‘Bows-turned-Panthers found key to beating Aztecs

After what could be their Ohio Valley Conference championship-clinching victory today, the Charleston, Ill., chapter of the University of Hawaii football alumni association, better known as members of the Eastern Illinois University coaching staff, will gather around the TV tonight.

They will be there to revel in the nostalgia of seeing the Rainbow Warriors break out throwback uniforms against San Diego State.

And, no doubt, to also see if the ‘Bows can take a page from the Panthers’ playbook and carve up the Aztecs.

EIU, a Football Championship Subdivision team, came out of the Illinois cornfields to stun the Aztecs 

40-19 at Qualcomm Stadium in the season opener.

Except for Ohio State, nobody has inflicted a worse loss on the Aztecs in three seasons. That’s a point of pride for Panthers head coach Dino Babers and defensive coordinator Kim McCloud — two ‘Bows from the 1980s — and their defensive line coach, Tom Freeman, a former UH assistant in the 1970s and ’80s.

Together they have helped take the Panthers to a 9-1 (6-0 Ohio Valley) record and the No. 2 position in the FCS polls. Their only loss came in a 43-39 shootout with BCS hopeful Northern Illinois.

Off the beaten path, a couple of hours’ drive each from Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis, they have transplanted an offshoot of the Baylor spread offense, mixed in some other elements and turned loose the most potent offense in the 122-member FCS. The Panthers are tops in scoring (46.3 points per game), total offense (589 yards) and passing efficiency, averaging 396.9 aerial yards per game and breaking records at Tony Romo’s alma mater.

At San Diego State they put up 533 yards of total offense, 361 of them through the air, and outscored the Aztecs 21-3 in the second half. 

"It is 75 percent the Baylor offense, a little June Jones and some Homer Smith blended in," said Babers, who was the ‘Bows’ leading rusher in 1983 and has been an assistant at Baylor, UCLA, Arizona, Texas A&M and UH. His wife, Sue Hemenway, was a Rainbow Wahine volleyball player in 1981.

Meanwhile, McCloud, an All-WAC academic and athletic selection at UH, oversees a defense that is one of the FCS leaders in forcing turnovers (24), including five by San Diego State.   

The combination has helped turn around the fortunes of the Panthers, who went from last in the conference (2-9, 1-7) in 2011, the year before they arrived, to a championship in 2012 (7-5, 6-1).

Now, they’re knocking on the door of another title with three Hawaii players on the roster:starting linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill (Kamehameha), backup safety Pono Choy (Kamehameha) and backup quarterback Andrew Manley (Leilehua). Manley, a transfer from New Mexico State, is expected to be the triggerman of the offense the next two seasons as Jimmy Garoppolo moves to the NFL.

In the meantime, "It will be good to see the old Rainbow uniforms again," Babers said. 

Even better if they are showcased in victory. Because, as the UH alumni chapter at EIU has proven, the Aztecs can be gotten.

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Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.