In theory, there is a limit to the number of offensive plays in football.

It's just that Western Athletic Conference teams have yet to figure out that number.

Boise State is said to have more than 600 plays.

Nevada head coach Chris Ault designs new plays every week.

This season, Hawai'i play-caller Nick Rolovich has added new plays ... at halftime.

The never-ending playbooks have led to this reaction: Now teams are going with no-huddle defenses. The Warriors, for one, wear wristbands encrypted with defensive plays as part of their no-huddle strategy.

The Warriors' opponent tonight — Utah State — also has an extensive collection of plays and formations.

"It's like the 100 greatest plays in football," associate head coach Rich Miano said of the Aggies' playbook. "These guys have most of them. They've got the ability, and they can move the football. And they've got the quarterback (Diondre Borel) who can do it all."

Here's a look at tonight's game:

UTAH STATE OFFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.
WR—85 Omar Sawyer 5-9 174 Sr.
WR—71 Nnamdi Gwacham 6-3 211 Sr.
LT—52 Spencer Johnson 6-5 291 Jr.
LG—79 Robert Hall 6-2 260 So.
C—61 Brennan McFadden 6-2 295 Sr.
RG—68 Philip Gapelu 6-2 305 So.
RT—74 Tariq Polley 6-4 299 Jr.
TE—83 Jeremy Mitchell 6-5 248 Sr.
WR—11 Stanley Morrison 5-9 162 So.
QB—12 Diondre Borel 6-0 187 Jr.
TB—6 Robert Turbin 5-10 212 So

Outlook: It's too bad the WAC doesn't recognize tag as a sport. Because the Aggies' It Quarterback — Borel — would never be "it" in tag. Borel is not particularly fast (4.6 seconds over 40 yards), but he is elusive and has superb first-step quickness. UH coaches describe Borel as a punt returner playing quarterback. Borel has rushed for 468 non-sack yards. He is particularly difficult to trap in danger downs, deep in Aggie territory, when 33 percent of his scrambles produce first downs. "This guy makes you miss," UH's Miano said of Borel. A quarterback in high school, Borel was recruited to Utah State as a receiver. He played there as a freshman, then switched to quarterback last season. Borel has improved his accuracy, going from an interception/touchdown ratio of 10/11 last year to 1/11 this season. Borel is most effective on play-action schemes and rollouts. The Aggies spread their formation with three wideouts and a tight end. Borel, who calls all of the audibles, will pass, feed Turbin or begin his disappearing act behind an agile offensive line.

For the Aggies, it's better to give Turbin the ball early. He averages 8.84 yards per carry in the first quarter, 3.46 in the fourth. Twenty-one of his 34 rushes that resulted in first downs were constructed in the first half. [0x0b]

UTAH STATE DEFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.
DE—37 Quinn Garner 6-3 236 So.
DT—54 Nathan Royster 6-0 262 Jr.
DT—91 Sean Enesi 5-10 275 Jr.
DE—42 Junior Keiaho 6-3 242 So.
LB—25 Adrian Bybee 5-11 202 Sr.
LB—9 Bobby Wagner 6-1 217 So.
LB—31 Paul Igboeli 6-0 220 Sr.
CB—1 Kejon Murphy 5-9 168 Sr.
FS—27 Rajric Coleman 6-2 179 Jr.
SS—3 James Brindley 5-11 189 Sr.
CB—23 Curtis Marsh 6-1 193 Jr.

Outlook: To improve the team speed needed to run the attack schemes, the Aggies made several switches, moving safeties to linebacker, and linebackers to defensive end. In all, there were 14 switches on defense, not including Wagner's shuffle from linebacker to defensive end back to linebacker. The Aggies' three best defenders — Igboeli (ankle), Brindley (hamstring) and Murphy (concussion) — were hurt last week and are considered to be questionable this week. If healthy, the Aggies prefer to play a lot of man-to-man schemes, which frees up the linebackers to blitz.

UTAH ST. SPECIAL TEAMS

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.
PK—16 Chris Ulinski 6-3 203 Sr.
LS—89 Patrick Scales 6-4 230 Jr.
H—82 Eric Moats 6-0 178 Jr.
P—8 Peter Caldwell 6-4 231 Jr.
KR—85 Omar Sawyer 5-9 179 Sr.
PR—1 Kejon Murphy 5-9 168 Sr.

Outlook: Ulinski is a more accurate thin-air kicker, converting all five of his field-goal attempts in Logan, Utah. He has made 60 percent of his field-goal attempts at sea level. But there is little differential in his kickoffs. He averages 66.80 yards at home, 66.57 at sea level.

