Special teams

Dan Robinson sat on the end of the bench in front of his locker, a huddle of quarterbacks gathered around him like a Boy Scout troop at a camp fire.

The senior signal caller hadn't moved from that spot since Hawaii head coach June Jones had given an impassioned speech about not giving up.

An hour later, the only people still around were Robinson, freshman Mike Harrison and fellow quarterbacks Josh Skinner and Shawn Withy-Allen. Like in most huddles, Robinson was in command.

"I just have to put this game behind me and get ready for Eastern Illinois," Robinson said of his less-than-impressive performance in Hawaii's 62-7 season-opening loss. "We have to take what we can from this. And believe me, there's a lot we still have to learn about this offense."

You won't get any argument from Jones. He can't remember the last time an offense of his was shut down as it was by the Trojans Saturday night.

"Dan got rattled early on and never really settled in there," Jones said. "It's something we'll have to work on this week to get everybody on the same page. Dan can play better than he did."

Robinson certainly hopes so. He completed only 16 of 39 passes for 149 yards. He also tossed one interception and lost a fumble that was returned 46 yards for a touchdown by Trojans linebacker Markus Steele.

"We're going to get better," said Robinson, who was sacked four times and knocked around on several passing plays. "They were good on defense. They had great team speed. I had some guys open, but I missed them."

Ulbrich the man

Middle linebacker Jeff Ulbrich deserved a game ball, even in the 55-point defeat.

The senior had 17 tackles, including one for a loss. He ran from sideline to sideline with reckless abandon, catching the eye of every coach in the stadium.

"That guy was all over the field," said USC head coach Paul Hackett. "We had a hard time blocking him straight on or on toss plays."

UH defensive coordinator Greg McMackin was equally pleased.

"You watch the tape and he's everywhere making plays," McMackin said. "Now, if we can just get the other guys around him to play as well as he did."

Shrout kicks better

His best kick occurred seconds after he was roughed, so it was called back. But all in all, senior punter Chad Shrout hit the ball better than a year ago.

The Lancaster, Calif., product had six punts for a 42.5-yard average. He also had a long of 49 yards. Last year, Shrout's overall average dipped nearly 8 yards from the season before.

"Chad got off some good kicks and we covered them fairly well," UH secondary coach Dennis McKnight said.

Injury report

Defensive end Joe Correia broke his hand Saturday and will be out for possibly two weeks. McMackin said yesterday he hoped Correia could play this Saturday with a soft cast, but the training staff wasn't ready to commit to that idea yet.

---

By Paul Arnett