SOUTH ALABAMA OFFENSE

Outlook: Metheny earned a bachelor’s degree at Virginia in three years, and was eligible to play at another FBS school without redshirting. He tried to inquire at UH — his sister and her husband live in Kailua — but was unsuccessful in making a connection. "I probably got lost in the shuffle," Metheny said. Instead, he landed in Mobile, Ala., home of the Senior Bowl and Henry Aaron, where the hospitality is warm and the cuisine spicy and deep-fried. "It’s a little bit out of your comfort zone, but sometimes you have to make those leaps of faith to achieve what you want to achieve," said Metheny, who was raised in Virginia. Metheny is comfortable in the spread scheme that offensive coordinator Robert Matthews culled from stints at Southern Mississippi and Oklahoma State. True to their nickname, the Jaguars line up quickly, receive the calls from the sidelines, and then go to work. "We try to play with some tempo and spread the ball around, and get our athletes in space," Metheny said. "We have some guys who are pretty good in space. We try to get them the ball." With injuries to several backs, they compensate with three-, four- and five-receiver sets. Besteda (15.5 yards per catch) is the deep threat; Jones and Lavender are active targets. Hollinger and Wes Saxton are dangerous on drag routes. And the left-handed Metheny is an elusive scrambler.

SOUTH ALABAMA DEFENSE

Outlook: The Jaguars’ base is a three-man front, but that’s just the starting point. Moore and Crews often align near the line of scrimmage as stand-up ends. The strength is up the middle. Dalgleish, the Jaguars’ heaviest defensive starter, is disruptive at the point. He rebounded from multiple ligament tears a couple of years ago. Scott is the playmaker in the secondary. He was at Alabama for three years, initially as a receiver, before transferring. Johnson, the middle linebacker who calls the plays and sets the defensive front, has 122 tackles in 12 games. "There have been bumps and bruises," Johnson said. "That’s what you get when you sign up to play this position. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy." It was his choice to play linebacker after being recruited as a fullback. It also was his choice to transfer from Virginia Tech, where he started eight games as a second-year freshman in 2009. He had 13 tackles against Alabama. "I had a decent year, but it didn’t work out," he said of his decision to transfer. Johnson has been a leader on the field and in the workouts. He combines Olympic lifting with cross-fit training. "Football is such an intense sport the five, 10 seconds the play is going on, you need to be so conditioned for those bouts," Johnson said.

SOUTH ALABAMA SPECIALISTS

Outlook: In 2009, the best high school team in Florida — Plant — had twin blurs returning kickoffs. One was Allen Sampson, who signed with the Warriors and is redshirting this season after undergoing knee surgery. The other was Glover. He chose South Alabama, which also offers track. Glover has the speed to break a return for a touchdown. He has been clocked at 4.45 seconds over 40 yards, and 49.33 seconds over 400 meters.

HAWAII OFFENSE

Outlook: There is no questioning the toughness of Schroeder, who has been hit 106 times in 11 games, resulting in three bouts of concussion-like symptoms and back spasms. The knock on Schroeder is that he holds on to the ball too long and is not mobile in the pocket. A review of the UNLV game showed Schroeder actually is more efficient when on the move. In the pocket, he completed three of 13 passes; on the move, he was eight of 11. He also has been willing to get physical. On a fly sweep, Schroeder was the lead blocker on the perimeter. The Warriors have opened the playbook in recent weeks. Last Saturday, they ran the fly sweep (twice), wildcat (three times), flea flicker (once) and duck (once). What they have not done yet is fully utilize the fullback position. No fullback has a carry this season. Iosefa had 13 carries against UNLV, but none when he was a fullback. His carries came as a tailback or halfback in a split-back formation. Iosefa has become an efficient receiver. On the 24 plays he was the primary target, he has 18 catches and no drops.

HAWAII DEFENSE

Outlook: Correa was the star of the 2011 talent show with a rump-gyrating dance. This season’s bottom line is Correa has emerged as a tough interior lineman, re-marking the line of scrimmage with pushes generated from lower-body strength. Correa even has played when the Warriors go into a 3-3-5 alignment, which will be used extensively against the Jaguars’ spread attack. In that scheme, Tavita Woodard plays end, Falemalu becomes a linebacker, Kamalani Alo enters as a linebacker, and Charles Clay becomes the third safety. Darryl McBride also can be summoned as a pass-rusher. The key is Edwards, a lockdown corner who has rarely been tested this season. Lamar, Nevada, Air Force and New Mexico did not throw in Edwards’ direction; Colorado State tested him once. With few opportunities, it was no surprise it took 11 games for Edwards to make his first interception. "That’s a lot of patience," said Edwards, who has 15 pass breakups and 34 solo tackles.

HAWAII SPECIALISTS

Outlook: If not for a three-game suspension, Dunnachie would be acknowledged as sixth nationally with an average of 46.0 yards per punt. He has played in 72.7 percent of the Warriors’ games; the minimum is 75 percent, which Dunnachie will reach if he plays today. Dunnachie’s high average is remarkable considering the number of attempts (5.88 per game is the highest in 15 years) and the orders to sometimes use a rugby-style method. "It makes it more unpredictable," he said of the rollout technique. His preference? "I want to crush it. I want to put my best foot forward, so to speak."

HAWAII RESULTS