The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team (0-2) is back in action at 6 p.m. this evening, slated to take on the visiting New Mexico State Aggies (1-1 )at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu.

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NMSU is coming off a 51-14 rout of Mercyhurst from a week ago, while the ‘Bows are still in search of their first win of 2026.

Here are how the two programs match up:

Aggies offense

During a beach outing, then-5-year-old Terry Potter Hedden III — now “Trey” to NMSU teammates and fans — picked up a football and threw a perfect spiral to his stepmom. It was then Hedden was destined to be a quarterback with a supportive blended family.

His parents and stepparents “made sure I made every tryout. They took me to camps. They helped me meet the coaches I wanted to learn from.”

And they attended every game, including during his two years at Furman and this season with the Aggies. After a 10-percentage-point jump in accuracy from his freshman season, Hedden entered the portal to “raise the ceiling a little bit” in pursuit of future pro opportunities.

NMSU head coach Tony Sanchez’s spread attack offered protection (312 pounds an O-lineman) and speedy targets. Slot receiver TK King has been GPS-clocked at nearly 23 mph and laser-timed at 20.74 seconds over 200 meters.

“The biggest thing for me is I’ve got to remember that on game day, he’s a little bit faster than he is in practice,” Hedden said of King. “When he’s running a route, you can throw it out there and he’ll turn it on. We talk about it in the meeting room. Go make him run 100 meters to catch the ball.”

King’s average target depth is 21 yards. He has catch-and-dashes of 46, 42 and 34 yards. The Aggies have sets of four and five receivers or up to two tight ends. Running back James Jones has no fumbles or negative-yard rushes in 30 carries. Jones also is an effective blocker who can roll into the flats.

Hedden is 80% accurate on screens, hitches and check-down throws.

“The quarterback in this offense is really a distributor,” Hedden said. “We really focus on the things we’re good at, and we repeat those things, and find new ways to do those things every week. It’s really been a lot of fun to play in this offense with these coaches.”

Aggies defense

The Aggies’ base is chaos, with shifts, movements and glove-to-glove combat in the trenches and running lanes.

“When things get so cranky, like how many blitzes and stunts, it looks like Star Wars to us,” weakside linebacker Sone Aupiu said. His first two NMSU seasons, Aupiu played middle linebacker. He moved to will linebacker last year but still trains at all second-tier positions, including jack, the stand-up edge defender.

Helped by playing on the narrow side of the formation, Aupiu has freedom to jump lanes.

“When it comes to gap schemes, that’s what I love,” he said. “Coming my way to the boundary, I’m looking to hit ’em.”

His father grew up in Samoa, his mother in New Zealand, where rugby was the favored sport. He said he aspires to play professional rugby.

But for now, Aupiu said, “I chose a different route, which was football. Everybody else on my mom’s side chose rugby.”

Aupiu received a few college offers. But after an official visit to Las Cruces, he decided to be an Aggie. He said he had to adjust to the culture change from Long Beach, Calif., such as green chili served with everything.

And to fatherhood — he and his wife have a 3-year-old daughter. And he has bonded with teammates, such as jack linebacker Kaian Roberts-Day, whose first name is a homophone of cayenne (thus the nickname “Spicy”).

Roberts-Day is a former running back who dead-lifted 720 pounds as a Baylor freshman, once sacked Shedeur Sanders, and enjoys building Lego sets. Aupiu noted Roberts-Day’s on-field ferocity belies his soft-spoken personality.

“He’s one of those dudes who will hit you hard as hell,” Aupiu said. “He’s one of those dudes you wouldn’t expect him to be like, ‘Oh, dang, I didn’t know he was such a nice dude.’ He’ll hit the crap out of you any type of play. He can switch the tone (off the field).”

Aggies specialists

Ilya Uvaydov is a first generation American and placekicker. His parents immigrated from Uzbekistan in the late 1980s and early 1990s, its last years as part of the Soviet Union.

Uvaydov was a soccer goalkeeper and pizza shop worker when the Gilbert (Ariz.) High football team asked him to join as a kicker. He did well enough to receive an offer from Utah Tech.

