[UH FOOTBALL]
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The players looked forward to it, to play in front of a crowd after a long month of spring practice. Warriors survive spring camp
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comBut the Hawaii coaches worried from Friday.
"We just have to get through one more day," defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said.
"Hopefully we'll come out of there OK," head coach June Jones said.
"We get nervous every time we come out here, even for practice," defensive backs coach Rich Miano added.
They can all exhale now, as the Warriors made it through their spring scrimmage on the artificial surface of Cooke Field with no new injuries.
"That's probably the most important thing," Jones said.
Running back Mike Bass, linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa, wide receiver Frank Rivers, defensive back Cameron Hollingsworth, defensive end Travis Laboy, quarterback Tim Chang and kicker Justin Ayat sat out with mostly minor injuries. Chang expects to start throwing again in about two weeks. The others are all expected to be ready to play by fall camp.
Catching on: Receivers coach Ron Lee said he was encouraged by what he saw last night. Although he will be reminded incessantly this week that Ashley Lelie is in the NFL Draft and not his lineup in the fall, Lee said UH might have more deep threats in 2002 than last year.
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Lee said pure speed isn't the only factor."Chad Owens shows that. Chad's not a 4.3 (in the 40). It really looks to me like we have better breakaway threats this season than we had last season," Lee said. "I think we've got five or six guys in the receiving corps that can take it to the house."
Owens, the sophomore slotback who was also a freshman All-American at kick returner, caught three passes for 45 yards last night.
Justin Colbert, Neal Gossett, Kanale George, Britton Komine, Nate Ilaoa, Clifton Herbert, Bryant Stevens, Mike Akiu and Mark Tate caught passes last night.
So did Omar Bennett, who is still learning the routes but has done well the last few practices and caught two passes for 27 yards in the scrimmage. The talented transfer from California and Laney (Calif.) Community College went home to Los Angeles last fall to get his academic house in order.
"It feels good that they're giving me a chance to play after leaving last semester. Hopefully I'll prove they made the right decision," said Bennett, who worked in a United Parcel Service warehouse when he wasn't at school. "It helped me to find out my situation here was serious. I needed to come back and be ready to play when I came back in the spring semester. I learned it was important to have the scholarship and to earn the scholarship."
Wild, wild West: Running back John West has been wowing the staff and his new teammates all spring. Now some of the fans have seen him in action.
"I was definitely excited. I really couldn't wait to show the crowd what I'm about," West said.
"We've just got to find a way to get him on the field," running backs coach Wes Suan said. "He's still learning the protection schemes. It's just a matter of time before we can use him as an all-purpose back."
Quarterback Shawn Withy-Allen is glad to be on the same side as West now.
"He knocked us out of the playoffs my senior year in high school, so I've known about him for a while," Withy-Allen said. "He's come out here and dazzled everybody."
Short yardage: Defensive tackle Hiram Travis came up with the only turnover of the scrimmage, recovering a Withy-Allen fumble. ... Redshirt freshman Isaiah Alameda started at linebacker. ... The Warriors expect to cut 25 to 30 players to make room for new arrivals in the fall. Some of the cut players will be invited back after fall camp. ... Fall camp begins with two-a-days starting on Aug. 10. New players report on Aug. 5 and veterans are expected to show Aug. 8. The season starts Aug. 31 against Eastern Illinois at Aloha Stadium.
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