HAWAI'I OFFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.
LWO—21 Kealoha Pilares 5-11 200 Jr.
LSB—1 Greg Salas 6-2 200 Jr.
LT—77 Aaron Kia 6-5 290 Sr.
LG—64 Ray Hisatake 6-3 315 Sr.
C—55 John Estes 6-3 300 Sr.
RG—74 Raphael Ieru 6-2 315 Sr.
RT—51 Austin Hansen 6-4 285 So.
RSB—2 Jon Medeiros 5-9 185 Jr.
RWO—7 Jovonte Taylor 5-9 170 Jr.
QB—17 Bryant Moniz 6-0 190 So.
RB—23 L. Wright-Jackson 6-1 215 Sr.

Outlook: Breakfast could wait. Before entering the cafeteria, line coach Gordy Shaw showed reporters a paper chicken-scratched with numbers. The most telling, Shaw noted: Through the first eight games last season, the Warriors relinquished 27 sacks in 256 pass plays, or one every 9.48 pass plays. In the first eight games this year, the Warriors have relinquished 21 sacks in 421 pass plays, or one every 20.04 pass plays. Shaw said the goal is to be at the 1:20 ratio, or about 5 percent. In last week's 31-21 loss, Nevada's two sacks were by non-blitzing linebackers. Moniz said he is receiving sufficient protection. Hansen has been functional in place of right tackle Laupepa Letuli, who is expected to miss the rest of the season because of a tendon injury in his left knee. Adrian Thomas, who has started two games at right tackle, is available this week. He missed the past two games because of disk pain.

Although Alex Green has become a strong second-effort runner — his yards-after-contact average is 5.67 the past two games — Wright-Jackson will earn his ninth consecutive start, mostly because of his blocking. Green has improved his blocking technique, but Wright-Jackson is better at reading the defense and targeting the pass rush.

Taylor gives fits to defenses — and himself . In the past three games, he has dropped five passes, and made receptions 54.8 percent of the time he was the intended receiver. But to paraphrase the nursery rhyme, when he is good, he is very, very good. In the past three games, his yards-after-catch (YAC) average is 12.0. What's more, in the past two games, he averages 14.17 yards from the point where he breaks a tackle or jukes a defender. And he also has become an acrobatic receiver. His best play in last week's game was not the long scoring play, but the 4-yard TD catch in which he stretched to secure the pass and remain in bounds.

HAWAI‘I DEFENSE

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.
LE—98 Liko Satele 6-2 260 So.
LT—49 Tuika Tufaga 6-2 285 Sr.
RT—95 Vaughn Meatoga 6-2 290 So.
RE—58 Fetaiagogo Fonoti 6-2 255 Sr.
OLB—53 Blaze Soares 6-1 245 Sr.
MLB—50 Mana Lolotai 6-0 230 Jr.
OLB—41 Corey Parades 5-11 230 So.
LCB—2 Lametrius Davis 6-0 190 Jr.
SS/NB—9 Spencer Smith 5-11 205 Jr.
FS/SS—43 Mana Silva 6-1 220 Jr.
FS—37 Kenny Estes 6-0 200 So.
RCB—10 Kawika Ornellas 5-9 170 Fr.

Outlook: Once again, the Warriors need their defensive ends to be dead ends. Last week's top priority was not to sack Colin Kaepernick, but to contain him. The strategy was to narrow his scrambling area by having the defensive ends crash down. UH could not pull it off consistently. Utah State's Borel is not as fast as Kaepernick, but he is shiftier, and he also prefers to use the edges.

The health situation will affect the rotation. Richard Torres, who plays free safety and nickelback, is recovering from a pulled left hamstring. Smith will open in that role, which then will trigger the falling dominoes of Silva moving from free safety to strong safety and Estes entering the lineup when the Warriors employ schemes involving five defensive backs. R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane, a team captain, is expected to play despite suffering a broken hand during Wednesday's practice.

Jeramy Bryant, the Warriors' best-tackling corner, will miss his second consecutive game because of an injured left biceps. But his replacement, Ornellas, a walk-on, earned top grades last week. In 70 plays, Ornellas had no double-minus grades, and was faulted only for minor technical errors, none of which led to a big play or touchdown. Davis, who also did not have a double-minus in 60 plays, is emerging as a rugged one-on-one defender.

HAWAI'I SPECIAL TEAMS

Pos.—Player Ht. Wt. Cl.
PK—20 Scott Enos 5-9 180 Jr.
LS—45 Luke Ingram 6-5 210 Fr.
H—11 Inoke Funaki 5-11 205 Sr.
P—31 Alex Dunnachie 6-3 235 Fr.
KR—7 Jovonte Taylor 5-9 170 Jr.
PR—1 Greg Salas 6-2 200 Jr.
PR—88 Ryan Henry 5-9 170 Jr.

Outlook: The Warriors will likely stick with their plan of launching directional kickoffs. With the tee moved back to the 30 in recent years, and better return schemes, the strategy is sound. The problem is that the targeted lane — between the sideline and numbers — is narrow, as Enos has learned. Four of his kickoffs have sailed out of bounds. The solution is to place the tee in the middle instead of the far hashmark. If that fails, Enos still will have the option of blasting away.

Visit Tsai's blog at http://warriorbeat.honadvblogs.com.