HAWAII OFFENSE
WR—84 Nick Mardner 6-6 190 Jr.
TE—85 Caleb Phillips 6-5 230 Sr.
LT—75 Ilm Manning 6-4 280 Sr.
LG—71 Micah Vanterpool 6-6 300 Sr.
C—72 Kohl Levao 6-6 350 Sr.
RG—52 Solo Vaipulu 6-2 300 Sr.
RT—74 Gene Pryor 6-3 310 Sr.
AP—7 Calvin Turner Jr. 5-11 195 Sr.
WR—23 Jared Smart 6-0 190 Sr.
QB—12 Chevan Cordeiro 6-1 190 Jr.
RB—31 Dedrick Parson 5-8 205 Sr.
The bait was set. On the first play of their third possession against San Diego State last week, the Warriors went with a four-wide alignment. Only this time, tight end Caleb Phillips and running back Jason Phillips were the wideouts, and Calvin Turner and Nick Mardner were in the slots. With SDSU aligned with four down linemen, two inside linebackers, DBs playing man coverage and a single safety, offensive coordinator Bo Graham made the call. Jason Phillips and Mardner sprinted straight ahead, forcing the safety to retreat from the middle. Caleb Phillips, who was on the right, cut inside to pull in his defender. With one linebacker blitzing and the second covering running back Dedrick Parson, who curled into the right flat, that left Turner going one-on-one into an alley from the left slot to open space on the right. Chevan Cordeiro fired to Turner across the middle for the 19-yard TD. “Coach Bo told us in film (sessions), if we get this certain look, and we run the play against them, it’s going to be a big play,” Turner said. Thing is, the plan, personnel and execution have not been consistently in sync this year. There have been turnovers (24), drops (25), penalties (16 in last two games) and overthrows. But leading rusher Dae Dae Hunter, who has missed three games in a row, practiced this week, and Cordeiro appears to have fully recovered from a shoulder ailment. “I feel everything is back to normal,” Cordeiro said. “I’m making every throw, putting good velocity on it.”
DE—50 Justus Tavai 6-3 295 Sr.
NT—55 Blessman Taala 6-1 300 Sr.
DE—99 Jonah Laulu 6-6 260 Jr.
LB—53 Darius Muasau 6-1 230 Jr.
LB—1 Penei Pavihi 6-3 245 Sr.
Spur—19 Quentin Frazier 6-1 195 Sr.
Stud—5 Khoury Bethley 5-10 200 Sr.
BCB—18 Cortez Davis 5-11 180 Sr.
S—36 Solo Turner 6-2 205 So.
S—24 Kai Kaneshiro 6-2 180 Jr.
FCB—20 Cameron Lockridge 6-0 180 Jr.
An odd sight in practice is 6-3, 295-pound Justus Tavai wearing a borrowed cornerback’s jersey. With one of his numbers faded, it appears 300-pound nose tackle Blessman Taala has a nickelback’s jersey. But little is what it appears with Tavai and Taala, both of whom are surprisingly nimble with springy legs. They use their power-speed moves to turnstile past double blocks, yet also have the hops to deflect passes. Jonah Laulu is mostly an edge defender who can play all four roles on the line. The three-man push — O’tay Baker, DJuan Matthews and Zacchaeus McKinney also are in the rotation — enables the Warriors to employ two linebacker-safety hybrids (Khoury Bethley and Quentin Frazier). The Warriors can play as many as seven in the box to slow the run, or flex out to add more pass coverage. Linebacker Penei Pavihi, who has had health issues in the past, is healthier and 20 pounds lighter. The Warriors also will receive a boost with the expected return of cornerback Cameron Lockridge, who covers the wide side of the formation. Lockridge missed only one tackle in 167 plays in coverage. After moving from defense to tight end and back to defense, Baylor transfer Solo Turner has adjusted to safety.
KO—46 Kyler Halvorsen 6-0 175 Fr.
PK/P—2 Matthew Shipley 6-1 175 So.
LS—44 Wyatt Tucker 5-10 215 Sr.
H—96 Adam Stack 6-2 180 Jr.
KR/PR—7 Calvin Turner 5-11 195 Sr.
Officials can save time by placing the ball at the 25 whenever Kyler Halvorsen kicks off. Of his 52 kickoffs, 33 — 63.5% — were not returned. The average drive starts at the 24 after his kickoffs. Halvorsen also is credited with three tackles. Matthew Shipley, who is 12-for-13 on FGs, is the most accurate UH kicker since Rigo Sanchez in 2016 (13-for-13).
REBELS OFFENSE
LT—71 Daviyon McDaniel 6-3 305 Jr.
LG—74 Julio Garcia 6-3 330 Sr.
