Offensive line shuffled again

It probably took longer than University of Hawaii head coach Fred vonAppen might have liked, but he finally found his five best offensive linemen.

The problem during the recent bye week was trying to slip them into the proper slot in time for this Saturday's Western Athletic Conference opener at the University of Utah.

VonAppen and offensive coordinator Don Lindsey shuffled the deck after the 27-6 loss to Arizona. The hand they drew has junior college transfer Kynan Forney at quick tackle, Andy Phillips at quick guard, Chris Smith at center, Dustin Owen at strong guard and Kaulana Noa at strong tackle.

"We're trying to get our best 11 on the field," Lindsey said. "And right now, those would be our best linemen. Our problem was three of those (Owen, Phillips and Forney) were at guard.

"So we moved Forney to tackle in place of Jose Martinez, so we could get our strongest guys up front. So there's another week where we're having to make changes and it hurts your continuity."

VonAppen concurred with his coordinator, but after Hawaii's ineffective performance against Arizona, some changes were in order.

"I'm just trying to find five guys who will block somebody's ass," vonAppen said. "And those were the five guys who seemed to perform the best.

"Red (Phillips) wasn't in the mix after his heart deal, so we're getting him back out there. We can't let him sit on the bench. We're just trying to dial it in.

"Having the bye week helped some, but we weren't very pleased with any aspect of our football team to be honest with you. So we've got to keep fine-tuning until we get it right."

Noa and Phillips believe this is the winning combination.

"I don't mind making the switch to quick guard if it helps us win," said Phillips, who feels fine since undergoing tests for an irregular heartbeat. "To me, these are the five best guys."

KICKING IN AIR: VonAppen has a couple of more practices before deciding if Chad Shrout will handle all the kicking duties for the Rainbows this weekend.

"If we were packing up and going today, Chad would be the guy," vonAppen said after yesterday's practice. "But we've still got a couple of more practices to determine that."

Shrout, Eric Hannum and backup linebacker Jeff Ulbrich have been locked in a field-goal and PAT battle after nearly every practice during the bye week.

Shrout has the strongest leg, but his accuracy is up in the air. Hannum has the experience, but his missed PAT and field goal in the Arizona loss bothered vonAppen.

"We have to execute better on special teams," vonAppen said. "If Chad became our guy, it would allow us to go on the road and use Jeff as our emergency kicker. It frees up another spot for our travel roster."

Hannum seemed surprised by the development. He plans to keep his head down and make his kicks in the next two workouts.

INJURY UPDATE: Ulbrich will have his broken right hand put in a soft cast Saturday before the game with Utah. There was talk he would be out for two weeks, but that changed on Friday.

"I'm sure it's going to hurt when the football hits my hand or I'm making a tackle, but I'm up for it," Ulbrich said. "I'm sure the trainers can take care of me."

Ulbrich will take medication to control the pain.

Fellow inside linebacker Stephen Gonzales will have his eight stitches removed from his right hand next week. He will probably have it bandaged. The Dick Butkus Award nominee also will wear a glove to protect it.

Starting defensive nose tackle Tony Tuioti is bothered by a bad back. Trainers hope he can be at 85 percent by kickoff. The only two players on the depth chart not making the trip are defensive backs Celnell Bobbitt (leg) and Damien Arafiles (ankle).

SCOUTING LIANA: Some people might view quarterback Bronson Liana's shift to the scout team as a demotion, but in Tom Williams' mind, nothing could be further from the truth.

The defensive coordinator needed someone to simulate Utah quarterback Darnell Arceneaux in practice. And Liana is certainly capable of doing that.

"You can't know how valuable that will be for us," Williams said. "Bronson can scramble around back there and throw on the run just like Arceneaux does.

"He's giving our top two units an opportunity to see what it's going to be like to play against Arceneaux. He's dangerous, especially when he's on the run."

Lindsey said it was possible Liana would be on the travel roster this week, but it wouldn't be as a quarterback.

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By Paul Arnett