Tuesday, October 22, 1996
Last week in practice, the all-everything offensive player worked at quarterback to see if the University of Hawaii could catch Nevada-Las Vegas off-guard.
But two false-start penalties the first time the Rainbows tried to run it, and a pair of timeouts the second time around, forced UH head coach Fred vonAppen to abandon the series.
"The element of surprise was taken away when Josh (Hawkins) had that false start," Macon said. "Then (Kaulana) Noa moved again on the next snap, so it put us in a tough spot at first and 20.
"When we tried it again later, some communication problems caused us to get in the wrong formation. I wish we would try it again later in the season, but I doubt it. I get the feeling that too much went wrong for the coaches to try it again."
VonAppen talked about it Sunday and again at yesterday's Quarterback Club press luncheon. Macon is right on the money.
"I know people want to know about the substitution of putting John at quarterback and moving Glenn to wide receiver," vonAppen said. "Late one night last week we thought that was a hell of an idea.
"We'd not been drinking, by the way. John had played various positions for us, so we thought we would find a matchup we would like from this formation.
"We had a formation reversed on the field and I rapidly lost interest in the concept as my hindquarters smoked. The idea ranks somewhere between the Edsel and the Bay of Pigs."
VonAppen said after yesterday's practice that the planned surgery for the junior's sore left heel has been put on hold for a couple of weeks.
It's very likely that Oliveira will not only make the trip this weekend to the Air Force Academy, but will play as well.
"With the ankle injury to Sione Tafuna, that leaves us with only C.B. Wentling," vonAppen said. "We can't expect C.B. to play the entire game, so Shane is probably coming with us and will see some playing time if he can manage it."
Oliveira said over the weekend that season-ending surgery was a likelihood. He has been bothered by bone spurs in his ankle since last spring, something only surgery can repair.
UH trainers don't expect Tafuna, who sprained his ankle in the second quarter of the UNLV game, to be ready. He had his ankle in a boot, and was still on crutches during practice.
"We expect everyone else to be ready," vonAppen said. "It's a tribute to our players that we don't have more injuries than we do."
Offensive tackle Mark Hernandez said he will make the trip and play as many downs as his bad back will allow him. He was in on only two series over the weekend.
Middle linebacker Stephen Gonzales is expected back as well. He sprained his shoulder during the UNLV game. Kicker Carlton Oswalt also injured his hip.
"I'm going to lay low this week and kick with pain this weekend if I have to," Oswalt said. "Field goals and PATs aren't as painful as the kickoffs."
Junior Shannon Smith will handle the place-kicking duties should Oswalt falter.
Midway through the second quarter, both went back to the coaching booth where they remained for the rest of the game.
"Any time you have a downpour like we had before the game, it's going to affect the wiring," vonAppen said. "I think Don and Guy prefer to be in the booth because you can see better up there than you can on the field.
"There are advantages to being on the field. There are advantages to being in the box. But you can approach the players and let them know how you feel better on the field than you can in the box."
Lindsey took advantage of that by chewing out his players in person after they allowed 21 points in the first quarter, but said he preferred to be upstairs.
"As defensive coordinator, you have to be able to pull the switch on what plays you use," Lindsey said. "You can do that better upstairs than you can on the field."