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Full-Court Press
THE officials in Saturday night's game blamed University of Hawaii head coach June Jones for a fan who charged onto the field after the University of Tulsa secured the league game with a controversial touchdown in the north end zone. Jones gets blamed
for fan’s on-field
disturbanceJones charged down the Aloha Stadium sidelines to confront officials after they ruled a 10-yard touchdown pass from Josh Blankenship to Donald Shoals was good.
Television replays clearly showed that Blankenship didn't get the play off before the 25-second clock expired. It was then inconclusive that Shoals got his feet in bounds before gaining control of the pass.
Jones -- who also felt the Warriors got the raw end of a controversial call that turned the game around in last week's loss at Texas-El Paso -- argued vehemently with any official he could find.
Shortly thereafter, a fan charged onto the field and had to be restrained by police. Several policeman had beer thrown on them from fans in the stands.
When Jones saw this, he immediately went to that area and asked fans to stop throwing things onto the field. But officials told WAC liaison Joe Ornellas after the game that they blamed Jones for the incident.
Jones had no comment after Hawaii's 24-14 loss. But he was clearly upset with the officials. Hawaii also had an apparent touchdown called back earlier in the fourth quarter because of a penalty on offensive lineman Kynan Forney.
"I take blame for that," offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh said of the personal foul for the block to the head. "We teach them to punch, then put their hands on the pads. Kynan's block went a little too high."
Three starters sidelined
Wide receiver Craig Stutzmann, safety Dee Miller and defensive end Joe Correia didn't play because of injuries.Stutzmann's hamstring was tight prior to the game, so the coaches told him to sit this one out. It cleared the way for Gerald Welch to play slotback for the first time this season. Miller's hamstring was also tight. Correia was sidelined with a bruised foot. All three could be back for this Saturday's game at Texas Christian.
Tulsa wives in dugout
After watching the incident involving the drunken fan, Tulsa head coach Keith Burns told the coaches' wives to leave their seats and sit in the dugout in the south end zone."It was just a precautionary thing," Burns said. "We didn't want anything to happen. Nobody threatened anyone. I just didn't want to take any chances."
The wives told reporters they were afraid for their lives. They said it got a little scary for them in the fourth quarter and decided to seek shelter on the field.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.