Heading into tonight's Late, Late, Late Show(down) with the University of Hawaii, BYU head Coach LaVell Edwards thinks the Cougars must do three things to win - take an early lead, maintain good field position and stop the Hawaii fullback.
That's the plan at least, as BYU meets Hawaii in Aloha Stadium, beginning at 11:30 p.m. MDT, in a locally tele vised (Channel 5) Western Athletic Conference football game.For the 18th-ranked Cougars, 6-1, a win would give them breathing room in the WAC title race and help them maintain a national ranking. BYU and Air Force are the lone remaining unbeaten teams in WAC play. A win tonight also would mark the first time this season that BYU has beaten a team with a winning record.
For the Rainbows, 5-2, a win would preserve their hopes for a bowl bid. The Aloha Bowl reportedly has said it would consider signing the Rainbows if they beat BYU. A win tonight also would end a 10-game losing streak to BYU. Four of the last five BYU-Hawaii games have been decided by one touchdown or less.
"It is going to be the hardest-hitting game we have facing us," says Edwards. "It's going to be all-out war."
Hawaii coach Bob Wagner says, "My No. 1 goal is to beat BYU. My No. 2 goal is to be favored to beat BYU."
The Rainbows are a formidable team on their home field. They have won all five of their home games, having averaged 50 points; they are 0-2 on the road, having averaged 15.5 in those games.
Hawaii's primary objective will be to stop quarterback Ty Detmer, the leading passer in the nation. "BYU appears to have its best team in several years," says Wagner. "Detmer plays like the quarterbacks they've had in the past." The Rainbows, who rank sixth nationally in scoring and ninth in rushing, also must find a way to run against the BYU defense, which leads the WAC in rushing defense, not to mention total defense and scoring defense.
For their part, the Cougars must find a way to keep the always-loud and emotional Hawaii crowd of 50,000 out of the game. "It's important to take an early lead," says Edwards. "It's one of the few times I'm tempted to take the ball (on the opening kickoff) rather than defer to the second half."
Edwards also believes that the Cougars must control Hawaii's swarming, attacking defense, which has a tradition of forcing turnovers and making game-turning plays. The Rainbows led the WAC in turnover margin this season until last week, when they committed seven turnovers against Colorado State.
"When you've got bad field position over there (in Honolulu) it can create real problems," says Edwards. "The real key is field position. We must move the ball, and not necessarily to score each time, but so we can get a good punt."
The Hawaii offense is led by quarterback Garrett Gabriel and fullback Jamal Farmer. Gabriel has rushed for 191 yards and thrown for 956. Farmer, who has rushed for 425 yards and leads the WAC in scoring with 12 touchdowns, missed last week's CSU game for disciplinary reasons, but is expected to play tonight.
"Their quarterback doesn't run real fast or throw real well but he has the ability to make big plays," says Edwards. As for Farmer, Edwards says, "One of the keys to the game will be to stop him. We couldn't stop their fullback (Heikoti Fakava) last year in the fourth quarter, and that's how they got back in the game."
The BYU-Hawaii game traditionally has been a low-scoring defensive battle, but Edwards says that has changed since Wagner replaced the conservative Dick Tomey as head coach two years ago. "Now you've got to score more to beat them," says Edwards.
The Rainbows are averaging 40.4 points a game.
The Cougars have been no slouches on offense, either. They rank second nationally in pass offense and total offense, and eighth in scoring, averaging 538.7 yards and 38 points a game.
Detmer, already the most prolific sophomore quarterback in BYU history, has never thrown for less than 320 yards in his eight career starts. He already has thrown for 2,644 yards, and he's averaging 10.7 yards per attempt.
"If we can get past Hawaii and not have any injuries," says Edwards, "we'll be in good shape, because our next three games are at home."