Hawaii football out to mar New Mexico State homecoming

EL PASO, TEXAS >> In the Sun Bowl on Friday, the University of Hawaii football team received a future-is-bright pep talk from two former Rainbow Warrior defensive backs.

Jalen Rogers traveled from Arizona and Daniel Lewis from Dallas to deliver rousing speeches at the Warriors’ day-before-game ceremony. The Warriors, who set up headquarters in El Paso, are hopeful the mini reunion will serve as an inspirational boost to ruining New Mexico State’s homecoming today at Aggie Memorial Stadium.

“We’ve done it before, we can do it again,” UH defensive back Eugene Ford said of the party spoiler’s role. “We love doing that, taking over somebody’s house, their homecoming. We’d like to leave them disappointed. That’s the goal.”

Spectators will not be required to be vaccinated or masked (outdoors) to attend. The game will not be televised, but it may be viewed (for a fee) at FloFootball.com.

Both teams are 1-3 entering the first game of a home-and-home series this season. The Warriors will host the Aggies on Oct. 23 at the Ching Complex. The teams were once co-members of the Western Athletic Conference. The Warriors joined the Mountain West in 2012. The Aggies compete as an independent.

To fill their schedule, the Aggies are playing so-called money games at Alabama ($1.9 million appearance fee) and at Kentucky ($1.1 million). They also scheduled seven games against Mountain West opponents this year. After opening with three losses, the Aggies defeated FCS member South Carolina State last week.

“We want to get another (victory), and keep rolling,” NMSU cornerback Syrus Dumas said.

The Aggies are hungry for any competition. With the pandemic forcing most teams to conference-only schedules last year, the Aggies did not play in 2020. They played two games against FCS members Tarleton State and Dixie State in the spring.

“That was tough,” wideout Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda said of last year’s idle Saturdays. “It was hard on everybody on the team. Everybody wants to play, for sure. It sucked on Saturday, watching every other school in the country. Besides Connecticut, everybody else was playing. It was one of those things we had to find a positive out of it, and just continue to work hard in the weight room and conditioning and stuff.”

The Aggies’ four-wide offense — which is modeled after Air Raid concepts created by Hal Mumme and Mike Leach — took a hit when quarterback Jonah Johnson suffered a wrist injury against New Mexico two weeks ago. With backup quarterback Weston Eget out because of a knee injury, the Aggies turned to walk-on Dino Maldonado to start against South Carolina State. Johnson is expected to be available to play today.

The Aggies, who are allowing 31.8 points and 444.5 yards per game, have emphasized slowing the Warriors’ run-and-gun offense.

“We have to get more pressure on the quarterback with just our four down (linemen) or maybe just bringing five,” NMSU head coach Doug Martin said. “Having to bring six to get pressure puts your secondary in a vulnerable position. And we have to play better in the secondary, too. We’ve got to make sure we don’t just turn people loose, (that) we’re contesting the ball.”

In listing the Aggies’ defensive concerns, assistant head coach Oliver Soukup spoke of UH quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, running back/receiver Calvin Turner, wideout Nick Mardner, running back Dae Dae Hunter …

“I could keep listing guys,” Soukup said. “I think Hawaii does a great job of getting those guys in space. That’s something that’s tough to defend. It’ll be a challenge for us.”