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WARRIORS NOTEBOOK

Weaver in running
for award

Avion Weaver recently learned that he is one of the nation's running backs selected to compete for the Doak Walker Award.

Last year's choice was Wisconsin tailback Ron Dayne, who also went on to win the Heisman Trophy. Weaver said after yesterday's practice that he was pleased to be nominated out of the Western Athletic Conference and is hopeful to be one of the eight finalists selected in November.

"I am very excited about it," said Weaver, who led the team in rushing last year with 645 yards and four touchdowns. "It's kind of nice being picked, especially from this offense, which is known more for passing than for running.

"I feel to be nominated is a huge accomplishment. Even though I only played one half of each game last year, I still got noticed. Now, I have to take my game to a higher level, and live up to that selection. I feel good about it."

So does UH head coach June Jones, who believes the national publicity helps the program gain recognition.

"I'm sure Avion being named the MVP of the Oahu Bowl didn't hurt him any," Jones said. "I've said all along that you can run the football in the run-and-shoot. Avion did a good job of that last year."

Weaver and Afatia Thompson likely will share playing time as they did a year ago. Thompson is better at pass blocking, but Weaver said he worked hard on it last spring.

"I think one back can rush for 1,000 yards in this offense," Weaver said. "I'd like to do that. But if the coaches want to split time like last year, I'm prepared for that. I just want to help this team win."

Making a change

Freshman quarterback Chad Kapanui and junior wideout Sean Butts switched sides during yesterday's first fall camp workout.

Kapanui, who didn't learn until Friday that he was academically eligible, missed the summer workouts because of baseball and felt he could contribute quicker on the defensive side.

"He's quite an athlete who played linebacker in high school," defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said. "He's got good size and quickness. We're happy to have him."

This doesn't mean Kapanui will never take a snap from center. Jones will be willing to work him into the rotation next spring if Kapanui decides to make the switch. He also worked on deep snaps to the punters yesterday morning, prompting praise from special teams coach Dennis McKnight.

"We might have found ourselves a long-snapper," McKnight bellowed during the workout.

As for Butts, Lempa wanted even more speed at safety and may have found it in the lanky junior. The former wideout picked off a pass yesterday and ran it back for a touchdown.

"I played safety in high school," Butts said. "I like to hit people and I think I did a good enough job on special teams last year for the coaches to notice."

Quite true.

"He did such a good job coming down covering people, we wanted to give him a shot on our side of the ball," Lempa said.

Jones said one reason for the switch was the depth at wideout.

"We're pretty loaded at receiver," Jones said. "So, we decided to take a look at him over there (at safety). We talked to him about it and he wanted to give it a try."

Espinoza gone

Former outside linebacker Bo Espinoza transferred to Montana State, Jones confirmed yesterday after practice.

"About three weeks ago he let us know he was leaving," Jones said. "It was too difficult for him to pay his way and we just didn't have a scholarship available for him."

Espinoza was best known for being called illegally down field on a fake punt at Texas-El Paso in 1998. Hawaii appeared to have run it perfectly, but an official flagged Espinoza, nullifying the play.

The junior from Oxnard, Calif., had eight tackles last year and 14 for his career.

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By Paul Arnett, Star-Bulletin