Two top — and similar offenses —will be on display when the Hawai'i and 13th-ranked Cincinnati football teams meet tonight at Aloha Stadium.

Both schemes are rooted in the run-and-shoot principles.

Both are led by tall and accurate quarterbacks.

Cincinnati's Tony Pike is 23rd nationally in pass efficiency with a rating of 144.1.

Hawai'i's Greg Alexander, who will be making his fifth consecutive start, has a rating of 148.8, which would rank 16th if he had met the minimum number of games played.

Both teams have big-play wideouts — Cincinnati's Mardy Gilyard and Dominick Goodman, and UH's Malcolm Lane and Greg Salas.

"They have a pro-style offense," UH associate head coach Rich Miano said of the Bearcats. "It reminds me of ours."

Here's a closer look:

CINCINNATI OFFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

WR—1 Mardy Gilyard 6-1 190 Jr.

LT—71 Jeff Linkenbach 6-6 313 Jr.

LG—60 Jason Kelce 6-3 295 So.

C—56 Chris Jurek 6-2 290 Jr.

RG—76 Trevor Canfield 6-5 305 Sr.

RT—79—Khalil El-Amin 6-4 312 sr.

TE—19 Ben Guidugli 6-2 241 So.

SB—85 Marcus Bennett 6-1 175 So.

WR—16 Dominick Goodman 6-1 210 Sr.

QB—15 Tony Pike 6-6 225 Jr.

RB—20 Jacob Ramsey 6-0 230 Jr.

RB—22 John Goebel 6-1 225 So.

FB—35 Marcus Waugh 6-0 260 Jr.

Outlook: While reviewing Pike the past week, the UH coaches might have wondered if they had inadvertently popped in an old video. "(Pike) wears No. 15," Miano said. "The way he runs around and makes plays, and with his accuracy and command of his offense, he looks a lot like Colt Brennan on video. He has the ability to beat you in the pocket. He has the ability to beat you on the scrambles. He has good leadership abilities and intangibles." Pike also is tough, playing the past five games with a fracture in his left (non-throwing) arm. In the five games prior to suffering the injury, he completed 55.5 percent of his passes for 770 yards, an average of 154 yards per game. Since returning, he has completed 65.3 percent for 1,290 yards, an average of 258 yards per game.

Pike leads an offense that ranges schematically from an empty set to a two-tight-end, two-back formation. Pike is best on screen passes and the dash series (a rollout tactic UH used with Inoke Funaki). Gilyard, who is capable of running 40 yards in 4.48 seconds, is the burner (14.7 yards per catch, nine touchdowns), but Goodman has been more productive (team-best 78 receptions). The Bearcats try to spread their attack, often aligning Gilyard and Goodman on opposite sides, but there are packages in which they are paired side-by-side.

CINCINNATI DEFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

DE—10 Lamonte Nelms 6-3 255 Sr.

DT—67 Adam Hoppel 6-2 300 Sr.

DT—95 Terrill Byrd 6-1 290 Sr.

DE—5 Connor Barwin 6-4 255 Sr.

WLB—49 Torry Cornett 6-2 235 Sr.

MLB—45 Ryan Manalac 6-0 235 Sr.

SLB—42 Corey Smith 6-1 225 Sr.

CB—8 Brandon Underwood 6-1 190 Sr.

SS—17 Aaron Webster 6-3 205 Jr.

FS—18 Cedric Tolbert 6-0 205 Sr.

CB—6 DeAngelo Smith 6-0 190 Sr.

Outlook: Barwin has found a second career as a pass-rusher. Through last season, Barwin was a tight end and top special-teams member. But the coaches believed that Barwin was athletic enough — he played two seasons of basketball for the Bearcats — to make the move to defense. Barwin, who is capable of running 40 yards in 4.61 seconds, leads the Bearcats with 10 sacks. Of his 45 tackles, 13.5 have been in the backfield. He also has six quarterback hurries and seven pass breakups. How agile is Barwin? As a sophomore, he guarded 7-foot Greg Oden, the eventual top pick in the NBA's 2007 draft, shutting out the Ohio State center through the first five minutes.

Nelms, who runs the 40 in 4.75 seconds, also is a ferocious edge defender. Nelms has 13 tackles for losses.

The Bearcats will be without their best cover defender, cornerback Mike Mickens, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery two weeks ago. His 14 career interceptions are a school record. He is averaging 39.4 yards per interception return this season.

CINCINNATI SPECIAL TEAMS

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

PK—97 Jake Rogers 6-3 205 So.

P/H—47 Kevin Huber 6-1 220 Sr.

LS—93 Mike Windt 6-2 250 So.

KR—1 Mardy Gilyard 6-1 190 Jr.

KR—22 John Goebel 6-1 225 So.

PR—6 DeAngelo Smith 6-0 190 Sr.

Outlook: Gilyard has drawn comparisons to Florida's Brandon James, except Gilyard can apparently fly. To avoid a wall, Gilyard leaped into the stands. Then, in heroic fashion, he took off his helmet and held a child who was frightened by the leap. Gilyard is 10th nationally with a kickoff-return average of 28.4 yards.

DeAngelo also is an aggressive returner, and the Bearcats often will cede the block attempt to set up the punt return.

Barwin, the defensive end, meanwhile, has blocked three kicks.

HAWAI'I OFFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

LWO—1 Greg Salas 6-2 200 So.

