Five players to watch as Hawai’i fights UNLV for the Island Showdown Trophy

HONOLULU – Fight for the Golden Pineapple. 

Coming off a thrilling comeback victory over Fresno State on the road last weekend, Hawai’i (4-5, 2-2 Mountain West) will look to keep the good vibes rolling as they return to the friendly confines of Clarence T.C. Ching Complex this Saturday to play host to the well-rested UNLV Rebels. It marks the 34th edition of the “9th Island Showdown” and the eighth time that the Rainbow Warriors and Rebels will play for the Island Showdown Trophy, one of four rivalry trophies that Hawai’i plays for against Mountain West rivals. 

The Rebels (6-2, 2-1 Mountain West) come to the islands off of a bye week, feeling rested and hoping to bounce back after their second hiccup of the year, a 29-24 loss to nationally-ranked Boise State at Allegiant Stadium to end October. UNLV has won all four road contests so far this season, looking for a fifth road win in a single season for the first time since 1984. 

Hawai’i looks to ride the high of last week’s heart-stopping win at Fresno State and a two-game winning streak into another home win over their 9th Island counterparts. UNLV has struggled in Honolulu during the series, falling 13 of the 16 times the matchup was played on Oahu – including the last three trips and seven of the last eight times. 

Those struggles will be far in the back of the mind of Barry Odom’s team, who has already clinched a spot in a bowl game this season and set eyes on far more to achieve with four games remaining in the regular season. The Rebels won last season’s meeting with Hawai’i in Las Vegas, 44-20, and have continued an upward trajectory through the offseason into a magical 2024 so far. 

With Hawai’i’s bowl hopes still holding on for dear life with a month remaining to play, here are five players to keep an eye on this weekend as the Rainbow Warriors face the Rebels. 

RB Tylan Hines 

Coming off of his best game of the season, Tylan Hines has once again become one of the most dynamic pieces in the Hawai’i offense. In the Rainbow Warriors’ 21-20 victory at Fresno State last weekend, the 5-foot-7 back totaled 87 yards (21 receiving, 66 rushing) on a season-high 15 touches. 

The return to the backfield was exactly the remedy that Hines needed to get his season going again and show off the talents that have had Hawai’i coaches singing his praises for years. On top of the worry that defenses have to have when he lines up in the backfield, Hines has taken a step forward in the receiving game for UH this year and even drew the key pass interference call late against Fresno State that helped Hawai’i finish a 13-point comeback. 

It’s a great sign for the Hawai’i offense if Hines has regained his footing as the primary ball carrier for among the backs, providing an answer to the season-long question of who to lean on to help the rushing attack. As the run game has gotten going for UH, it is no coincidence that Hines has seen his role increase. 

Hines will need to be a big contributor once again this weekend as Hawai’i faces off against a potent UNLV offense and talented defense. The sophomore has found success against the Rebels in his career: he had nine carries for 63 yards in the 2022 home win over UNLV before tallying nine carries for 43 yards in his final game last year before redshirting due to injury. 

OL Kuao Peihopa 

Speaking of the run game, Kuao Peihopa and the offensive line have their fingerprints all over the uptick in production for the Rainbow Warriors offense. Last time out against Fresno State, Peihopa turned in his best run blocking performance of the year according to PFF, grading out as a 67.9 and the second-best run-blocking offensive lineman that played 91 total snaps. 

The former defensive lineman flipped sides this past offseason after starting all 13 contests on the interior of the defensive trenches in 2023 for Hawai’i. The process has come with plenty of bumps while traveling the learning curve of going from one side of the ball to the other, seeing some clunky performances across the first three games against FBS opponents. 

The aggression and desire are always there for Peihopa, who has showed off some special teams chops this season too with a key block that prevented Lucas Borrow from getting stuffed in his own end zone. The process has been about harnessing it and allowing the strong KS-Kāpalama alum to use his physical tools in the most productive ways for the team. 

The two different ways on Saturday Peihopa will likely be able to make the most difference are with his personal punt protector experience against an aggressive and productive UNLV special teams unit and being able to impose his will in opening running lanes for Tylan Hines and Brayden Schager to help open up the Run-and-Raid offense of the Rainbow Warriors. 

DL Elijah Robinson 

The breakout star of the second half, Elijah Robinson absolutely wrecked the Fresno State offense throughout the game last Saturday. The graduate pass rusher tallied a pair of sacks and 3.0 TFLs against the Bulldogs, the second time this season he reached those benchmarks in a single game for the Rainbow Warriors. 

Robinson has taken off in his second year with the program, much like the rest of the UH defense has this season under coordinator Dennis Thurman. Part of a defense that is allowing just 15.6 points per game while protecting and playing in the islands, Robinson has 3.5 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss this year for Hawai’i while playing the best football of his career. 

He will have another big test this weekend along with the rest of the UH defense as the Rebels’ high-powered offense comes to town averaging 41.1 points per game, good for the fifth-best mark in the country. Led by a healthy running attack that averages 243 yards per game and one of the most efficient passing attacks in the nation, UNLV presents challenges to defenses in every way. 

If Hawai’i is going to keep the bowl hopes alive another week and supercharge the postseason train for the program, Robinson will need to turn in another productive performance and continue to get home on the passing downs against the Rebels. 

LB Logan Taylor 

One of the biggest reasons that UNLV’s offense has been so spectacular through eight games this year is the ability of the quarterbacks to be productive in both passing and running downs. Even after the departure of opening week starter Matthew Sluka, the Rebels have hit the gas offensively behind the lead of transfer QB Malik-Hajj Williams. 

The 6-foot-1 senior has shown off the ability to be a running threat consistently while keeping opposing defenses honest with the ability to sling the ball downfield to a variety of speedy playmakers. Williams posted 105 net yards rushing against Boise State two weeks ago, becoming the third-ever UNLV quarterback to have multiple games with over 100 yards on the ground in his career. 

Since he took over the starting role at the end of September, Williams has compiled 1,424 yards of total offense (1,017 passing yards, 407 rushing) while adding 17 total touchdowns for the Rebels. It will be vital that Hawai’i is able to keep Williams at bay and Logan Taylor and the linebackers will be key in that effort. 

Taylor was reinserted into the starting lineup for Hawai’i two weeks ago during the big win over Nevada and is one of the surest tacklers on the entire defense for the Rainbow Warriors. He will need to turn in a better performance in coverage than he did last week, but it is his tackling ability that can help Hawai’i most this week with a slick UNLV team. 

S Kilinahe Mendiola-Jensen 

As he called it earlier in the week, Saturday serves as a strange little backwards homecoming for Hawai’i safety Kilinahe Mendiola-Jensen after the Punahou School alum spent his first two seasons of college football suiting up for UNLV. Now seeing the Rebels as an opponent, Mendiola-Jensen is excited for a chance to play for his home school against his old school. 

He has turned the corner for Hawai’i over the past couple of weeks as well, clicking for his best overall game of the season last weekend on the road against Fresno State. PFF gave Mendiola-Jensen his best grade of the year (78.4 overall) after his five-tackle performance where he was a plus in coverage and did not miss a single tackle against the Bulldogs. 

The return of Peter Manuma next to Mendiola-Jensen also helped the Hawai’i defense, allowing the junior to slide back to his more comfortable and known role after spending the previous couple games helping the entire committee fill the void. That high-level defense will need to keep steady at home against an even stronger UNLV offense with Ricky White III awaiting on the other side.