Warriors know what they’re up against in Aggies

For the University of Hawaii football players, the truth is out there.

“They know how good Utah State is,” said coach Nick Rolovich, whose Rainbow Warriors play host to the 18th-ranked Aggies this evening at Aloha Stadium. “It’s not hard to see. They see the scores every week. They see they’re scoring points and winning football games.”

In constructing a seven-game winning streak, the Aggies (7-1, 4-0 in Mountain West play) have been putting up cornea-rubbing numbers. They are averaging 49.4 points and 471.2 yards per game. The Aggies average 6.1 yards on first down, and have converted 46 percent of third-down plays. They have scored on 55.6 percent of their 117 full possessions.

“They certainly play at a pretty high level,” UH defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said.

After a 6-1 start, the Warriors have lost three in a row, and are still a victory short of clinching a winning 13-game regular season and accompanying berth in the Dec. 22 Hawaii Bowl. Rolovich has cropped the big-picture goals to a specific request.

“I just want to play good football,” Rolovich said.

This will be the Warriors’ 11th game in a row without an open date. During that period, they made five road trips and played in four time zones.

“There’s no excuses,” Rolovich said. “Everyone is either tired or beat up or young or no depth. There are very few teams that don’t have those issues. There’s nothing we can use (as an excuse) to makes us feel better.”

This also will be a challenging trip for the Aggies. Although they received $175,000 in a travel stipend from UH, the Aggies elected to take commercial flights between Utah and Hawaii. That meant making the 83-mile bus ride between the Logan, Utah, campus and the Salt Lake City International Airport.

“We’re going to have to come out ready to play,” USU right guard Rob Castaneda said, “because I know they’re going to be ready to play.”

The Warriors are hopeful of reviving a stagnant running game. The UH running backs have combined for 3.32 yards per rush in the past three games after averaging 5.20 yards per carry in the first seven games. The return to good health for two key runners — quarterback Cole McDonald and running back Fred Holly III — should boost the ground game.

“If they’re dropping for the pass, it sets up the run,” McDonald said. “You have to take advantage of it.”

While McDonald has demonstrated a nice touch with his passing — 30 touchdowns against four interceptions — he is experienced as a runner. “I ran track in high school,” said McDonald, who can sprint 100 meters in 10.8 seconds. His Sonora High football team ran a spread offense that featured the run-pass option. The Warriors incorporated RPO concepts into their four-wide offense.

“It’s a good outlet,” McDonald said of the running threat. “It’s a different point of attack for us.”

Rolovich said the Warriors actually improved in details and techniques against Fresno State last week after a lackluster loss to Nevada.

“I know we got our butts kicked at Fresno, but we did a lot of things much better than we did against (Nevada),” Rolovich said. “If we played the way we did against Fresno, I know we would have scored more points against (Nevada).”

Rolovich added: “We need to get more confidence back. We need to be a little more aggressive than reactionary.”