EL PASO, Texas >> Hawaii junior safety Hyrum Peters was named Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week today. Peters wins
WAC honorsBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comPeters was in on a game-high 13 tackles and made two interceptions to lead UH to a 31-6 victory over Texas-El Paso on Saturday.
The Kahuku alumnus leads the Warriors with 29 tackles and three interceptions.
UH's offensive nominee was quarterback Shawn Withy-Allen, who passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another.
Kilinahe Noa was nominated for the special teams award after catching a pass from Chad Kapanui on a fake punt and turning it into a 70-yard gain to set up a Hawaii touchdown.
Injury report: After each of its first two games, UH lost a key player for probably the entire season; defensive tackle Lui Fuga (broken ankle) in the opener against Eastern Illinois, and special teams standout Jonathan Kauka (strained knee) in the Brigham Young game.
The toll wasn't quite as ominous after the UTEP game, but another strong player could miss some time.
Starting cornerback Abraham Elimimian left Saturday's game with a pulled right hamstring. He is listed as day-to-day. It's impossible to tell if he will miss any games because of the nature of hamstring injuries.
Starting middle linebacker Chris Brown suffered a shoulder injury, but only missed a few downs.
"He should be OK," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "He's been playing through that for a year and a half."
The Warriors expect safety Leonard Peters to be available Saturday after missing the first three games with injuries to his spleen and a kidney.
New starters: Safety David Gilmore and defensive end/ tackle Houston Ala made their first starts of the season (and first career start for Gilmore) on Saturday.
Gilmore responded with five tackles, while Ala made four stops, including a sack.
Mustangs next: The Warriors take on another ground-pounding team Saturday, as Southern Methodist (0-4) comes to Aloha Stadium.
Running back Keylon Kincade went into Saturday's game at Oklahoma State as the WAC's leading rusher. He carried 20 times for 78 yards in SMU's 52-16 loss and now averages 116.5 yards per game.
Coach Phil Bennett has said he might open up his offense, but Jones isn't counting on it.
"He's a defensive head coach and they tend to like to run the ball," the UH coach said of the former Kansas State defensive coordinator.
No QB shuffle: Jones reiterated yesterday that sophomore Tim Chang is still the starting quarterback. Withy-Allen will continue to play in certain situations, though.
"Just like what we had set up with Jason (Whieldon)," Jones said.
Whieldon was expected to return to the team yesterday, but Jones said that is a "rumor," and that he hadn't seen or heard from Whieldon by midafternoon yesterday.
'Bama back done: Alabama senior tailback Ahmaad Galloway's is out for the season after tearing ligaments in his left knee during Saturday night's 20-7 win over Southern Mississippi.
Galloway led the Tide in rushing the past two seasons. He ran for 881 yards last season. This year he had a team-best 257 yards this year. Hawaii hosts Alabama on Nov. 30.