Hawaii Preview

by B. Clifton Burke
Dec. 2008

After winning the Big East title and earning themselves a bid to a BCS bowl, the University of Cincinnati flies west to try to end the regular season on a sunny note against the University of Hawaii. While the tropic scenery and the nice weather may suggest otherwise, this trip is no vacation for the Bearcats.

“Eleven wins have never been done in UC history, so we have a chance to be record-setting,” Coach Brian Kelly said in this week’s press conference. “Another thing is that another win - with the teams that are not playing - is a chance to move up in the rankings, and one of the things this football team has never been is a top-10 team.”

Traveling to Hawaii can be difficult on teams, evidenced by the Warriors’ three losses in their last 25 home games. Coach Brian Kelly said he was more concerned with the experience of Hawaii rather than any 1-on-1 match up in the game.

“Our kids are going to acclimate well, but obviously it’s going to be a partisan crowd there who’s known to be a very lively crowd. Our kids are going to have to handle the elements.” said Kelly

Hawaii is going to a bowl game for the sixth time in seven years, and they’ve played three ranked opponents this season already, including a win at No. 22, Fresno State.

Offensively, Hawaii is coming together, compiling 115 points in their last three games. Junior quarterback Greg Alexander is 4-1 since being named starter and has thrown for 10 touchdowns in that span, including two last week against Washington State. The Bearcats secondary led by senior cornerback DeAngelo Smith will be key in limiting the Warriors’ run-and-shoot offense.

“They’re back to the run-and-shoot, and doing what they do. They’ve settled on Alexander at quarterback and found some continuity there.” Kelly said of the Hawaii offense.

One key match up to watch is in the battle of the trenches between Hawaii junior center John Estes, and Cincinnati All-American defensive tackle Terrill Bird. Estes is on the watch list for the Remington Award (best center), the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) and the Lombardi Award (best lineman or linebacker). He has started every game of his career (39), and is a first-team WAC center. Bird was an All-American in 2007 and is a candidate for ‘08. He’s also on the watch list for the Lombardi Award this season (best lineman).

UC has a statistical advantage in the passing game. They lead the Big East in passing offense (260) and Tony Pike leads the conference in passing efficiency (144.1). Hawaii gives up 200 yards of passing offense per game this season, but allowed only 76 yards in the air last week against Washington State. Bearcat senior receiver Dominick Goodman needs just seven receptions and 23 yards to become the all-time school leader in both categories (204/2,483).

The Hawaii defense is led by an experienced linebacker corps. Senior middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian, was named the WAC co-defensive player of the year, along with San Jose State’s Jason Gilbert. Elimimian has 101 tackles on the season and has become Hawaii’s all-time tackles leader with 414 for his career. Senior outside linebacker Adam Leonard is a three-year starter with over 300 career tackles himself. Both are considered pro prospects.

The ‘Cats on special teams will rely on their return maven, senior wide out Mardy Gilyard, who is seventh nationally returning kicks at 29.4 yards per return. Hawaii has there own return threat in junior Malcolm Lane who ranks fifth in the NCAA with a 29.8 average, and has returned five kicks for over 40 yards in the last five games.

UC will have to keep focus on Hawaii and not get distracted by the excitement of their pending BCS match up. Head coach Brian Kelly knows what’s at stake.

“Clearly there are a lot of things still out there for our football team, and we’re gonna be sure that they behave themselves,” Kelly said.