Saturday, September 29, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
Warriors finally at home It's a month into football season. Do you know where your home field is?
UH hosts Rice in the first game
of the year at Aloha StadiumBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comWhen Hawaii hosts Rice tonight at Aloha Stadium, the Owls (2-1, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference) will have been there as a team once, compared to never for the Warriors (1-1, 0-1) this year.
The visitors from Houston did a walk-through at the 50,000-seat facility yesterday after practicing near a stable at Turtle Bay Resort all week. Meanwhile, UH stuck to its routine of school-field practices.
The Warriors were supposed to begin their season at Aloha Stadium on Sept. 1 against Iowa State. But after the Cyclones pulled out, the opener became the Sept. 8 game on Maui against Montana.
A bye and a road game later, it's finally time to head to Halawa.
If anything, the long wait gives the Warriors a taste of what teams that don't play eight or nine home games a season go through.
"Now we know it's a real treat to play at home, in our stadium," sophomore quarterback Tim Chang said. "Bringing it back to the stadium is a real high for us. It's going to feel great, and we're hoping to get good fan support."
Hopefully, Chang considers a crowd of 35,000 or so good. The economic and psychological blasé caused by the events of Sept. 11, UH's coming off a 28-20 loss at Nevada, and Rice's lack of drawing power guarantee a less-than-full house, Aloha opener or not.
Hawaii was still a three-point favorite last night, but Rice's option offense against UH's rushing defense could be the game's biggest mismatch. That could be compounded if middle linebacker Chris Brown's sprained left knee -- which means ligament damage -- slows him down or keeps him out of the game.
Rice lost 48-3 at Nebraska 10 days ago, but the Owls' veteran line (five seniors and a junior) pushed the third-ranked Huskers around for 365 yards. In UH's loss at Reno, the Wolf Pack ran for 220 yards against the Warriors.
"We didn't get the job done against the run, actually, the last two games," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "We'd better bone up and do it right."
What: Western Athletic Conference football UH vs. Rice
Records: Rice (2-1, 0-0) vs. Hawaii (1-1, 0-1)
Where: Aloha Stadium
When: Saturday, 6:05 p.m.
Series: Rice leads 2-0
Broadcast: 1420-AM, live; KFVE, 10 p.m.
Quarterback Kyle Herm does more than direct the wishbone option. Coach Ken Hatfield has added lots of wrinkles and the Owls can be dangerous throwing the ball to split end Gavin Boothe, who scored Rice's first touchdown in the 38-13 win over Hawaii last year.
UH will go with a revamped defensive front, with three starters different from the Nevada game. Tackle Mike Iosua comes back from a hyperextended knee, Lance Samuseva makes his first start of the season at tackle and Travis Laboy starts for the first time at end. End Laanui Correa is the only holdover.
"We go two deep and all eight guys will play a lot," Iosua said. "So it doesn't matter who will start. As tackles, we just attack the man in front of us. And you don't worry about what the others are doing."
All week, UH coaches and players worked on assignment football. It's all about concentrating on your own job and trusting your teammates when battling the option.
They were unsuccessful against it last year, when Rice rolled over Hawaii in Houston with 315 yards on the ground.
"There is no key guy," Jones said. "Everyone's a key in stopping the option."
There's no question who the focal point is when UH has the ball. Chang, operating the run-and-shoot, still leads the nation in total offense after two games. But he was intercepted a school-record five times against the Owls last season -- including three by rover Dan Dawson, who is back looking for more tonight.
"Rice is a disciplined team all around," Chang said. "They're well-coached, they won't make many mistakes. You have to do the little things right against them; the right techniques and the basics will add up."
Wide receiver Justin Colbert got his collarbone banged up against Nevada last week, but he will likely play tonight.
"You have to take what they give you and don't force the ball deep. If you try to force something, more often than not the play is not going to turn out positive," Colbert said. "We definitely learned from the experience of last year. This is a game we have to have. It's a conference game at home, and it doesn't get much better for us."
Rice beat Houston 21-14 and Duke 15-13 before falling to Nebraska.
"We tried to build on the success of the first two games, but it's hard to tell if we did because Nebraska was so dominant at some positions," Hatfield said. "But we didn't quit and we were trying to make plays all the way into the fourth quarter."
Aloha Stadium Openers
Date Opponent Score Att. Sept. 9, 2000 Portland State L, 45-20 50,000 Sept. 4, 1999 USC L, 62-7 50,000 Sept. 3, 1998 Arizona L, 27-6 38,745 Aug. 30, 1997 Minnesota W, 17-3 35,248 Aug. 31, 1996 Boston College L, 24-21 37,402
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