LSB—5 Michael Washington 5-9 170 Sr.

LT—77 Aaron Kia 6-5 290 Jr.

LG—50 Laupepa Letuli 6-4 320 Jr.

LG/T—Keith AhSoon 6-1 315 Sr.

C—55 John Estes 6-2 295 Jr.

RG—C. Tuioti-Mariner 6-0 300 Sr.

RT—78 Keoni Steinhoff 6-3 295 Sr.

RSB—85 Aaron Bain 5-8 190 Sr.

RWO—89 Malcolm Lane 6-1 180 Jr.

QB—12 Greg Alexander 6-3 230 Jr.

RB—26 Daniel Libre 5-8 185 Sr.

RB—48 David Farmer 6-1 245 Sr.

RB—21 Kealoha Pilares 5-11 190 So.

Outlook: The Warriors are 117th among 119 Division I-A teams in protecting the quarterback (3.67 sacks allowed per game) — a standing that could be worse if not for Alexander's elusiveness. Against Washington State last week, Alexander was sacked five times, but he eluded pass rushes six times to gain 54 yards. In the past four games, he is averaging more than one broken tackle per scramble.

Alexander has been helped by Farmer, who is the Warriors' best backfield blocker. But Farmer also is skilled in the slide move, in which he brushes against a defensive end, pirouettes and moves up 3 yards to catch a screen pass from Alexander. Farmer's presence forces defensive ends to look twice before entering the backfield.

Lane is the big-play receiver who has been struggling with consistency. He did not catch a pass against Washington State despite being the intended receiver three times.

When cornerback Ryan Mouton moved to slotback, the two-game experiment was designed to energize the offense. It certainly helped Bain, whose post-catch running improved. Before Mouton's move, Bain's yards-after-catch (YAC ) average was 4.47. In the past four games, Bain's YAC is 8.46. Bain also set up Washington's 44-yard scoring catch against Washington State. Bain, Washington and Lane were aligned on the right side while WSU was in a cover-2 defense. Bain ran 10 yards, then cut to his left, drawing a safety. Washington ran a post pattern into the vacated area for the touchdown.

Pilares' availability is in question because of a sprained right foot

HAWAI'I DEFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

LE—94 David Veikune 6-3 265 Sr.

LT—93 Keala Watson 6-3 320 Sr.

RT—99 Josh Leonard 6-3 305 Sr.

RE—58 John Fonoti 6-2 255 Jr.

OLB—44 Adam Leonard 6-0 235 Sr.

MLB—17 Solomon Elimimian 6-0 225 S.

OLB—13 Brashton Satele 6-1 255 Jr.

LCB—3 Jameel Dowling 6-3 200 Sr.

FS/NB—2 Ryan Mouton 5-10 175 Sr.

S—24 Desmond Thomas 6-2 17- Sr.

S—35 Keao Monteilh 5-11 200 Sr.

S—7 Erik Robinson 5-10 200 Sr.

NB—19 Richard Torres 5-10 175 SR.

RCB—23 Calvin Roberts 5-11 175 Sr.

Outlook: While his teammates were angered, Veikune was philosophical about his exclusion from the All-WAC first team. "If I started out with more sacks, I would have had a chance to be on the (first) team," Veikune said. Although he did not have a sack in the Warriors' first seven games, he had 8.0 in the past five games. But sacks often are situational. Florida and Oregon State limited their pass attempts in blowout victories. The real measure is the complicated grading system, which includes doing assignments correctly, forcing the action and effort per play. "He always grades the highest," defensive line coach Dave Aranda said. "His effort is always the best. He plays with the best technique of any of our up-front people. The thing about Dave is he's always where you need him when you need him. I don't think he's had one bad game." Veikune came through against celebrated opponents — a team-high six tackles against Florida, 10 stops against Oregon State. Aranda likens Veikune to defensive ends Kyle Vanden Bosch and Grant Wistrom. "Both are effort guys," Aranda said. "They get pressure off of effort. They're also technicians. Dave is similar to both. Dave fights his ass off for everything he gets."

Mouton did not practice this week because of a high-ankle sprain, but he was working to play against Cincinnati.

HAWAI'I SPECIAL TEAMS

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

PK—86 Dan Kelly 6-3 225 Sr.

P/H—49 Tim Grasso 5-11 210 Sr.

LS—57 Jake Ingram 6-4 235 Sr.

KR—89 Malcolm Lane 6-1 180 Jr.

PR—85 Aaron Bain 5-8 190 Sr.

Outlook: UH's version of the Green Monster is a great wall of netting in the corner of the soccer practice field. Each day, Kelly plays a game in which he tries to launch towering kicks over the screen. The game involves accuracy and strength, with the kick needing power and height. Kelly regularly converts the kick. "In practice," said Ikaika Malloe, who coordinates the special-team units, "his technique is flawless. During the game, he didn't perform the way we expected him to perform." In the past month, Kelly has missed six of seven field-goal attempts, and is nine of 19 for the season. Three kicks were blocked.

"He's our best kicker," Malloe said. "I firmly believe that. The word 'believe' is a powerful word. That's what we're working with. Dan has to believe in himself. We all believe in him. The staff believes in him. We know what he can do. But we're not the ones kicking the ball. Once Dan can trust himself, and believes he can kick it, there shouldn't be any problems."

Visit Tsai's blog at http://hawaiiwarriorbeat.com.