Juan Villa / The Collegian

Fresno State Bulldogs (6-3, 5-1 WAC) at No. 16 Hawaii Warriors (8-0, 5-0 WAC)
Game Day: Saturday, 8 p.m., at Aloha Stadium (Honolulu, HI)
Television: ESPN2/Bulldog Sports Network (Comcast Channel 5)
Radio: KMJ-AM 580 and KGST-AM 1600 (ESPN Deportes)

Juan Villa / The Collegian

Bulldogs̢۪ Three Keys to Victory:
1) Control the clock. The longer Fresno State̢۪s offense is on the field, the longer Brennan and the Hawaii offense are off the field. The Bulldogs need to establish the run and sustain long offensive drives.
2) Avoid the big play. There is no recipe for stopping Hawaii̢۪s offense. Everyone knows they throw the ball 95 percent of the time. The key for Fresno State is to force Brennan to make short-yardage throws and to not get beat deep.
3) Put the pressue on Brennan. Despite what many think, Colt Brennan is not perfect. He has thrown 11 interceptions this season, including five against Idaho. If the Bulldogs can force turnovers, they just might pull out the victory.

Andrew Riggs / The Collegian

Hawaii Five-0…
Last Week: Bye
2006 Record: 11-3, 7-1 WAC (2nd)
Head Coach: June Jones (Ninth Season)
Offense: Run and Shoot
Defense: Multiple
Key Players: WR Davone Bess, WR Ryan Grice-Mullen, LB Solomon Elimimian
Series Record: Fresno State leads 20-18-1
Last Meeting: 2006 – Hawaii won 68-37 in Fresno

Position Match-ups
When Fresno State Runs: Fresno State
The Warriors have the WAC̢۪s top rushing defense, but have yet to face a running game like Fresno State̢۪s.

When Hawaii Runs: Fresno State
The Warriors̢۪ ground game is not much of a threat in the pass-happy offensive scheme.

When Fresno State Passes: Hawaii
If Mathews and Miller are both out, the Bulldogs will be forced to air it out, which is not their specialty.

When Hawaii Passes: Hawaii
There is no way to stop Brennan and the Dread Heads, one can only hope to contain them.

When Fresno State Kicks: Fresno State
Clint Stitser and Kyle Zimmerman will need to be in top form in order to win the field position battle.

When Hawaii Kicks: Fresno State
A.J. Jefferson continues to impress on kick returns. Hawaii̢۪s strength is not special teams.

Breakdown: Bulldogs

Fresno State bounced back nicely with a decisive win over Utah State. On the down side, however, Ryan Mathews suffered an ankle injury, Bear Pascoe got dinged up and Lonyae Miller sat out another game.

Despite all the adversity, the Bulldogs still have a chance at a conference title. Tomorrow they face off with the jumpstart Hawaii Warriors, who are trying to make it to a BCS- bowl game for the first time in school history.

Hawaii is coming off a bye week, so they will be rested and waiting for Fresno State. The Bulldogs are battered and bruised, but will be Hawaii̢۪s biggest competitor to date. With a win, the Bulldogs will be thrown into the mix for a conference title and national ranking.

Offense:

̢ۢ Mathews continued his dominance last week with 106 yards rushing and two scores, all in the first half. He left the game in the second quarter, though, with an ankle injury and is listed as day-to-day. Miller is recovering from a bruised quadricep muscle and could return Saturday. If both are out, then the load will be placed on the shoulders of Clifton Smith, who ran for a career-high 126 yards last week.

̢ۢ Quarterback Tom Brandstater had two touchdown passes last weekend to go with 126 yards. If the running game gets shut down, he will be forced to air it out, which is not Brandstater̢۪s specialty. Brandstater is a solid quarterback when he runs play-action, but could struggle if he has to compete in a shoot out with Colt Brennan.

̢ۢ Tight end Bear Pascoe suffered a knee injury Saturday, but will be good to go against the Warriors. His presence in the offense will be greatly needed to stretch out the Hawaii secondary and open up the running game.

Defense:

̢ۢ Hawaii̢۪s offense is probably the most potent in the nation. The Warriors lead the nation with an average of 51.9 points per game, and their 532.8 total yards per game are tops in the conference.

̢ۢ This game will be decided on the play of the Bulldogs̢۪ young secondary. If they can force Brennan to throw short-yardage passes, then the Bulldogs could have a chance. The key will be not letting Brennan throw the ball deep.

̢ۢ The running game will not be an issue for the Bulldogs, but Brennan will. The defensive line needs to force him to make mistakes, which he has done on occasion. Brennan has 11 interceptions.

Breakdown: Warriors

If you stay up until midnight and have Oceanic Pay-Per-View on your black box, then you might have seen the Hawaii Warriors play this season. For those of you who haven̢۪t, this team̢۪s offense is absolutely electric.

Coach June Jones̢۪ run and shoot offense has propelled the Warriors all the way up to a No. 16 ranking in the current BCS polls. So far, Hawaii̢۪s schedule has been weak, to say the least, and the Warriors have yet to be truly tested.

If Hawaii hopes to make a run at a BCS bowl game, they will have to run the gauntlet, facing the WAC̢۪s top teams in the coming weeks, starting tomorrow with Fresno State.

Offense:

̢ۢ Quarterback and Heisman hopeful Colt Brennan has a laundry list of NCAA passing records that he holds. Last season he broke or tied 18 NCAA records, while leading the nation in touchdown passes, passing efficiency, passing yards and completion percentage, just to name a few. Brennan needs three touchdowns tomorrow night to pass Ty Detmer for the most touchdown passes in NCAA history.

• Brennan’s wide receiver posse is known as the “Dread Heads.â€Â Ryan Grice-Mullen, Davone Bess, Jason Rivers and C.J. Hawthorne all rank in the top 10 in receiving for the conference. Grice-Mullen leads the group and the WAC with 66 catches for 952 yards and two touchdowns.

Defense:

̢ۢ Lost behind the publicity the offense gets is a very talented Hawaii defense. The Warriors lead the conference with a rushing defense that has only allowed 102.5 yards per game this season.

̢ۢ Junior linebacker Solomon Elimimian leads the team with 85 total tackles. His counterpart, junior linebacker Adam Leonard, is second with 72 tackles, but leads the team with 11 tackles-for-a-loss.