WARRIOR FOOTBALL
UH hasn’t cornered full-time corners
Glanville and Miano plan to play many at the position
Jerry Glanville and Rich Miano know who will start at cornerback for Hawaii when it plays UNLV tomorrow at Aloha Stadium.
But C.J. Hawthorne and A.J. Martinez probably won't play the entire game.
"We'll play a few corners this game, more than three or four," UH defensive coordinator Glanville said after yesterday morning's practice.
Hawthorne and Martinez both started against Alabama in the season-opening game Sept. 2. Neither locked down a permanent starting spot in their debuts as UH cornerbacks, but neither did anything to lose the jobs, either.
Martinez broke up two passes, including a potential touchdown, and he and Hawthorne were each in on one tackle. Kenny Patton played most of the second half in place of Hawthorne and posted four solo tackles and an assist.
The Crimson Tide, with sophomore J.P. Wilson making his first start at quarterback, completed 16 of 29 passes for 253 yards. Much of that came in the second half of UH's 25-17 loss when the Warriors shut down the Alabama rushing attack.
Defensive backs coach Miano said Gerard Lewis, Myron Newberry and Ryan Keomaka performed well enough in practice this week to play tomorrow.
"We don't know who's going to get the majority of the reps," Miano said. "We'd like to get them all in there and see who plays better."
Glanville said Keenan Jones will start the game on special teams. The highly regarded JUCO transfer could get into the game as a corner, too.
Step up to the mic: Jim Donovan and Larry Goeas are candidates to replace Doug Vaioleti as one of Jim Leahey's analysts on the KFVE broadcast crew this season.
It will be two in the booth tomorrow as Russell Yamanoha (who was on the pay-per-view team at Alabama) joins Leahey as color analyst for a second season.
Vaioleti steps down after three seasons to devote more time to his house-building business.
Goeas was Leahey's partner from 1997 through 2000.
Like Vaioleti and Goeas, Donovan is a former Rainbows lineman. He was also UH associate athletic director for 10 years.
Donovan is executive director of the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. He and Leahey both said that could preclude him from analyzing UH football on the air.
One man's reaction: In his "Life in the NFL" column in yesterday's Star-Bulletin, Travis LaBoy admitted he doesn't know as much about coaching as Glanville and Warriors head coach June Jones. But the former UH star defensive end and current Tennessee Titan made it clear he's not enamored with UH's 3-4 base defense, at least in regard to how ends Melila Purcell and Ikaika Alama-Francis are used in it.
"If I had two big-time defensive end prospects as my bookends, I would let them get out there and rush the passer. ... Especially since those two guys are two of the better players on the team, limiting their game is like tying a race horse to a snow plow. I would let them get out wide and play, make plays, and create havoc ... ," LaBoy wrote.
When told of LaBoy's opinion, the steam nearly lifted the cowboy hat off Glanville's head.
"I don't know who Travis LaBoy is, but he's totally incorrect and totally wrong," Glanville said. "Our ends played their best game last week. And whoever Travis LaBoy is, he doesn't have a clue what we're doing. He needs to go get a playbook and start reading it."
Against Alabama, Alama-Francis was in on six tackles and Purcell three, including one for a loss. Neither got a sack, but Alama-Francis was credited with two quarterback hurries and Purcell with one.
(Un)crowded house: When asked his thoughts on the possibility of tomorrow's attendance being the lowest for a home game there in decades, Jones said he will look at Aloha Stadium as half full rather than half empty.
"The fans that will be there are the best fans in the world," he said.
He didn't care to speculate if winning will mean more fans as the season goes on.
"We will just play each game as it comes, one at a time," Jones said.
A stadium spokesman said Wednesday that 21,500 tickets had been distributed.
Yesterday afternoon, UH associate athletic director John McNamara said the number was up to 26,160.
Short yardage: Inside linebacker Solomon Elimimian attended practice yesterday, but his sprained knee prevented him from participating. Jones said Wednesday he will not play tomorrow. ... Around 30 student trainers from Sendai College in Japan observed practice yesterday. ... Manoa chancellor Denise Konan watched on Wednesday.