Teams expect an old-school tussle

The past will be present when Hawaii and Wyoming play tonight in a Mountain West Conference game at Aloha Stadium.

It is expected to be a physical battle, a throwback to when both were members of the Western Athletic Conference in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.

"We’re going to be in a fight," UHdefensive coordinator Kevin Clune said. "This is going to be a good game. It’s going to be an old-school game, like back when we played in the ’80s, banging downhill power O, and just standing across the line of scrimmage and saying:’Who’s tougher?’"

In the first five games, the Rainbow Warriors employed read-option concepts — belly options, rollouts, midline options — with three-receiver sets to match quarterback Ikaika Woolsey’s athletic skills.

If Taylor Graham starts at quarterback, as expected, the Warriors might re-emphasize smash-mouthpiece plays. Running back Steven Lakalaka is averaging 107 yards per game in his three starts since Joey Iosefa injured his ankle. Graham, when taking snaps under center, is effective on play-action plays.

The Cowboys ran the spread offense under Dave Christensen for five seasons. After he was dismissed last year, Craig Bohl was hired. Bohl won three FCS championships with North Dakota State.

He brought back what Wyoming promotes as "Cowboy toughness." The Cowboys now employ a tight end, fullback, huddle and patience.

"Believe me," Bohl told reporters at the MWCmedia day in July, "we’ll snap the ball with one second left. You’ll have our fans screaming:’You’d better snap the ball.’ Our time of possession switched. We’ll go counter-culture. We’re interested in time of possession, ball control, leveraging our defense to a point where they’re on the sideline as opposed to being on the field."

Wyoming averages a play every 29.2 seconds.

The Cowboys are "going to come in here and they’re going to be tough and they’re going to be disciplined," Clune said. "They’re going to take care of all the small things, so we have to be equally tough and equally disciplined."

This is the MWCopener for the 1-4 Warriors. UHwould like to hit the "reset" button.

It is widely believed the Warriors are better this year. But co-captain Scott Harding said:"As an athlete, you play a sport for wins and losses. You don’t really play for second place. It’s kind of tough to swallow. Ican understand why people think that. It’s fine. We are a better team. But it doesn’t matter if you’re losing. It starts this week."