When it comes to football, Chris Petersen is usually in the dark.

Except for practices and bathroom breaks, Petersen usually can be found studying football videotapes during a work shift that begins at 6 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m.

"The season is hard," said Petersen, Boise State's offensive coordinator, but rewarding. The Broncos led the nation in scoring in 2002 and 2003, and were second last year, averaging 48.9 points per game.

"He's probably the most underrated coach in college football," left tackle Daryn Colledge said. "He's always thinking of new plays."

Petersen, whose team plays Hawai'i tomorrow at Aloha Stadium, appears to be a mad scientist on caffeine. Colledge said the recent offensive playbook lists 800 plays.

"He's got some crazy things in there," Colledge said.

The Broncos have formations for one or two tight ends; one receiver or up to five; no backs or three backs, and so forth. Each formation has scores of plays. And before each play, backs and receivers are constantly shifting or going in motion. On the fly play, an in-motion receiver takes a handoff on a running start. UH safety Landon Kafentzis said he was dizzy counting all of the Broncos' plays.

"Sometimes you look at a play, and you have to step back and say, 'Whoa, can this work?'" Colledge said. "But I've been around long enough to know that everything he does works."

Petersen — in consultation with head coach Dan Hawkins and the Bronco assistant coaches — draws inspiration from several sources. He said Louisville's offense, which features a tight end and an H-back, best resembles the Broncos'.

He also has borrowed some pass routes from the NCAA's latest rage, Urban Meyer's spread offense. Meyer, now Florida's head coach, perfected the hybrid pass/run offense at Utah last season, and turned Ute quarterback Alex Smith into the National Football League's top draft pick in April. Boise State's backup quarterback last season is the son of Nevada-Las Vegas coach Mike Sanford Sr., Utah's offensive coordinator in 2004.

"Because of that (relationship), we've studied the Utah situation a lot," Petersen said.

The past summer, as in previous years, the Bronco coaches spent three days with an NFL team.

"We visited with the Colts this year," Petersen said. "It was fun to watch the best quarterback in the NFL (Peyton Manning). Those coaches are very experienced. We tried to put in a couple of their plays."

Although all of the Broncos' plays could fill the Maui phone book, most of the players receive the Reader's Digest version.

"We play a lot of people," Petersen said. "That way not everyone has to know everything we're doing, except for the quarterback. He has to know everything. Some teams have a tendency to play three, four receivers. We'll play seven or eight. Some teams play one or two running backs. We'll play five."

Petersen begins crafting the game plan six days in advance. "That's just the building block of what we do," he said. "Everything is tweaked and corrected. There's a lot of tweaking going on. We'll put in the plan in the first three (practices of game week). By Thursday, there's nothing new in."

Petersen said the players stay after practices for extra work, and spend several hours each week studying videotapes.

"The best way to get better is to study yourself," Petersen said. "Our players and our coaches are always studying. We have that attitude. When you study, you know what to do, and when you understand your assignment, you play faster because you don't have to slow down to make decisions. We like to play at full speed."

UH defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said: "I don't know the guy and I don't think I've ever had a conversation with him. But I know he's a great coach. The film is his resume. He has a great resume."

Petersen, who is married with two sons, manages to slow down during the offseason. He lives 10 minutes from a lake. His hobbies are boating, wakeboarding and waterskiing.

"Believe it or not, I like that stuff more than football," he said. "But that other stuff doesn't buy me my house."

ILAOA LIKELY STARTER

UH coach June Jones said running back Bryan Maneafaiga, who is suffering from a pulled left hamstring, will not play against Boise State.

"His leg is not ready," Jones said.

Nate Ilaoa, who moved from slotback on Tuesday, is expected to start at running back. Ilaoa spent his first four injury-filled UH seasons as a slotback. He was the surprise starting running back against Michigan State, rushing for a team-high 76 yards. He was reassigned to slotback last week, after which he strained his right hamstring.

"He's picking it up," Jones said. "He's blocking really good. He's a smart kid. He catches the ball. He runs it very instinctively. he's a good player."

Jones remained hopeful right tackle Dane Uperesa will be available to start. Last week, Uperesa aggravated a sprained right ankle. Uperesa participated in a few of the passing drills.

"I think he's got a shot," Jones said.

Meanwhile, it appears kicker Nolan Miranda has quit the team. Asked if Miranda was still a Warrior, Jones said, "I haven't seen him for three days, so I would say he's not."

Miranda quit in June because of undisclosed family reasons. In rejoining Aug. 22, the first day of the fall semester, Miranda said he resolved his problems. In the meantime, freshman Daniel Kelly seized the kicking job.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.