As part of a mood-lightening ritual, the University of Hawai'i football team will play the match game.

In the locker room, pictures are posted side-by-side of a Warrior and his famous lookalike.

Freshman wideout Malcolm Lane is the Bruce Leroy character in the movie, "The Last Dragon." Running back Alonzo Chopp is Flavor Flav. Assistant head coach George Lumpkin is Fred Sanford.

All that is missing are pictures of the UH and Nevada defenses.

Both run the 30 defense, which is a multiple-blitz 3-4 scheme with cornerbacks in man-to-man coverage.

The Pittsburgh Steelers used the scheme in winning the Super Bowl in January. The UH and Nevada defensive coordinators have ties to the Steelers' scheme.

UH's Jerry Glanville helped implement the 30 defense with the Detroit Lions. The Steelers used a variation of the 30 since the early 1980s. The Warriors and Steelers, in fact, use the same terminologies and techniques.

When Nevada's Tim DeRuyter was defensive coordinator at Ohio University (1995 to 1998 and 2002 to 2004), he and his staff were invited to visit with the Steelers during the offseason.

The Pittsburgh coaches "teach their zone-blitz package and their base defenses," DeRuyter recalled. "Every offseason, I would take our defensive staff and visit with (the Steelers) and study their tapes, and how they were teaching things. I learned a lot."

In preparing for tonight's game against UH, DeRuyter noticed the similarities between the two teams' defenses.

"It's in the eye of the beholder," DeRuyter said. "They might be doing more of what we're doing, or we might be doing more of what they're doing. But we have a lot of things in common."

Here's a look at tonight's game:

NEVADA OFFENSE

WR—87 Caleb Spencer 6-0 180 Sr.

FL—84 Marko Mitchell 6-4 195 So.

WT—61 Dominic Green 6-3 295 So.

WG—60 Greg Hall 6-3 285 So.

C—76 Jimmy Wadhams 6-3 290 Sr.

SG—66 Kyle Robertson 6-3 290 Jr.

ST—75 Charles Manu 6-3 300 Jr.

TE—83 Anthony Pudewell 6-4 250 Sr.

Or 88 Adam Bishop 6-4 245 Jr.

WR—89 Mike McCoy 6-0 190 So.

QB—3 Jeff Rowe 6-5 225 Sr.

RB—9 Brandon Fragger 5-9 195 Fr.

Or 19 Robert Hubbard 5-11 195 Sr.

Outlook: Some players are honored with Bobble Heads. Rowe was presented a custom-made offense. The Pistol — a hybrid of shotgun and run-option — was designed with Rowe in mind. In most shotgun offenses, the quarterback is five yards from the line of scrimmage, with the running back off set. In the Pistol, Rowe is four yards from the line of scrimmage. The running back is directly behind Rowe, seven yards from the line of scrimmage.

In the option version, Rowe takes the snap, turns, and places the football belly-high to the running back. The back can take the handoff and follow the power blocking. Or Rowe can retract the football and either throw a play-action pass or sprint to the perimeter. "It's just an awesome offense," Rowe said.

"Our play-action game helps our passing a lot," said Spencer, a Kamehameha Schools graduate.

Rowe has completed 65 percent of his passes this year, and if sacks were excluded, he would be second on the team with 223 rushing yards.

Offensive coordinator Chris Klenakis praised Rowe as "a tremendous athlete, and that's what makes him a great football player. He's got all of those qualities of a good quarterback — good arm, intelligence — but what makes him special is his athleticsm. I've seen him throw touchdown passes while he's jumping in the air getting hit. I've seen him get out of some tight spots in the pocket. Last year against Louisiana Tech, he made a 40-yard run that was unbelievable."

What makes the system deceptive is Rowe's height of 6 feet 5. Fragger, who rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns last week, and Hubbard, a preseason All-WAC selection who has been slowed by sore ribs and a bruised knee, are camouflaged by Rowe.

"It happened to work out that way," Klenakis said. "If we ever have a 5-foot-8 quarterback and a 6-5 running back, it might not work out as well."