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After transferring to NMSU, the “Russian Rocket” (as he was nicknamed at Gilbert) is 2-for-4 on FG attempts this season. Both of his misses were from beyond 40 yards.

UH offense

As Virginia’s sixth QB last year, Bjorn Jurgensen threw, at most, 20 passes in practices, often with receivers running routes against no defenders.

With QB1 Micah Alejado not taking any practice reps on Tuesday, Jurgensen launched more than 100 throws in all types of situations. The thinking was to give Alejado, who has been sacked seven times and hit late a few more, a recovery day.

It also was to build experience for Jurgensen, who was summoned twice against UNLV while Alejado was treated for ailments. Coming in cold, Jurgensen threw a 15-yard pass that should have been ruled a TD.

“I knew (Tuesday) would be a big day for me,” said Jurgensen, who transferred from the Cavaliers in January. “I had to stay locked in and have that one-play-at-a-time mentality that Coach (Timmy) Chang always tells us.”

Jurgensen has benefited from video sessions, in which Chang, the QBs and receivers analyze each pass play up to five minutes apiece. In practices and games, Jurgensen will use what he learned from aerial shots to make on-the-ground decisions.

“It all starts from the huddle,” Jurgensen said. “Just getting the play in and making sure everybody’s in the right position. And then with post-snap, seeing the defense and making sure I know where my eyes go from my reads. Every day, I feel I’m getting better.”

Similar to Alejado, Jurgensen is an underrated runner who can keep defenses guessing on run-pass options and play-action moves. The slots have been targeted a team-high 44.7%, including 52.9% on third down. The QBs are seeking to build a better bond with the wideouts.

The Warriors are 1-for-7 on routes of 20-plus yards. Carson Brown, who logged 498 snaps the previous two seasons at Iowa State, has emerged as a deep threat.

UH defense

As part of the buddy system, the nose tackle absorbs double blocks to create one-on-one matchups for Luther McCoy and the other 3-tech tackles.

At the second level, mike linebacker Wynden Ho‘ohuli tussles with charging offensive guards to allow dime linebacker Jamih Otis to attack the running lane, pick up a back curling into the flats or hunt the quarterback.

Elijah Palmer, who often works with Ho‘ohuli on switches or support, has aligned as a nickel corner, slot linebacker and middle back in the cover-3 formation. Although Ho‘ohuli and Otis are the Warriors’ top overall linebackers, they will sub out when defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman and associate head coach Chris “CB” Brown call for the speed packages involving Alika Cavaco-Amoy and Aisiah “Scoob” Paogofie.

“It feels like I’m playing in high school again, just running around, giving full effort to the ball,” Cavaco-Amoy said of his attack-mode instructions. “That’s what Coach CB wants: give full effort and hunt every play.”

Last Oct. 18, Cavaco-Amoy suffered injuries to his right ACL and meniscus. With Otis incurring the same injuries, they became rehab partners.

“We were pushing each other,” Cavaco-Amoy said.

Both made speedy recoveries. For inspiration, Paogofie turns to his uncle Chris Paogofie, a dominant Waianae High linebacker/safety in the 1990s.

“I watched his one famous clip where he ran through Kahuku’s line on kickoff and got the tackle,” said Paogofie, who wears No. 31, his uncle’s Waianae jersey number. “He was a baller.”

Paogofie has gained 20 pounds since joining the Warriors last year and now weighs 210. He was GPS-clocked at 20 mph.

“I like to play fast,” he said. “I do my assignment, but if I mess up, at least I’m giving 100% effort.”

UH specialists

With the exception of the block for a TD (caused by a missed assignment), punter Gehrig Heil has been consistent in placing kicks in the lane between the sidelines and numbers.

Of his 13 punts, five have been returned for an average of 1.6 yards. Bryce Milford, an alumnus of Prokick Australia, joined the Warriors a week ago after an arduous path of completing school work and the visa process.

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Milford is strictly a spiral punter and has touched 5.3 seconds of hang time.