Game Day: Hawaii Warriors vs. Wyoming Cowboys

WYOMING OFFENSE

The team from one of the sparsest states (six people per square mile) operates a tough, no-frills offense.“You gotta have an identity with a football program, and that identity has to resonate with kind of how, I always believed this, how your state is and how you are as a coaching staff,” head coach Craig Bohl said this summer. “It would be a disaster if I were a head coach that had 15 different combination uniforms and we did a fly-by-night finesse offense, and had a marginal defense. It’d be terrible.” The Cowboys can align from an empty set to four wide to 22 formation (two tight ends, two backs). The Catch 22 is that defenses that play it vanilla are susceptible to being overpowered, but by loading the box, it opens the way for quarterback Tyler Vander Waal to escape on bootlegs or throw play-action passes to James Price, Austin Conway or Raghib Ismail Jr. (son of the 1990 Heisman runner-up known as “Rocket”). Vander Waal succeeds Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills’ No 1 pick. Vander Waal has size (6-4, 220), a powerful arm and quarterback destiny. After daily catches with his father, Vander Waal joined organized football when he was 6. A perfect spiral in tryouts led to a lifelong assignment. “I’ve been a quarterback since my first snap,” he said. Nico Evans returned last week after missing two games with an injury. In a statistical anomaly, Evans averages 140.0 yards per game for a team that gains 141.8 each weekend.

WR—80 James Price 6-2 212 Sr.

LT—72 Zach Wallace 6-7 321 Sr.

LG—69 Eric Abojei 6-5 344 Fr.

C—73 Keegan Cryder 6-4 291 Fr.

RG—61 Kaden Jackson 6-2 303 Sr.

RT—78 Alonzo Velasquez 6-6 305 So.

TE—81 Austin Fort 6-4 244 Sr.

WR—25 Austin Conway 5-10 183 Jr.

QB—18 Tyler Vander Waal 6-4 220 Fr.

FB—35 Jaylon Watson 6-0 250 Jr.

RB—22 Nico Evans 5-9 211 Sr.

WYOMING DEFENSE

By design, the defensive depth chart is listed first in Wyoming’s weekly notes. It is a subtle promotion for an unheralded defense that led the country in takeaways in 2017, Scottie Hazelton’s first season as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. Hazelton, who was with the Jacksonville Jaguars for three years through 2016, directs a Tampa-2 scheme that utilizes two versatile safeties (Andrew Wingard and Marcus Epps), a multi-skilled rover (Tyler Hall), an aggressive middle linebacker (Logan Wilson) who can act like a second-level nose, and athletic defensive line. Wingard, who has 409 career tackles, and Epps have started 42 consecutive games together. Wingard often moves up for run support or as a blitzer. Youhanna Ghaifan and Conner Cain are 6-4 interior linemen who can clog the gaps, obstruct the inside passing lanes, or create a diversion for defensive end Carl Granderson. As a high school senior, Granderson drew interest but few takers as a 6-5, 175-pound end. Bohl watched videos, attended games, and interviewed Granderson’s coaches and teachers. Bohl recalled: “I said, ‘you know what, scratch the variable on he’s too skinny. We’ll figure out a way to put some weight on him. You can’t change that DNA. That (heart). That’s what determines guys.” Granderson, who weighed 200 as a freshman, is now between 260 and 265. His offseason workouts focused on improving his power moves.

DE—88 Garrett Crall 6-5 242 So.

NT—87 Conner Cain 6-4 270 Sr.

DT—93 Youhanna Ghaifan 6-4 282 Jr.

DE—91 Carl Granderson 6-5 261 Sr.

MLB—30 Logan Wilson 6-2 250 Jr.

WLB—46 Cassh Maluia 6-0 248 Jr.

NB—9 Tyler Hall 5-10 190 Jr.

CB—4 Antonio Hull 5-10 188 Jr.

SS—28 Andrew Wingard 6-0 214 Sr.

FS—6 Marcus Epps 6-0 197 Sr.

CB—18 Keyon Blankenbaker 5-10 175 Fr.

WYOMING SPECIALISTS

This season, leading scorer Cooper Rothe is perfect on 10 point-after kicks and six field goals (nine in a row dating to 2017). But there’s uncertainty at punter after Tim Zaleski suffered an injury last week and was omitted from today’s depth chart. Ryan Galovich, who can boot off rugby-style rollouts, is the next option. The Cowboys are limiting opponents to 12.7 yards per kickoff return.

PK—40 Cooper Rothe 5-11 178 Jr.

LS—99 Jesse Hooper 5-11 227 Fr.

H—11 Nick Szpor 6-3 212 Jr.

P—41 Ryan Galovich 6-0 192 Jr.

