In the first 20 minutes of every Hawai'i football practice, a coach will yell out, "Fire drill!"

And then, with a chorus of cheers, the fun will begin.

"It gets you going in the morning," cornerback Myron Newberry said.

A fire drill is a discipline in which the defense practices interception returns. It is a choreographed response to a chaotic situation, with the defensive linemen blocking one way, a defensive back targeting a receiver, and the returner running a planned route.

"We work on that every day," Newberry said. "That's why we get a lot of touchdowns on defense just from that drill."

This season, the Warriors have four interception returns for touchdowns, including two in last week's 48-20 victory over Idaho. They are averaging 28.7 yards per interception return.

It is no coincidence UH's interception returns resemble offensive plays. When defensive coordinator Greg McMackin was Oregon Tech's head coach, he moonlighted as the offensive strategist.

He said he implemented the fire drills when he was defensive coordinator at Miami. It came from the realization that offenses suffer a quick emotional letdown after being intercepted.

"We felt offenses were a little relaxed at that point, and they were upset with themselves," McMackin said. "It was a mental point."

Fire drills are emphasized so much that redshirt Jake Santos replaced Rich Miano as the drill's quarterback.

"They wanted somebody to throw it hard," Santos said, smiling. "Coach Miano doesn't get the job done. They teased him about it."

Santos said he was impressed with the receiving skills of the defensive backs. The Warriors made 10 interceptions.

"They catch it with their hands," Santos said. "They never let it get to the chest. When we do the (fire) drills, I try to make it tough on them. I throw the ball hard. I try to make them stretch out as far as they can, and hopefully give them a good look. They do a good job."

Here's a look at this week's game:

HAWAI'I OFFENSE

POS.—PLAYER HT. WT. CL.

LWO—84 Jason Rivers 6-2 189 Sr.

LSB—7 Davone Bess 5-10 195 Jr.

LT—62 Keith AhSoon 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—21 Kealoha Pilares 5-11 190 Fr.

RB—4 Leon Wright-Jackson 6-1 211 So.

Outlook: Second nationally in passing yards (448.2 per game), the Warriors have spent the week trying to improve their after-catch running. "There are two types of receivers," said Hawthorne, who played cornerback last year. "When some receivers catch the ball, the play is over. When others catch it, the play is starting. We don't want to be 'possession' receivers. We want to make plays."

Hawthorne's yards-after-catch (YAC) average is 2.64, lowest among the starting receivers. But that's because he often runs patterns in which he is bracketed by the sideline. He is working on his post-catch pivot, which should help him turn upfield quicker. UH also will try to give him running starts on inside screens and slants. "I'm going to try to turn it up," said Hawthorne, who has not dropped a pass in 34 attempts. His completion rate of 74 percent is the highest among the receivers.

Rivers is expected to start after missing the past 1 1/2 games because of lower-back tightness. That will allow Malcolm Lane, who started at left wideout last week, to move back to his more comfortable spot on the right side. "Everything feels a little more natural," said Lane, who has practiced at right wideout all week. "I know people don't think it should be that much of a difference. But the balls are coming off different angles. You have to turn your head a different way."

While there have been murmurs about the effectiveness of the shovel pass this season, Pilares and Wright-Jackson actually have been nearly as successful as Nate Ilaoa, last year's starting running back. Ilaoa had an average YAC of 14 yards on shovel passes. Pilares' YAC average is 13.29; Wright-Jackson's is 12.88.

HAWAI'I DEFENSE

POS.—PLAYER HT. WT. CL.

LE—54 Amani Purcell 6-4 277 Sr.

DE—94 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.

OLB—53 Blaze Soares 6-1 239 So.

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/NB—35 Keao Monteilh 5-11 193 Jr.

LS—24 Desmond Thomas 6-3 174 Jr.

RS—31 Jacob Patek 6-0 204 Sr.

RCB—3 Myron Newberry 5-9 174 Sr.

Outlook: Lafaele played all last season despite a painful heel injury and all of this season with a strained left calf and fractured right hand. There is no reason to believe a recently diagnosed strained right hamstring will keep him out of the lineup. "I'm used to it," Lafaele said. Still, there is a contingency plan. The Warriors always rotate three players in the base package's two tackle positions. Laeli can move to Lafaele's spot at right tackle, and Keala Watson can replace Laeli at left tackle. Siave Seti will become the third defensive tackle.

Because of tendinitis in his left knee, Laeli prefers to play right tackle. He was set to play there this season until Lafaele suffered the fracture in his right hand. The right tackle places his left hand on the ground and pushes off with his right foot. The left tackle pushes off with his left foot. "When I'm on the right, I push off on my good knee," Laeli. "It's way more comfortable."

Lafaele, a Farrington High graduate, and Laeli, a Saint Louis alumnus, are best friends. They are always the last to show up for the training-table breakfast. "Playing next to him is an honor," Laeli said. "He's one of the greatest d-tackles. He's the man. Playing next to him is a big opportunity. I always learn from him."

