Ferd Lewis: The Warriors look ready for challenge in the MWC

SAN JOSE, Calif. >> Officially, the University of Hawaii football team has already kicked off its Mountain West Conference season, but it was so long ago that today’s game almost qualifies as a conference re-opener.

It has, after all, been 35 days since sophomore quarterback Cole McDonald burst onto the scene in a hail of 418 passing yards in that Aug. 25 victory over Colorado State.

In the interlude between the 43-34 victory over the Rams and today’s 1 p.m. meeting with San Jose State, the Rainbow Warriors have played four nonconference teams, a third of their 2018 schedule, and racked up some serious mileage to the East Coast and back.

From here on out, with the exception of an Oct. 13 meeting at Brigham Young, over the final eight games of the regular season, it will be Mountain West time all the time for UH.

Recent history suggests this is a good thing for UH on several fronts. For one thing, since it doesn’t have Air Force or New Mexico on the conference’s Mountain Division crossover this year, it is done with triple-option teams that gave it trouble in the form of Army and Navy.

But the biggest reason is that this year, unlike its six previous seasons of Mountain West membership — none of them winning campaigns — the ’Bows have an offense that shows signs of being able to slug it out on the scoreboard in the conference.

And competing in the MWC these days means putting up points a plenty, which is a good part of why the ’Bows have been 9-39 in the MWC until this year.

Seven teams in the MWC are currently among the top 50 in the Football Bowl Subdivision, averaging 34.8 points — or more — per game. For the first time since the Western Athletic Conference championship season of 2010, UH (41.6) is one of them.

That’s no small consideration, with Fresno State having demonstrated the firepower to put up 79 points in a game this season, Utah State 73 and 60, Nevada 72 and Nevada-Las Vegas 60.

The ability to pile up points is why the 4-1 ’Bows look very little like the team that was forecast to finish fifth in the six-member West Division of the MWC and more along the lines of somebody who can start counting down the magic number (seven victories total) toward bowl eligibility if they win today.

Back in August the over/under on UH victories was listed as 3.5 wins on the Las Vegas betting lines. Now, UH is advertising when Hawaii Bowl tickets go on sale.

But if UH isn’t as originally pictured, today’s opponent, San Jose State, is following pretty close to form. The Spartans, predicted to finish sixth in the division, are still winless (0-3), having begun with a 44-38 pratfall against UC Davis, a Football Championship Subdivision team, and continued with a 31-0 blanking by Washington State.

They were respectable in a 35-22 loss to 19th-ranked Oregon but look every bit the part of the 10-point underdog they have been listed as for today’s game.

Conference play really gets going for UH now and, this year, more than ever in its Mountain West existence, that is something for the Rainbow Warriors to look forward to.

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