Injuries hit
Rainbows’ top tacklers

Shinnick is doubtful,
Rosevold is questionable for
Saturday's game

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

The two leading tacklers for the University of Hawaii football team may not play in this weekend's Western Athletic Conference game with Fresno State.

Top strong safety Chris Shinnick is listed as doubtful with a stinger in his shoulder, while linebacker Doug Rosevold is questionable with a mild knee sprain.

Shinnick's chances of playing are next to nil, while Rosevold has yet to make a cut on the knee he injured in last week's 63-0 massacre at Colorado State.

Shinnick also injured his shoulder in Fort Collins, Colo. He and Rosevold are tied for the team lead in tackles with 43 apiece. Eddie Klaneski is third with 32.

If Shinnick and Rosevold are unable to play, that will mean six projected defensive starters in fall camp have missed at least one game. The other four are linebackers Stephen Gonzales (shoulder) and Rufus Ayeni (knee), cornerback Robbie Robinson (ankle) and left tackle Matt Elam (neck), who is definitely out this weekend, as are top quarterbacks Tim Carey (shoulder) and Dan Robinson (shinsplints).

Ayeni and Robbie Robinson are available, but are still not at full speed, while Gonzales may try to play one more game before seeking a medical hardship.

Dan Robinson also will petition the WAC for a medical hardship, giving him two years to play two. The Rainbows will probably welcome back No. 2 left tackle Ben Bright, who missed last week with an ankle sprain. Fellow defensive lineman Tony Tuioti, who missed two games with a knee sprain, should also be available Saturday.

"You ask me how I feel and I don't really feel anything," defensive coordinator Don Lindsey said. "I preach we're a collection of athletes.

"We're not linebackers, cornerbacks and linemen. We're a team. If someone falls, someone else has to step forward and fire the rifle."

At this point, that would be Ron Wood at strong safety and either Gonzales, Matt Paul or Kekoa Kilcoyne at inside linebacker.

"It would be difficult to be without Chris and Doug, but you have to play with the guys who are up and ready," UH head coach Fred vonAppen said. "But we still think we have a pretty good chance of getting Doug back in there."

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Rebuilding Bulldogs
are coming on strong

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

The decline of Fresno State's football program isn't as dramatic as the University of Hawaii's over the past few years, but since losing to the University of Colorado in the 1993 Aloha Bowl, the Bulldogs are a sub-par 16-27-1.

This is not an acceptable trend at a football-rich university that once secured 16 wins in fewer than two seasons. So even though former head coach Jim Sweeney was held in high regard, he knew when to bow out gracefully and let someone else give it a try.

That someone else proved to be former Fresno State assistant Pat Hill. At 2-3 this season, the first-year head coach hasn't exactly shot out of the blocks like Donovan Bailey, but he has instilled a positive attitude that has been reflected in the team's recent play.

Knocking off the University of Utah a week ago at home is an excellent example of turning one of those small corners necessary to a successful rebuilding phase. Even more so, considering the Bulldogs' slow start.

They opened the season with a win over Division I-AA Portland State, then proceeded to lose three consecutive games to lowly Baylor, powerful Oklahoma State and on-again, off-again Oregon.

But instead of wandering off, hanging their heads and sulking about their losses, the Bulldogs kept at it and came away with a win in their Western Athletic Conference opener with the Utes.

"That was a big win for us because we feel the University of Utah was a very good team," Hill said during this week's league conference call. "That was a game that our young football team put it together in all phases.

"We had to go out and take the game away from them. I thought our kids did a very good job in preparation, and we finally went out and executed in critical situations. And we were able to win the football game.

"It's like when we came off the Oklahoma State game, we got beat 35-0, and we regrouped and we made a resolve to make sure we gained our respect back when we went to Oregon. We didn't win the game, however we played very, very well. So we had to take a step back to take a step forward."

Part of the reason for Fresno State's sudden resurgence is the play of sophomore quarterback Billy Volek. The team was down following the loss at Oklahoma State a month ago.

Hill challenged the Bulldogs to stay positive and remain focused, and Volek took it to heart. The following week, the Bulldogs fell behind the Ducks, 37-20, in the fourth quarter.

Volek led the Bulldogs on three consecutive scoring drives to force an overtime. Oregon held on for the 43-40 victory, but the belief system was put into place.

The sophomore quarterback, who did not have a Division I snap before this season, came back and led the Bulldogs to the 27-13 upset of the Utes.

In his last two games, Volek is 47 of 73 for 528 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. In fact, the Fresno, Calif., resident hasn't thrown a pick in his last 93 passing attempts. His overall rating in five games is a healthy 134.2.

"Like I've said from the beginning, I think Billy Volek has great field awareness," Hill said. "He's a gym-rat kind of guy who knows how to get things done. He can improvise things and he can make plays happen.

"I think Billy has come a long way and I think we're going to see more out of him as the receiving corps gets better."

It's unusual not to see the Bulldogs have at least one great wide receiver. In the past, that has been one of the givens.

But they have more than made up for it with the play of running backs Michael Pittman and Jaime Kimbrough. Pittman rushed for 112 yards last week against Utah's stout defense.

It was the seventh time in his last nine games he has cracked the century mark on the ground. He also had a 44-yard touchdown catch against the Utes, proving he's a double threat.

For the season, Pittman is averaging 114.8 rushing yards a game. He needs only 115 this weekend against the Rainbows to move to No. 2 on the all-time Fresno State list behind NFL back Ron Rivers.

Kimbrough has 218 rushing yards this year and one touchdown. He also has 11 receptions for 177 yards and four scores. It's a one-two punch Hill is counting on this weekend in the Bulldogs' second league game.

He's also banking on the rapid improvement of the Fresno State defense. Led by the return of senior linebacker A.J. Gass, who was out the first month of the season with a bad hand, the Bulldogs set a team record with 12 sacks against Utah. Gass had five.

The defense is still yielding nearly 400 yards a game, but Hill believes he can see improvement on that side of the football as well.

"Our defensive coaches put together a good defensive scheme," Hill said of the Utah win. "That was the first time we used that scheme and it really confused Utah. It's similar to what the Pittsburgh Steelers run. Hopefully, we can use some variations of that plan and be just as effective in the coming weeks."

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