Nickelback Ryan Mouton won't play because of a slightly torn posterior cruciate in his right knee. UH has two nickel packages, and Monteilh will now play nickelback in both of them. "I like him a lot," McMackin said of Monteilh, who will either cover the inside receiver or move up as a run-stopper. "He's a very smart player. I like him because he's played corner and he's played safety. We do a lot of things back there. We can roll him back as a safety or we can play him in man coverage. Strategy wise, he gives us a lot of flexibility."

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—89 Malcolm Lane 6-1 181 So.

KR—29 Keenan Jones 5-11 181 Sr.

KR—5 Michael Washington 5-7 173 Jr.

PR—7 Davone Bess 5-10 195 Jr.

Outlook: Lane, Jones and Washington will fill in for kick returners Rivers and Mouton, who was averaging 31.3 yards.

The new kickoff spot also has led to a change in wedge blockers, who now will be required to field short kicks. Safety Spencer Smith, running back David Farmer and linebacker Brashton Satele form the new wedge.

UTAH STATE OFFENSE

POS.—PLAYER HT. WT. CL.

WR—6 Kevin Robinson 6-0 199 Sr.

LT—52 Spencer Johnson 6-5 283 Fr.

LG—74 Shawn Murphy 6-5 315 Sr.

C—56 Ryan Tonnemacher 6-3 288 Jr.

RG—63 Pace Jorgensen 6-5 335 Sr.

RT—77 Derek Hoke 6-9 310 Jr.

TE—84 Will Fausel 6-3 268 Sr.

TE—88 Jimmy Bohm 6-2 286 Sr.

WR—14 Otis Nelson 6-2 214 Jr.

QB—Leon Jackson III 6-1 206 Sr.

FB—32 Jacob Actkinson 6-0 218 Fr.

TB—1 Aaron Lesue 5-10 195 Sr.

Outlook: If it weren't for the speedy Robinson, the Aggies would not have much offense at all. The Aggies have scored six offensive touchdowns — none in the first quarter of the first four games — and only three of their 63 drives have been longer than 60 yards. They average 5.12 plays per drive; 32 percent of their possessions have been three-and-outs.

Under former North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey (offensive coordinator), the Aggies have shown a willingness to spread the wideouts, even when they employ two tight ends. But the intent is the same: feed Robinson, who has three of the Aggies' nine "big" plays (20 yards or longer). Robinson, who has 26 catches — 17 more than the No. 2 receiver — aligns wide, although he will go into jump motion to scoot into the flats or carry the ball on reverses.

Jackson is skilled on bootlegs, in which he often will throw screens. If the Aggies try to milk the clock, they will rotate running backs on inside-zone runs and traps.

UTAH STATE DEFENSE

POS.—PLAYER HT. WT. CL.

LT—57 Frank Maile 6-1 275 Sr.

RT—96 Alan Bishop 6-5 277 So.

RE—58 Ben Calderwood 6-2 268 Jr.

SLB—31 Paul Igboeli 6-0 206 So.

MLB—53 Jake Hutton 6-0 231 Jr.

Aggie—45 De'von Hall 6-3 220 Jr.

LCB—9 Kejon Murphy 5-8 160 So.

SS—26 James Brindley 5-10 191 So.

FS—39 Caleb Taylor 6-3 197 Jr.

RCB—23 Joshua Taylor 6-0 179 Jr.

Outlook: Football is indeed a numbers game. For last year's game against UH's four-wide offense, defensive coordinator Mark Johnson concocted a strategy that was wonderful in theory. He assigned a defensive back to each of the Warriors' four receivers. Then he gave attack orders to the front seven. The idea was to force five UH offensive linemen and the running back to block seven defenders. It also was supposed to make it difficult for the Warriors to complete shovel passes. Unfortunately for the Aggies, the Warriors found the loophole. If a receiver slips past the defensive back, there's no backup defender. Arizona State used the same defensive strategy in last year's Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, leading to Jason Rivers' 79-yard touchdown off a slant pattern. But earlier this year, Louisiana Tech had some success using the Aggies' strategy.

UTAH STATE SPECIALISTS

POS.—PLAYER HT. WT. CL.

PK—38 Peter Caldwell 6-4 213 Fr.

KO—16 Chris Ulinski 6-2 207 So.

P/H—7 Leon Jackson III 6-1 06 Sr.

S—89 Patrick Scales 6-4 235 Fr.

KR/PR—6 Kevin Robinson 6-0 199 Sr.

KR—1 Aaron Lesue 5-10 195 Sr.

Outlook: While Robinson is a threat as a receiver, he is more dangerous in the open field as a returner. He is second nationally in punt returns (22.2 yards), and he scored on an 82-yard kickoff return against San Jose State. Caldwell and UH punter Tim Grasso were teammates at Davis High in Kaysville, Utah. Caldwell already has improved the Aggies' kicking game. He leads the WAC with 1.4 field goals per game; last year, the Aggies did not convert a field goal until the ninth game of the season.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.