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UH FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

Owls of October
a concern for
defensive coach Lempa

The University of Hawaii defense spent an hour of Wednesday's practice working on the option game of Rice University. Granted, the Warriors don't play the Owls until the final weekend in October, but defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said it's never too early to prepare for an opponent.

"After today, we're going to start concentrating our efforts on what Portland State runs," Lempa said. "So, I wanted to get one last workout in so our guys know what defense we plan to use against it."

Portland State runs a variety of formations, but the option isn't one of them. The Division I-AA Vikings prefer to play a little more wide open than the old wishbone, something not lost on Hawaii head football coach June Jones.

"They like to do a little bit of everything, which will help us as the season goes along," Jones said. "They run two-back formations, one back, one tight end and three-wide, four-wide and even five-wide on obvious passing downs.

"This should help our defense because we're going to see some of the things Portland State likes to run once we get into the WAC. I feel like our defense is coming along pretty well. I know we're going to be improved over there this season."

Lempa has several starters out nursing a variety of injuries, but still feels like his unit is ahead of last year's pace. The Warriors have an established front seven and an improved secondary. It's just a matter of keeping guys on the field.

"We're down a little bit right now, but that does give some of our younger players a chance to see some real practice time," Lempa said. "Portland State is wide open. They do a little bit of everything, which is good because we want to face as many different looks as we can."

Injury update

Defensive lineman Doug Sims returned to practice yesterday after being sidelined with a knee injury that might be related to his overall weight.

Jones was disappointed Sims came in so heavy. He had hoped the senior tackle would have shed a few pounds over the summer, but such was not the case.

Sims and wideout Jamal Garland (ankle) were the only walking wounded players to return to practice last night. Free safety Nate Jackson (foot), wideouts Mark Tate (ankle) and Craig Stutzmann (ankle), defensive tackle Lui Fuga (shoulder), safety Tavis Campbell (shoulder) and defensive end Joe Correia (ankle) remain sidelined.

Jones is hopeful most of those players will be back in the lineup by next week.

Star-Bulletin
Wideout Ashley Lelie was awarded a
scholarship by UH head coach June Jones.

Scholarships awarded

Jackson and wideout Ashley Lelie were recently awarded scholarships by Jones.

Both players walked on to the program during former head coach Fred vonAppen's days with the program. Jackson has become one of the better safeties in the league, while Jones believes Lelie could become one of the top receivers he has ever coached.

"Both of those guys are very deserving of being on scholarship," Jones said. "Nate has become an excellent safety and Ashley is our best wideout who I believe will be playing on Sunday some day."

No scrimmage

Hawaii may be the only Division I program in America not to have a full-blown scrimmage in fall camp. Not that Jones is losing any sleep over it. Injuries and lack of depth in the offensive line led him to shelve the idea of knocking heads.

"We already have a pretty good idea of what our guys can do," Jones said. "We already have some bumps and bruises. We don't want to do anything that would cause us to lose anybody for the season."

Hawaii practiced at Aloha Stadium last night and returned to practice on the grass fields this morning. Both workouts will follow a normal routine.

"The only thing we'll start to do is narrow our focus to Portland State," Jones said. "We want to start working on our game plan and getting everyone on the same page. We still have a ways to go, but at least we're getting there."

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By Paul Arnett