Spencer is the play-maker, but McCoy is the point-maker. Of McCoy's eight catches, five have been touchdowns.

NEVADA DEFENSE

E—91 J.J. Milan 6-5 270 Sr.

NT—57 Matt Hines 6-1 285 Jr.

E—48 Erics Clark 6-6 270 Jr.

Or 93 Charles Wilson 6-4 275 Sr.

SLB—44 Jeremy Engstrom 6-1 247 Jr.

WLB—30 Joshua Mauga 6-2 245 So.

MLB—33 Jason DeMars 6-2 255 Sr.

BAN—56 Ezra Butler 6-2 248 Jr.

CB—2 Joe Garcia 6-0 180 Sr.

SS—29 Justin Jackson 6-1 195 Jr.

FS—28 Nick Hawthorne 6-0 200 Sr.

CB—35 Paul Pratt 5-10 185 Jr.

Or 4 De'Angelo Wilson 5-10 185 So.

Outlook: Milan did not play last season because of a foot injury. Now he's a pain to opposing offenses. Milan is the WAC's sack leader (five in five games) for a team that is second in the WAC in sacks (12).

"The thing is, he's a big-body person who's very athletic," DeRuyter said. "He brings a lot of energy to our defense."

Dennis McKnight, who coaches UH's offensive linemen, described Milan as "just a great pass rusher. He has a quick first step. On the bull rush, he's relentless, like a junk-yard dog. You'd like to have 11 of him. You wouldn't have to coach very hard."

Butler is a rugged linebacker. Hines is an attacking nose tackle. "He's just like Jim Burt, who was with the Giants," McKnight said. "He's a tough guy. He makes plays. He doesn't get accolades. Those guys come up field, flush the quarterback out, and he gets what they call a 'junk sack' later. He's one of the sparkplugs."

DeRuyter gained his experience at the Air Force Academy and Ohio, where his players were undersized. They compensated with relentless play, or in football parlance, "good motors."

"They're the best defensive front seven we've faced," McKnight said. "They're tough, blue-collar, lunch-pail guys."

NEVADA SPECIALISTS

PK/KO—13 Brett Jaekle 6-4 210 So.

LS/SS—82 Travis Branzell 6-4 240 Sr.

H—12 Travis Moore 6-2 215 Sr.

P—69 Zacary Whited 6-2 190 Jr.

KR—2 Dwayne Sanders 5-10 175 Fr.

KR—19 Robert Hubbard 5-11 195 Sr.

KR—89 Mike McCoy 6-0 190 So.

PR—23 Joe Garcia 6-0 180 Sr.

Outlook: The Wolf Pack is averaging 26 points per game, but only 4.4 are coming from Jaekle, who is 2 of 3 on field-goal attempts this season. His kicking ability isn't going to waste. Since switching to a nine-step approach, 11 of his last 21 kickoffs have resulted in touchbacks.

HAWAI'I OFFENSE

LWO—84 Jason Rivers 6-2 192 Jr.

LSB—7 Davone Bess 5-10 195 So.

LT—70 Tala Esera 6-4 308 Sr.

LG—65 Hercules Satele 6-2 288 Jr.

C—64 Samson Satele 6-3 298 Sr.

RG—55 John Estes 6-2 290 Fr.

RT—72 Dane Uperesa 6-4 310 Sr.

RSB—82 Ross Dickerson 5-10 198 Sr.

RWO—3 Ian Sample 5-10 196 Sr.

QB—15 Colt Brennan 6-3 196 Jr.

RB—4 Nate Ilaoa 5-9 254 Sr.

Outlook: Maybe the marketing is all wrong. The knock on Brennan — and most of the knocking comes from head coach June Jones — is he too often flees the pocket to scramble. The thing is, UH's previous starting quarterbacks in this four-wide offense — Dan Robinson, Nick Rolovich and Tim Chang — were emergency scramblers. Although he doesn't look the part, maybe Brennan should be trumpeted as an athletic quarterback.

