LEWISTON, Idaho — In this Western Athletic Conference football game between Hawai'i and host Idaho, the depth and medical charts share marquee names.

Quarterback Colt Brennan, UH's Heisman Trophy candidate, has declared himself ready. He did not play last week because of a sprained right ankle, which has been "tweaked" twice in the previous three days, but not seriously.

The availability of UH left wideout Jason Rivers won't be known until today's pre-game warmups, head coach June Jones said.

The Vandals might be without running back Deonte' Jackson, the WAC's leading rusher. He has a sprained ankle.

Here's a look at the teams:

HAWAI'I OFFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

LWO—84 Jason Rivers 6-2 189 Sr.

LWO—89 Malcolm Lane 6-1 181 So.

LSB—7 Davone Bess 5-10 195 Jr.

LT—62 Keith Ah Soon 6-1 315 Jr.

LG—65 Hercules Satele 6-2 293 Sr.

C—55 John Estes 6-2 292 So.

RG—73 Larry Sauafea 6-2 294 Sr.

RT—78 Keoni Steinhoff 6-3 282 Jr.

RSB—1 Ryan Grice-Mullins 5-11 180 Jr.

RWO—2 C.J. Hawthorne 5-11 168 Sr.

QB—15 Colt Brennan 6-3 201 Sr.

RB—4 Leon Wright-Jackson 6-1 211 So.

RB—21 Kealoha Pilares 6-1 224 Jr.

Outlook: The Warriors' biggest adjustment will be the yellow-shaded lighting in the Kibbie Dome. The lights also are lower than at Aloha Stadium. "You have to concentrate more," said Grice-Mullins, who played in the dome as a second-year freshman in 2005. The four starting receivers — as well as Brennan — wear clear visors on their helmets. "You'd be surprised how the clear visors shield the light," Grice-Mullins added.

There is concern about the availability of Rivers, who has missed three consecutive practices because of a lower-back strain. Rivers is Brennan's favorite target. Of Brennan's 133 passes, 32 were aimed at Rivers, who is tied for the team lead with 27 receptions. If Rivers can't play, then the speedy Lane will start. "I don't think you can sit back and go, 'Thank goodness, Malcolm's in there.' Malcolm can play," Brennan said.

Right wideout C.J. Hawthorne, who was a cornerback last year, has emerged as a threat. Hawthorne and Rivers ran the fastest 40-yard dashes (4.45 seconds) in team testing last spring. "Malcolm and C.J. are dangerous," Brennan said. "They're the guys who can take hitches and slants and go to the house before you know it." Hawthorne is the only UH starting receiver without a dropped pass. "Colt and I are building chemistry," Hawthorne said. "It started when we worked out during the summer. It's a gradual thing. We're becoming more and more comfortable with each other."

HAWAI'I DEFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

LE—54 Amani Purcell 6-4 277 Sr.

LE—74 David Veikune 6-3 252 Jr.

LT—96 Fale Laeli 6-1 292 Jr.

RT—67 Michael Lafaele 6-1 302 Sr.

DT—93 Keala Watson 6-3 300 Jr.

RE—12 Karl Noa 6-4 251 Sr.

LLB—43 Brad Kalilimoku 5-10 221 Sr.

MLB—17 Solomon Elimimian 6-0 218 Jr.

RLB—44 Adam Leonard 6-0 236 Jr.

LCB—23 Gerard Lewis 5-9 175 Sr.

LS—35 Keao Monteilh 5-11 193 Jr.

RS—31 Jacob Patek 6-0 204 Sr.

RCB—3 Myron Newberry 5-9 174 Sr.

NB/CB—27 Ryan Mouton 5-10 182 Jr.

Outlook: In one of the early drills each practice, assistant head coach George Lumpkin will hold a stick attached to a plastic football, then wiggle it. That drill, designed to teach defensive linemen to drive forward at the snap of a football, is the root of the Warriors' success. "We don't do a drill unless it pertains to the game," defensive coordinator Greg McMackin said. "Every drill we do is something we will do in a game."

The technique — "coming off the ball," in football parlance — is how Lafaele, Laeli and Watson — are able to out-maneuver taller offensive linemen and disrupt offenses. "It's all about your weight distribution and balance," Lafaele said. "If you want to go forward, you have to put all of your weight in your legs."

Defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said the defensive tackles have "fast-twitch fiber in them. That's not something you teach. That's something you emphasize."

Lafaele, a brown belt in karate, and Laeli, who trained as a boxer this summer, have spent extra workouts improving their lower-body strength. "Even though they're big guys, they're not slow guys," Reinebold said. "They're not going to run great 40(-yard) times, but they have great short-burst quickness."

McMackin, who taught this style of defense with the University of Miami and Seattle Seahawks, said: "Everything is about playing fast. We want our tackles to play low, get up the field and attack. Good things happen when you play fast."

HAWAI'I SPECIALISTS

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

K—86 Dan Kelly 6-3 202 Jr.

P/H—49 Tim Grasso 5-11 221 Jr.

