As mandated by the Western Athletic Conference, the home team must be on the same side as the student section. That means, the Rainbows would be standing in the sun field if the 3 p.m. season opener were a league game.

But since it's not, Hawaii will put the University of Minnesota on the sunny side of the street, much like it did to Boston College in last year's season opener.

"You're looking for any edge you can get," UH head coach Fred vonAppen said. "If the sun is out, that side of the field will be bathed in it, while we're resting in the shade."

Since opening fall camp, the Minnesota Gophers probably haven't battled the same kind of heat and humidity found at Barbers Point. VonAppen hopes those big farm boys melt in the Hawaii sun.

"I think we should play all of our games in the afternoon to take advantage of the weather," vonAppen said. "At night, it's pretty cool in here, so you don't always get that much-needed edge."

Hawaii will hold its second scrimmage tomorrow afternoon from 2-4. If the sun is out, the temperature on the field will be three digits, instead of two.

<img src="bu.gif"> IN THE BOOTH: In tomorrow's scrimmage, Hawaii also will determine which coaches will be in the booth for the Aug. 30 game with the Gophers, and who will remain on the sidelines.

At this point, offensive coordinator Wally English will call the game from the coaches' booth in the press box. Defensive coordinator Don Lindsey will be on the field with secondary coach Mickey Pruitt in the box with English.

"I'm not sure who all will be in the booth," vonAppen said. "The advantage upstairs is you can see. The disadvantage is communication. You either have to convey your messages to your players over the phone, or you have to do it through an assistant coach."

VonAppen's headset will allow him to talk to everybody. Unlike former UH head coach Bob Wagner, who had every offensive and defensive play go through him, vonAppen lets his coordinators call the game.

"I pretty much let them call it," vonAppen said. "There may be some time when you want to override, but we'll almost always confer on penalties, on 2-point plays, clock usage and timeouts."

One coach will have the 2-point chart to decide when the Rainbows should go for it. The formula is fairly standard.

"Most of the stuff on the headset is X-rated," vonAppen said. "We're going to test them out (tomorrow) to make sure everything is in working order."

<img src="bu.gif"> DIFFERENT KICK: At first, it appears the Hawaii return team is preparing for an onside kick.

The forward wall has mainly running backs and wide receivers, normally known as the good-hands people. Behind them about 25 yards is a group of huge linemen standing in front of kickoff return men Charles Tharp and Eleu Kane.

When no onside kick comes, sideline observers are left scratching their head wondering just what is vonAppen thinking about. But after visiting with the coaches, there is method to the madness.

"This is the way they used to do it at San Francisco when Coach vonAppen was there," assistant coach Don Dillon explains. "The theory is, you have the fast guys screening off the kickoff defenders racing down the field.

"If someone gets through, the big wedge of linemen behind the forward wall seeks and destroys. It worked well in San Francisco. We'll see how we execute it during the season."

The question is: What happens if there is a pooch kick that requires the linemen to field it at around the 20-yard-line?

"They've been instructed to get out of the way," Dillon said. "If our returns guys can race up and catch it on the run on a short kick like that, we should get some excellent yardage from it. The key is, to keep the linemen from trying to field it."

VonAppen said he just wanted to see how it worked in practice. He is not exactly married to it.

"It was an old kickoff return that I mandated that we used at San Francisco," vonAppen said. "It was an old Bud Grant return that the Vikings had. We had a lot of success with it at San Francisco.

"It's a full field access kind of return. We put two big fullbacks back there (former 49ers offensive guard Guy McIntyre and nose guard Michael Carter), and they flipped some people coming down the field. We just wanted to take a look at it."

DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE DAY: Williams also was involved in a classic interception. Covering Jade Charles coming out of the backfield on the old wheel route, the freshman linebacker had tight coverage of Charles in the end zone. Robinson tried to force the pass in, but that was a mistake. Just when it appeared Charles had hauled it in, Williams slipped in and stole the ball for the nifty interception.

INJURY REPORT: There were two fairly scary injuries in last night's scrimmage. Freshman running back Avion Weaver suffered a mild sprain of his right knee on a speed option play. Quarterback Tim Carey came down the line, then pitched it to Weaver, who was blasted out of bounds. It's believed he should be OK. Backup corner Ricky Lumford suffered a sprained neck. UH trainers will take X-rays today to make sure the freshman is all right. Junior college transfer Mark Mollner missed the scrimmage because of shinsplints. He's hoping it's not a stress fracture. Wesley Morris returned to practice last night after missing several days with a bruised shoulder.

TRANSACTION WIRE: Stanford transfer Jauron Pigg still hasn't heard anything on his petition to the NCAA, but he did take part in last night's scrimmage as a wide receiver.

WEATHER REPORT: The weather was quite mild last night at Aloha Stadium. The temperature was in the low 80s during the scrimmage. It should be hotter in tomorrow afternoon's second scrimmage.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "After my fifth plate, all I could eat was bread."

-- Shane Oliveira discussing the cuisine of Sunday's barbeque