By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

If it turns out to be a track meet tonight at Aloha Stadium between Cincinnati (5-5) and Hawaii (8-2), coach Rick Minter hopes the Warriors are running sprints while his Bearcats are running mile relays.

UC's best defense against Hawaii's run-and-shoot offense is to control the ball, run time off the clock and score, Minter said. If the Bearcats can't slow down the Warriors, they are doomed.

"(Hawaii coach) June Jones, a former quarterback, coordinator and head coach in the NFL, really knows the run-and-shoot extremely well," Minter said. "It couldn't be a taller order for where we are right now to be challenged by this offense. They score 40 points a game on offense."

On the other hand, UC's defense has been playing well.

"Our turnover margin is finally back to dead even," Minter said. "It's kind of ironic: Our team (record) is back to dead even, and we've dug ourselves out of the hole in turnover ratio. Bad turnover margin and bad field position just killed us (early in the year)."

Minter said he's glad Hawaii has the No.1-ranked college offense in the country (520.9 yards per game), rather than No.2 or No.3. UC's defense is ranked No.16 in the country, holding opponents to 305.8 yards per game.

"You might as well play the best," Minter said. "I told our defense, 'I'm very proud of the way you're playing. Why not shoot for the stars and try to attack the No.1 unit in the country and see what we can do?'"

The Warriors are second in the country in passing, at 395.9 yards per game.

The Bearcats need to win two of their three remaining games to finish at 7-6 and become bowl-eligible. If UC loses tonight, it will have to beat Alabama-Birmingham at Nippert Stadium and East Carolina in Greenville, N.C.

Today's game will be played at 6:05 p.m. Hawaii time, which is after 11 p.m. in Cincinnati. It will be televised locally on WXIX-TV, Fox-19.

The Bearcats are on a three-game winning streak. Hawaii, ranked No.25 in the Associated Press poll, has won five straight.

Minter explained why a ball-control offense is so important for UC tonight. It's all part of the team effort to stop the Warriors' offense.

"It's the kicking game's responsibility to pin those guys as far back as possible, make them go the long field," Minter said. "It's our offense's duty to protect our defense by not turning the ball over on the short field, and have long, grinding drives.

"Hawaii can strike fast. We can ill afford to fall behind. Long, time-consuming drives by us will keep our defense rested and fresh, and keep (Hawaii quarterback) Timmy Chang on the bench. He can't move that offense if he's over there at the water can."We need to carry a great offense into the game, and either match them or consume the clock. We'd love to have a 40-minute game out of our offense."

E-mail: jerardi@enquirer.com

UC at Hawaii

Kickoff: 11:05 p.m. today, Aloha Stadium (50,000), Honolulu.

Records: UC 5-5, Hawaii 8-2.

TV: Ch.19.

Radio: WLW-AM (700).

Series: UC leads 1-0.

Line: Hawaii by 4.

What to watch: Warriors QB Timmy Chang has thrown for 3,322 yards and 19 touchdowns this season.

UC	Team stats	UH
408.2	Offense avg.	520.9
145.4	Avg. by rush	125.0
262.8	Avg. by pass	395.9
305.8	Defense avg.	377.4
128.6	Avg. by rush	167.7
177.2	Avg. by pass	209.7
29.8	Avg. points for	39.7
23.6	Avg. pts. against	27.3