How the Hawaii and Utah State football teams match up

Nov. 11—A year ago, quarterback Logan Bonner followed head coach Blake Anderson from Arkansas State to USU and was key in a turnaround from one to 11 victories.

A year ago, quarterback Logan Bonner followed head coach Blake Anderson from Arkansas State to USU and was key in a turnaround from one to 11 victories. But Bonner's NCAA career ended when he suffered a broken foot on the last play of the Sept. 24 loss to UNLV. Cooper Legas started the next three games, missed a start while in the concussion protocol, and returned last week to lift the Aggies to their fourth comeback win of the year. While Levi Williams, who played 18 games in three years at Wyoming, and freshman Bishop Davenport are quarterback considerations, Legas has taken ownership of the offense. Legas grew up in Orem, which is 5 miles from BYU's Provo campus, where his father and grandfather attended. But on his recruiting trip, he did not meet with the Cougars' QB coach or offensive coordinator, indicating he was being sought as a non-passer. He decided USU was a better fit. At Orem High, Legas was typecast as a running quarterback. While he is mobile—4.9 yards per non-sack rush this season—Legas has worked on his passing. "My motion has changed a lot throughout my career, " he said. "It used to be long. I think I've tightened it up, and learned how to use my lower half with my hips, and then shorten up with my arm, and try to get as much power on it." In the Aggies' 50-yard spread—with wideouts often aligned outside the numbers—Legas is connecting on 32 % of deep passes (traveling at least 20 yards from the line of scrimmage ). He is 17-for-17 on screens, shovels and half-yard pitches to jet sweepers. Against Colorado State, Legas completed 76 % with his average snap-to-release at 2.02 seconds. Maryland transfer Brian Cobbs has 48 catches on a team-high 72 targets.

Under coordinator Ephraim Banda, the Aggies are 14th nationally in pass defense, allowing 177.6 yards per game. Banda prefers to coach from the sidelines, where he can have better communication with the safeties, his position group. Rover safety Hunter Reynolds, a Michigan transfer, has no difficulty attracting attention. Not only is he a playmaker—a team-best 37 solo tackles, two picks, six breakups—but Reynolds is a popular TikTok producer. His comedic video on how to keep football pants above the knees has received 1.8 million views. Miami transfer Gurvan Hall was suspended for last week's game and was supposed to be available to start at field safety, but that no longer appears to be the case. Middle linebacker MJ Tafisi also was a DNP last week because of a stinger. Ajani Carter has moved from striker to corner, while Kaleo Neves now plays the hybrid linebacker-nickel position. Last year, the Aggies returned to a four-man front as a base. Rush end Byron Vaughns, who transferred from Texas last year, is seeking his first sack after amassing four in 2021. Nevada transfer Daniel Grzesiak has five sacks. Two-time world fireknife champion Hale Motu'apuaka, a Punahou grad, and Poukesi Vakauta are double-team magnets. AJ Vongphachanh, who will make his 28th start in a row, has evolved from a high school D-end to USU middle linebacker and now will linebacker. Studying football video has helped him use his mind's slo-mo function during games. "It helped me slow down the game overall, " Vongphachanh said of video sessions. "If I can know what's going on before the snap, it can help me play faster."

The specialists earn half the credit for the Aggies' converting their four fourth-down plays last week. Place-kicker Connor Coles scored on a 6-yard fake field-goal attempt to boost his season's point total to 50. Punter Stephen Kotsanlee ran 10 yards on a fourth-and-3 fake. Kotsanlee also completed his only pass this season. At their regular jobs, Coles is 8-for-11 on FGs, and Kotsanlee is averaging 44.3 yards per punt with 20 exceeding 50 yards. Terrell Vaughn scored on a 100-yard kickoff return against Weber State.

In last week's one-sided loss, the O-line did not go down without a fight, The group collectively known as "House of Pancakes " produced 40 knockdown blocks in 74 snaps. Left tackle Ilm Manning led the way with 12 pancake blocks. "Extra syrup, " running back Tylan Hines said of Manning's pancakes. But left guard Solo Vaipulu was handed the top blocker's chain because of his two particularly ferocious hits. "Solo had more 'nasties, '" Manning said. "A 'nasty' is a 'nasty.'" Left guard Stephan Bernal-Wendt's recovery from an injury will allow Vaipulu to remain on track to redshirt this season. The NCAA allows a redshirting player up to four games ; Vaipulu has started three. Center Eliki Tanuvasa also appears ready to play this week. The line has boosted the ground attack. The Warriors had the same number of carries (155 ) in the first five games as the second five. But in the latter, the averages increased from 3.8 yards per carry and 116.6 yards per game to 4.9 and 151.2. Hines, who had two touches against Colorado State, has averaged 8.7 yards on 27 touches the past two games. While senior Dedrick Parson is still the ground force—11 TDs and 30 first-down rushes—Hines and Nasjzae Bryant Lelei have eased the workload. Jordan Johnson and David Cordero also have been practicing. The passing attack received a boost with wideout Jonah Panoke and Koali Nishigaya recovering from injuries and rejoining the active roster. Panoke and Nishigaya are alumni of Saint Louis School, which uses run-and-shoot concepts similar to those found in the Warriors' revised playbook.

The Warriors' best defensive effort was against San Diego State with Meki Pei and Peter Manuma as the safeties. But Pei suffered a turf toe on his left foot that game, aggravated it a week later, and missed the next four games. Pei has been medically cleared, providing more options in the secondary. The Warriors have used a three-deep umbrella with Manuma, Leonard Lee and Kaulana Makaula. In obvious passing situations, Makaula has played man on a receiver while UH remained in a zone. Cornerback JoJo Forest is available as a dime-corner. The Warriors' base is a four-man front. But when they go to a 3-3 alignment, Ezra Evaimalo, Kolby Wyatt and Tariq Jones can spell Andrew Choi at defensive end. Malik Hausman is the nickel, but the past couple of games, he has played as a third linebacker. This year, head coach Timmy Chang has implemented a stress-and-rest routine in which aggressive practices are held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, series of 55-yard gassers are run before and after every workout, and "activation " periods of rest and stretching are used as refreshers. The schedule has benefited cornerback Hugh Nelson II, who has developed fourth-quarter stamina. Assistant coach Abraham Elimimian has emphasized preparation and pre-snap reads for 6-foot-2 corners Nelson and Virdel Edwards II. With video sessions, meetings and walk-through sessions, both corners can identify tendencies based on a receiver's proximity to the sideline, numbers and hash marks ; down-and-distance situations ; and formational splits. Both are cognizant of how to leverage receivers into neighboring defenders. "It's all about playing fast, " Elimimian said. "You get the call, the formation, the splits, and down-and-distance—the knowledge before the ball is snapped—and then it comes down to having to win (each play )."

For every practice, Kyler Halvorsen's father provides the refreshments. During games, Halvorsen provides the juice with his powerful kickoffs. In five Mountain West games, 14 of Halvorsen's 19 kickoffs were touchbacks. Following touchbacks, MWC opponents scored only four touchdowns on the ensuing drives.