—6 Jahmal Fenner 5-8 180 Sr.

Outlook: The Miners' attacking defense should be familiar to the Warriors, who ran a similar scheme under defensive coordinator Greg McMackin in 1999. McMackin and UTEP coordinator Tim Hundley are close friends.

The Miners will move a linebacker up to the line of scrimmage to create a five-man front or drop a defensive end back into coverage while blitzing a cornerback or safety. Rodriguez, who led the WAC in tackles for two seasons and is No. 2 this year, is the heart of the system.

On the line, Mineo is an effective interior pass-rusher and West is sturdy enough to keep blockers away from Rodriguez. West is a natural fit in the trenches. During a recent Korn concert, he was spotted dancing in the mosh pit. Justin Hanel, a 275-pound sophomore, recently moved to defensive end and is expected to play extensively.

If strong safety Joe Fleskoski, who is recovering from a sprained knee, is available, he might be used as the fifth defensive back in nickel packages.

UTEP Specialists

PK—49 Reagan Schneider 6-0 165 So.

P/H—48 Bryce Benekos, 6-5 190 Sr.

LS—50 Aaron King 6-1 210 So.

KR—4 Howard Jackson 5-9 160 Sr.

PR—Jahmal Fenner 5-8 180 Sr.

Outlook: Schneider has converted on all eight field-goal attempts, including a 52-yarder and three from between 41 and 49 yards.

Not only does Benekos launch booming punts, he's a threat to pass. In high school, Benekos was a standout pitcher.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.