After 14 career starts, it is apparent that Brennan knows how to run — and run elusively. This year, Brennan has been sacked once every 32.2 pass attempts. In contrast, All Pro quarterback Michael Vick has been sacked once every 9.18 pass attempts. Against Eastern Illinois last week, Brennan, while being grabbed by the leg, completed a pass to Chad Mock. He nearly completed a pass to Bess after escaping a double team.

Brennan also is proving to be an effective long-range passer. This season, he has completed seven of 14 deep passes (traveling at least 20 yards in the air from the line of scrimmage) for three touchdowns. UH's goal is 35 percent; Chang was in the low 30s.

The Warriors have dropped 16 of Brennan's passes. If not for the drops, Brennan would be completing 73 percent of his passes.

HAWAI'I DEFENSE

LE—98 Melila Purcell III 6-5 276 Sr.

NT—67 Michael Lafaele 6-0 302 Jr.

RE—91 Ikaika Alama-Francis 6-6 285 Sr.

LOLB—12 Karl Noa 6-4 240 Jr.

LILB—41 Solomon Elimimian 6-0 224 So.

RILB—44 Adam Leonard 6-0 230 So.

ROLB—33 C.J. Allen-Jones 6-1 224 So.

LCB—24 Kenny Patton 6-0 188 Sr.

SS—31 Jake Patek 6-0 202 Jr.

FS—42 Leonard Peters 6-1 217 Sr.

RCB—19 C.J. Hawthorne 5-11 161 Jr.

Outlook: The Warriors' strength, like a good baseball defense, is up the middle. The coaches have praised Lafaele, a space-eating nose tackle; Leonard, who has fully recovered from reconstructive surgery on his right knee two years ago; and Peters, who is playing with a broken rib cartilage.

In recent games, the Warriors have alternated between their 3-4 base and a "jumbo" package featuring five defensive lineman. In either scheme, the one constant is Lafaele.

"I've watched so many teams," said Jeff Reinebold, who coaches the defensive line. "I've watched Northwestern on defense. I've watched Colorado on defense. I've watched all of the WAC defenses. I don't see guys making more plays than Mike. He's the heart of our defense."

Allen-Jones, who started the first three games at right outside linebacker, is scheduled to be back in the opening lineup. Brashton Satele, who will miss at least two games because of a pulled hamstring, started last week. The only glitch would be if the Warriors open in the jumbo, a scheme that involves a nose tackle and four defensive ends. The use of that scheme will depend on the health of backup defensive ends Keala Watson and Renolds Fruean. Both missed practices because of flu-like symptoms.

HAWAI'I SPECIALISTS

PK/KO—86 Daniel Kelly 6-3 202 So.

LS—57 Jake Ingram 6-4 268 So.

SS—48 David Farmer 6-0 231 So.

H—11 Inoke Funaki 5-11 195 Fr.

P—25 Kurt Milne 60 205 Sr.

KR—82 Ross Dickerson 5-10 198 Sr.

KR—89 Malcolm Lane 6-1 181 Fr.

PR—38 Myron Newberry 5-8 164 Jr.

Outlook: The latest shuffle has Farmer replacing Ingram as the short-snapper on field-goal and PAT attempts. Last week, Funaki replaced Milne as the holder. The Warriors had gone 10 consecutive games without problems in the snap-to-hold connection before three malfunctions against Boise State two weeks ago. "I hadn't anticipated any problems before so hopefully there won't be any this week," Jones said.

The Warriors will miss Ryan Keomaka, who serves as the "hawk" on kickoff coverage. He has a badly sprained ankle. The hawk and the arrow are the sprinters who run down the lane along the sidelines. Their job is to protect the outside lane, or obey the "21-man rule." The assignment is to keep any of the 21 other players from getting between the hawk and the sideline.

"The job of the hawk and arrow is to narrow the field," Reinebold said. "First you narrow the field, then you try to make the tackle. Ryan (Keomaka), Kenny (Patton) and Gerard (Lewis) do a good job in that role."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.