C—79 Leif Fautanu 6-2 320 So.
RG—60 Amani Trigg-Wright 6-4 305 Jr.
RT—70 Tiger Shanks 6-5 345 Fr.
TE—45 Giovanni Fauolo Sr. 6-2 255 Sr.
WR—4 Steve Jenkins 6-0 185 Jr.
WR—3 Zyell Griffin 6-2 185 So.
WR—1 Kyle Williams 6-0 175 So.
QB—7 Cameron Friel 6-3 220 Fr.
RB—8 Charles Williams 5-9 200 Sr.
In backyard football, there is only one play: a kid carries the ball, the defense tries to hammer him. In UNLV football, Charles “Chuck Wagon” Williams is the guy usually carrying the ball. Williams has accounted for 84% of the Rebels’ non-quarterback rushes. Like the 3-point shooter with amnesia, Williams accepts setbacks as part of the workload. He has 27 negative-yard rushes. But he also is the Rebels’ career rushing leader with 3,763 yards. “We like to run the football, and we like to run the football effectively with Charles,” coach Marcus Arroyo said. In the pistol setup — the QB is 5 yards behind the center and 3 yards ahead of the lone back — Williams has a panoramic view with options to find 180 degrees of separation. UNLV’s blocking manual has segments on downhill runs, outside zones and pin-and-pull schemes. For added plowing, the tight end will align in the slot to seal the edge or motion across the formation to pick off blitzers. At the TE position, Giovanni Fauolo, who returned last week after missing three games, has perfected the screen-and-roll route, while Kaleo Ballungay is the motion blocker. Two speedy receivers — Kyle Williams and Steve Jenkins — also are effective run blockers. Kailua graduate Cameron Friel is set to make his sixth consecutive start at quarterback. Friel replaced Doug Brumfield, who was an elusive runner but inconsistent passer. Friel has completed 63.8% of his passes, and has shown touch on deep balls (10-for-15 on throws airborne for 20-plus yards). But Friel has been sacked 22 times, not including the two that that were voided because of penalties last week.
UNLV DEFENSE
SLB—8 Kylan Wilborn 6-2 245 Sr.
DE—96 Waisale Muavesi 6-2 300 Fr.
NT—94 Kolo Uasike 6-0 305 Sr.
DE—62 Eliel Ehimare 6-2 285 Jr.
WLB—7 Adam Plant Jr. 6-5 250 Jr.
MLB—27 Austin Ajiake 6-2 220 Sr.
Jack—4 Jacoby Windmon 6-2 215 Jr.
CB—28 Aaron Lewis 5-9 185 Sr.
SS—5 Phillip Hill 6-0 190 Jr.
FS—24 Bryce Jackson 5-9 190 Sr.
CB—2 Nohl Williams 6-0 170 So.
Pete Hansen is in his second season as defensive coordinator, trying to establish zone coverages and movement schemes that were sponged from his time on the staffs of Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers. One of Hansen’s mentors is Vic Fangio, now the Denver Broncos’ head coach. The Rebels have a diverse menu of fronts. They can go with two hand-on-the-turf interior linemen with two stand-up edge defenders. In a wide-split look, Eliel Ehimare (five QB hits, 18 hurries) will set up in the gap between the right guard and center, with the pass-rushers aligned outside of the tackles. Jacoby Windmon, who shifted from outside backer to the middle this season, will cram into the pre-snap gaps when the Rebels go with a six-man front. Linebacker Adam Plant, who transferred from TCU a year ago, is a bounce-off defender who is gifted in disengaging from a blocker to chase the ballcarrier. Cornerback Nohl Williams missed two games, and inside linebacker Austin Ajiake’s availability is questionable because of a hand injury. But linebacker Kyle Beaudry filled in against New Mexico’s triple-option, and made seven tackles without a miss. Windmon is thriving at inside linebacker. In his new spot, Windmon said, “I’m starting to notice it’s more than just ‘go.’ It’s more a patient game, a lateral game for me.” Windmon admittedly likes delivering hard hits. “Let them feel all the frustration that I have bottled up inside me. It’s my way of escape.”
UNLV SPECIALISTS
PK—32 Daniel Gutierrez 5-11 215 Sr.
P/H—56 Evan Silva 6-2 185 Jr.
LS—52 Rex Goossen 6-2 185 Sr.
KR/PR—2 Nohl Williams 6-0 180 So.
At the end of an August practice at Allegiant Stadium, the scoreboard showed a congratulatory message. Daniel Gutierrez was awarded a football scholarship. Gutierrez is still a bargain for the Rebels. Gutierrez is 12-for-13 on field goals and perfect on 18 PATs, and kickoffs. Long-snapper Rex Goossen and returner Nohl Williams have been battling injuries.
