Warriors must meet force with force

In preparation for today’s game against Utah State, Hawaii defensive players have adhered to a basic rule: If your jersey is a medium, don’t hit high.

“That’s what (defensive coordinator Dave) Aranda alway tells us,” said UH linebacker Corey Paredes, who is a size XL.

UH associate head coach Rich Miano said the Utah State running backs “run angry. They’ve been coached to break tackles. They run hard. You have to wrap up. The biggest concern is we’ve got to tackle.”

Led by running back Robert Turbin, the Aggies have 81 big plays — rushes of 10 or more yards and pass completions of at least 15 yards.

Miano equated Turbin to a “bowling ball.”

UH linebacker Aaron Brown said: “You have to keep your feet running. He’s going to keep his feet running. You have to meet force with force.”

Outlook: Football, in essence, is a numbers game, and the Aggies have figured out the advantages of extra blockers. The Aggies will motion receivers and pull the entire line to create heavy-sided formations. Against defending national champion Auburn, they had several sets in which four receivers were aligned on the same side. All of which are designed to clear the way for Turbin, a powerful runner whose role model is The Hulk. Turbin averages 117.9 yards per game and 6.6 yards per carry. He has 21 “big-play” rushes of at least 10 yards, and seven exceeding 20 yards. Michael Smith, the backup running back, also is dangerous, as well as a ferocious blocker who seeks safeties. With defenses keying on the run, it has opened the way for Keeton on play-action passes and screens. Keeton has been intercepted once in 162 throws. Keeton is effective when he looks one way, then throws a screen to the other side. The screens follow the same method as the power-runner attack: Toss it to Turbin behind a wall of blockers. Turbin has 4.5-second speed.

Outlook: Around campus, Wagner wears a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles backpack. In the Aggies defense, he is part of a shell game. Is Wagner a linebacker? Or a safety? Or a rush end? “I drop all over the place,” said Wagner, who concedes to being a rover. Maybe. “I’m an outside ’backer, and I can come down and play D-end,” he said. Most of all he is a tackler. He is third nationally, with 12.71 tackles per game, and is 11 stops away from his third consecutive 100-plus-tackle season. He had 133 tackles in 2010 and 114 in 2009. For Wagner, the lesson was taught in high school. “I saw somebody get juked and run over really bad,” Wagner recalled. “I said to myself: ‘I never want that to happen to me.’ I made an effort not to let that happen.” He said he keeps fit with in-season weight training, and by playing basketball.

Outlook: With the departure of Pete Caldwell, the Aggies invited five kickers to training camp. The guy next door — Thompson, one of six Aggies raised in Logan, Utah — won the kick-scoring job after redshirting in 2009 and not being used in 2010. Thompson is 5-for-7 on field-goal attempts this year. Haueter has added some pop to kickoffs. Last year, the average Aggies kickoff landed at the 10 (there were two touchbacks in 55 attempts). This year, Haueter’s average kickoff is placed inside the 3.

Outlook: No wonder Moniz enjoys carrying the Hawaiian flag onto the field before every home game. Although he is having a good season (NCAA’s sixth best in total offense with 338.38 yards per game), Moniz is having a banner year at Aloha Stadium. In three home games, he has completed 67.9 percent of his passes, with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions. On the road, he is at 61.3 percent accuracy with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. If the NFL’s pass-efficiency formula were applied, Moniz’s home rating of 122.34 would rank behind Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers’ league-best 125.7. At home, Moniz rushes for an average of 94.3 non-sack yards per game, or 13.5 yards per non-sack scramble. On the road, the non-sack averages are 20.8 yards per game and 4.95 yards per carry. Most significant, Moniz has lost one fumble at home; on the road, he has relinquished five of eight fumbles.

Outlook: The job-fair lines are short for beast-of-burden applicants. “I don’t know any kid who dreamed about being a D-tackle,” Meatoga said. “We all wanted to be Bryant (Moniz). Then our dreams went separate ways. It happened by default. Our bodies stopped growing (vertically) this way, and started growing (horizontally) this way.” Line coach Tony Tuioti said: “That’s their destiny. We joke about that a lot.” What’s no laughing matter to opposing offenses is the snarling play of Meatoga and Tuipulotu this season. Despite facing double-teams nearly every play, they each have earned scores between 89 and 94 every week from Tuioti, who tries to “grade them as hard as I can. With assignment and technique, they play everything right. They have great hands.” Meatoga and Tuipulotu score high in knockbacks — retreating the block at least a yard to create clearing for the linebackers — and breaking away to chase ballcarriers. There is little dropoff when Masch slides over to replace Tuipulotu on passing downs, or when Geordon Hanohano and Moses Samia enter the rotation. The Warriors would like to expand the rotation at linebacker, particularly in the middle, where Paredes has knee issues and George Daily-Lyles is recovering from a concussion. Jordan Monico might have an expanded role.

Outlook: Last week’s hero, Chun, failed two tryouts before earning a berth as a walk-on before spring training. “That didn’t mean he was going to be with us in the fall,” said Dick Tomey, who coordinates special teams. During the first spring practice, Chun was told he would not kick. Tomey told Hadden he would kick, from 35 yards, until he missed. Hadden missed his first attempt. The same offer was made to Kyle Niiro, who also missed. “I told Kenton, ‘I lied. You get to kick until you miss,’ ” Tomey recalled. Chun did not miss. “This was a guy who didn’t even have a number,” Tomey said. “The guys picked him up on their shoulders. It was a great moment.” Soon after, Chun found a No. 47 jersey in his locker. “It was nice to feel like I belonged here,” Chun said.