KR—9 Tyler Hall 5-10 190 Jr.

PR—25 Austin Conway 5-10 183 Jr.

HAWAII OFFENSE

Similar to Derek Hough of “Dancing With The Stars,” John Ursua seemingly can work with anyone. In three seasons, Ursua has caught 150 passes from three quarterbacks, averaging 13.9 yards per reception, including 14.8 yards on third down. This season, Ursua and quarterback Cole McDonald have developed a prolific connection. Ursua has been the primary target on 76 of McDonald’s 240 passes. Of McDonald’s 24 TD passes, 12 went to Ursua. While recovering from a knee injury, Ursua did not participate in spring practice, when the Warriors introduced the run-and-shoot schemes. During player-run drills, Ursua mostly worked with McDonald on spot catches — stationary position or half-speed patterns. But through video sessions and reps in training camp and practices, McDonald has developed an unspoken communication with his receivers. Ursua said he might glance at another player and, from that, McDonald will be able to figure out which options the receivers will take. “Cole sees the same things even though we’re not communicating to him,” Ursua said. “It’s fun to play in that offense with somebody that skilled.” The bond was apparent last week, when right-handed McDonald slow-rolled to his left while Ursua ran a sprint cut in the same direction. Then Ursua cut back to the right to catch a flip-shovel pass from McDonald for the touchdown. “We’re on the same page,” Ursua said.

LWO—85 Marcus Armstrong-Brown 6-3 210 Sr.

SB—5 John Ursua 5-10 175 Jr.

LT—75 Ilm Manning 6-4 280 Fr.

LG—57 J.R. Hensley 6-5 310 Jr.

C—63 Taaga Tuulima 6-2 290 So.

RG—60 Solo Vaipulu 6-2 310 Fr.

RT—72 Kohl Levao 6-6 340 Jr.

SB—6 Cedric Byrd 5-9 170 Jr.

RWO—19 JoJo Ward 5-9 175 Jr.

QB—13 Cole McDonald 6-4 210 So.

RB—21 Fred Holly III 6-0 200 So.

HAWAII DEFENSE

The defensive blueprint is to contain the run and avoid being toasted on “explosive” plays (20-plus yards). The Warriors have struggled against triple-option offenses, allowing 5.47 yards per rush and yielding seven explosive runs. Against traditional offenses, they are allowing 2.55 yards per rush while surrendering two explosive runs. Although there are no other triple-option teams remaining on the schedule, the Warriors’ ground defense needs to improve. Opponents are averaging 4.72 yards per first-down rush. Rush end Kaimana Padello has been a pleasant surprise as a run defender. “He uses his leverage to his advantage,” defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said. “Big tackles have a hard time against him because he’s so small (6 feet). He’s as strong as heck. He plays at such a pad level it becomes a matchup nightmare for the longer tackles because he plays about 3 feet off the ground.” Of Padello’s 11 tackles, seven have been in the backfield (including five sacks). Padello said he often arrives at classes 20 minutes early to sneak in study time on opponents. He tracks formations and tendencies. Under strength/conditioning coach Josh Elms’ guidance, Padello has gained 15 pounds from last season — he now weighs 223 — and improved his leg strength (455-pound squat). He played all 86 defensive snaps in last week’s quintuple-overtime victory. “He’s a bottle rocket,” Batoon said. “He just goes.”

DE—99 Zeno Choi 6-3 280 Sr.

NT—54 Blessman Taala 6-1 310 Fr.

DT—91 Samiuela Akoteu 6-2 280 Jr.

DE—96 Kaimana Padello 6-0 223 Jr.

LB—27 Solomon Matautia 6-1 230 Jr.

LB—31 Jahlani Tavai 6-4 235 Sr.

LB—33 Penei Pavihi 6-2 230 So.

CB—4 Roe Farris 6-1 180 Jr.

S—16 Kalen Hicks 6-3 200 Jr.

S—22 Ikem Okeke 6-0 200 Jr.

CB—8 Eugene Ford 6-2 195 So.

HAWAII SPECIALISTS

Ryan Meskell has connected on seven of nine field-goal attempts this year, Noah Borden has made 158 snaps without an error to punter/holder Stan Gaudion the past 18 games, and the Warriors have blocked two kicks. But they have allowed kickoff returns of 46, 69 and 72 yards, and committed seven penalties on special teams, including two on Justice Augafa punt returns.

PK—94 Ryan Meskell 6-0 185 Jr.

KO—52 Michael Boyle 6-1 175 Fr.

LS—1 Noah Borden 6-1 220 Sr.

P/H—99 Stan Gaudion 6-3 210 So.

KR/PR—82 Justice Augafa 5-11 200 Jr.