No. 19 Hawaii at UI
Robb Akey joked before his first game as the Idaho football coach, “I thought it was important to have a warmup game.”
That opponent was top-ranked USC.
Now the Vandals (1-3) are set to play their first Western Athletic Conference game under Akey and the opponent is 19th-ranked Hawaii.
Akey’s comment?
“It’s nice to have an easy one first.”
All joking aside, it couldn’t be much tougher for Idaho than the Warriors (4-0, 1-0 WAC) and their Heisman hopeful quarterback Colt Brennan.
“Coach (June) Jones does a tremendous job,” Akey said. “He has built a great program. They’ve got it rolling. They’re hotter than a $2 pistol right now.”
Hot is right.
The Rainbows ran their streak of scoring at least 32 points to 14 games last week even with backup quarterback Tyler Graunke leading the 66-10 rout of Charleston Southern. Brennan, who has thrown a touchdown pass in 29 straight games, including at least two in the last 21, is back from a sprained ankle.
Hawaii is second in the nation in passing yards (461.8) and scoring (55.8 points).
“They’re very good at what they do,” Akey said. “They have a deserved Heisman candidate pulling the trigger for them. It’s going to be hard to get (to Brennan) because he gets rid of (the ball) so fast. He has four receivers that all have a ton of catches and two backs that are also getting catches in there.”
Looking at Hawaii’s 49-14 win at Nevada-Las Vegas, which beat Utah 27-0 a week after the Utes pummeled then No. 11 UCLA 44-6, Akey said, “I think last week it was like their 55th play before they ran the dang-gum ball. We might have a seven-hour game. They’re very explosive. They’re very dangerous. I’ve got all the respect in the world for their program, what they’re doing.”
The running game does seem to be an afterthought. Leon Wright-Jackson and Kealoha Pilares have combined for just 219 yards, just five more than Idaho’s Deonte Jackson had in just one game, but they have 21 receptions for 230 yards.
Unfortunately for Idaho, Jackson has a high ankle sprain and is questionable for the game, leaving Jayson Bird (101 yards) alone behind quarterback Nathan Enderle, unless Brian Flowers is back from a hamstring injury.
Passing is a different story. Brennan is 103 for 133 for 1,262 yards and 12 scores with one pick in three games. Enderle is 67 of 145 for 884 yards and six touchdowns with seven interceptions.
“I really think (Brennan) should have gone to the NFL,” Akey said. “I’d be willing to support him if they wanted to let him go right now. There are probably a couple of NFL teams that could use him. We wouldn’t have a problem with that. He’s a dang good player.”
Ryan Grice-Mullen and Jason Rivers each have 27 receptions for more than 700 yards. Idaho’s leaders, Max Komar and Eddie Williams, have 30 catches for 425 yards.
“You have to be good in coverage,” Akey said. “You have to have some coverage change-ups. You have to be able to attack what they do. … They do what they do and they do it very well. They don’t care what you do. … Hopefully, we can change it up enough we can keep the big plays to a minimum and we can create some of our own.”
Hawaii is 68-40 under Jones, who is in his ninth season after going 41-82-1 in the nine seasons before that.
If there was a weakness, it was when the Warriors left the island, but that is changing with a four-game road winning streak. They won 24-0 in Moscow two years ago and ran their streak over the Vandals to five straight with a 68-10 beat down last season.
“They’re much improved football team,” Jones said. “They’re very well-coached. They do everything very soundly both offensively and defensively.
“I know it’s tough to win on the road, it doesn’t matter where you go. Idaho is tough just to get there. We’ll have to play tough.”
The trip to Moscow is the longest – 5,738 miles – for the Warriors since they camped out in Houston for back-to-back road games at Louisiana Tech and UNLV.
“I hope maybe their plane is a little bit cramped up and it’s a long, uncomfortable flight getting over here,” Akey said. “Maybe they won’t feel real good when they get off the plane.”