S—57 Jake Ingram 6-4 234 Jr.

KR—27 Ryan Mouton 5-10 182 Jr.

KR—89 Malcolm Lane 6-1 181 So.

PR—7 Davone Bess 5-10 195 Jr.

Outlook: Kelly said he looks forward to the windless conditions in the Kibbie Dome. "You don't have to fight the elements," Kelly said.

He also said the wall behind one end zone is an ideal spot to practice field-goal kicks. "During warmups, I usually have to wait for the guy to throw me the ball after I kick," Kelly said. "This time, I just kick the ball, it hits the wall, and we don't have to chase it down."

IDAHO OFFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

LWO—86 Lee Smith 6-0 193 Jr.

SB—22 Max Komar 5-10 185 So.

LT—65 Kris Anderson 6-3 299 Jr.

LG—77 Mike Iupati 6-6 330 Jr.

C—72 Adam Korby 6-2 292 Jr.

RG—62 Adam Juratovac 6-3 297 So.

RT—71 Billy Bates 6-5 271 Jr.

TE—89 Peter Bjorvik 6-4 259 So.

H-B—18 Eddie Williams 6-1 249 So.

QB—10 Nathan Enderle 6-5 223 Fr.

TB—3 Deonte' Jackson 5-8 181 Fr.

TB—44 Jayson Bird 6-0 221 So.

Outlook: Jackson's first name has an apostrophe and his availability comes with a question mark. The nation's seventh-leading rusher (134.25 yards per game) is iffy because of a sprained ankle. Jackson rushed for 96 yards in his NCAA debut against USC and followed that with 113 against Washington State, 214 against Cal Poly and 111 against Northern Illinois. "He's got such a great acceleration," UH's McMackin said. "And he has good vision and balance. He obviously has good genes, but he has that quickness, and he's able to get outside. He's one of those Barry Sanders-type guys."

The Vandals use a multiple offense, but all of their runs are off power plays. Sometimes they will motion an H-back or tight end into the backfield to serve as a lead blocker. Enderle is skilled on rollouts and bootlegs, especially behind double-tight-end formations.

This week, UH has studied videos of Iupati, a powerful guard. Two plays stood out. On the first, a toss sweep to the left, Iupati used his left hand to throw down a defensive end. On the second, he blocked a lineman from the middle of the field to the hashmark.

IDAHO DEFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

DT—43 Fonomanu Sekona 6-2 293 Fr.

NT—91 Siua Musika 6-1 293 Jr.

RE—57 Taylor Rust 6-2 232 Jr.

SLB—5 Brandon Ogletree 6-3 224 Jr.

BLB—58 Ben Alexander 6-1 224 Jr.

MLB—Jo'Artis Ratti 6-1 220 Sr.

WLB—40 David Vobora 6-1 240 Sr.

LCB—3 Breyon Williams 5-9 183 Jr.

FS—21 Chris Smith 6-1 179 Sr.

SS—10 Shiloh Keo 5-10 175 So.

RCB—6 Stanley Franks 5-11 167 Sr.

Outlook: By education, defensive coordinator Mark Criner is a 4-3 guy; by necessity, he implemented a 3-4. "We're not deep in a lot of areas," Criner said. "The main thing is you don't want to change what you do in the secondary. If you end up doing a bunch of rule busters in the secondary, it's going to end up getting you hurt. You can change your front, but your secondary has to remain the same."

Criner has flexibility with Vobora, who can play in the tackle box or drop into coverage. Vobora has run 40 yards in 4.49 seconds on a synthetic surface, and he can power-clean 340 pounds.

Vobora, who played quarterback through his sophomore year in high school, weighed 195 pounds as a true freshman at Idaho. He has gained 45 pounds on a diet in which he has consumed up to 9,000 calories a day. "I worked hard in the weight room, and I tried to eat and eat and eat," Vobora said. "I would set my alarm clock for the middle of the night, eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk, and go back to bed." His favorite was mixing the protein drink, Serious Mass, with peanut butter. "That helped me gain weight but remain explosive," he said.

Franks, who has run 40 yards in 4.3 seconds, is prepared to defend UH's Rivers or Hawthorne. He has studied them for a while. "They've thrown 190 passes already," Franks said of UH's offense. "That's a lot of film. I like breaking it down and watching the different formations."

IDAHO SPECIALISTS

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

K—19 Tino Amancio 5-9 215 Jr.

KO—99 Vincente Rico 6-1 201 Sr.

P/H—14 T.J. Conley 6-3 216 Jr.

S—35 Joel Jones 6-1 22 Jr.

KR—16 Dewey Hale 5-10 173 Fr.

PR—10 Shiloh Keo 5-10 175 So.

Outlook: It will be an interesting matchup when UH, third nationally with a net-punting average of 41.88 yards goes against Keo, who is is fifth in the NCAA in punt returns with a 21.0-yard average.

Amancio, a text-message pal of Kelly's, has booted a 51-yard field goal this season.

Visit Tsai's blog at www.hawaiiwarriorbeat.com.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.