Hawaii has allowed two sacks in three games. That sounds pretty good to most people, but Warriors offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh isn't overjoyed with his unit's play as UH (2-1, 1-0 WAC) prepares for Southern Methodist (0-4, 0-0) tomorrow at Aloha Stadium. Offensive line
Division II Notebook
expects moreBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com"To the average person who watches the game, when you have one sack or no sacks everybody thinks you played good," Cavanaugh said. "To me, we've got to do a better job of executing our technique and finishing blocks. Mentally there's not a lot of missed assignments, but in our run game we're still missing some things. A lot of it comes down to leverage, being pad-under-pad and an attitude of finishing the block."
The Warriors average 140.3 yards rushing per game, fifth in the conference. Right guard Vince Manuwai said it would be much more if the line played better. He also takes personal blame for missing a block that would have cut loose Chad Owens for a long gain on a screen pass in last week's 31-6 victory at Texas-El Paso.
"We just haven't performed up to our standards," the senior from Farrington said. "I hit myself in the head when I think of that screen to Chad."
Cavanaugh said he doesn't plan any changes ... "yet" ... to the starting five of left tackle Wayne Hunter, left guard Shayne Kajioka, center Lui Fuata, Manuwai and right tackle Uriah Moenoa.
"I just think we're playing a little bit lazy up front now," Cavanaugh said. "But we had a really good week of practice."
Brown out?: No one wants to bet against linebacker Chris Brown playing tomorrow with his recurring left shoulder injury; his ability to play with pain is well-documented. But the smart thing might be for him to rest with the voyage to Boise State set for next week.
Chad Kalilimoku will start if Brown sits, and Kenny Patton replaces Abraham Elimimian (hamstring) at cornerback.
Is coach June Jones worried?
"Not really. I've got confidence in the guys behind them," he said. "At the start of the season we had some depth. We'll need the experience as we get down the road."
Leonard Peters (spleen, kidney) practiced this week, and could see playing time at safety.
Kickin' it: Justin Ayat has mixed feelings about last year's game at SMU. He, like the rest of the Warriors, was overjoyed with UH's 38-31 overtime victory, the first of five wins in a row.
"But that was probably my worst game," Ayat said.
It's hard to disagree. He made one of five field-goal attempts. Ayat's misses included a 47-yarder with 17 seconds left that probably would've given the Warriors the victory in regulation.
Ayat finished the season strong, though, and was named a freshman All-American by Football News.
The Kamehameha graduate is off to a good start this fall, making four of his five field goals and all 14 extra points.
Ayat made five of six in practice yesterday, including two from 50 yards.
"I feel good about it. It's important knowing I'm a contributing part of the team, helping out," Ayat said. "I think my kickoffs are a lot better. I'm keeping them inbounds and getting them deep. I was disappointed I missed the one field goal at BYU (in a 35-32 loss)."
QB or not QB: Jones is sticking with Tim Chang as UH's starting quarterback. But he didn't say how long he will stay with him once the game begins tomorrow. There's no telling how much action backups Shawn Withy-Allen and Jason Whieldon might see.
"I'm pretty sure Shawn's gonna get in there and get some reps. Whether Jason gets in or not this week, we're not sure yet," quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison said. "We'll see how the game goes. We'll wait until Saturday night for that.
"I think Shawn brings a dimension we haven't had too much in the past. He can throw the ball down the field, but he can run that quarterback draw, too -- things that make defenses really wary of what his intentions are."
Morrison agreed that makes SMU coach Phil Bennett's job a difficult one.
"It's called downhill coaching. We're downhill, they're uphill because they have to spend more time preparing for different kinds of stuff. It's a good thing and we're also happy for Shawn as a person because he's persevered for so long."
Washington out for 2003: UH athletic director Herman Frazier returned Wednesday from NCAA and WAC meetings in Dallas, where he worked on booking future football opponents.
He had discussions with Michigan, Michigan State, Wyoming and Navy as future football opponents, and hopes to have a 2003 replacement for Virginia lined up over the next "10 days to two weeks."
Frazier hoped to get Washington to come to Hawaii next season, but the Huskies wanted to host the Warriors. Frazier said he declined because UH already has nonconference road games at USC and UNLV next fall and he feels UH needs another home game.
Short yardage: The Pay-Per-View pregame show, "Countdown to Kickoff," hosted by Howard Dashefsky and Russell Shimooka, is also available on OC16 without purchasing the game itself. It starts at 5:30 p.m.
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It seems the only way to beat the Hawaii Pacific men's cross country team this year is if it takes a wrong turn. HPU men blaze their own
trails at Big Wave meetBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comEven then, you have to hustle to the finish line.
Christian Madsen came in second in the University of Hawaii Big Wave Invitational at Kualoa Ranch in Kaaawa on Saturday, the first time he has lost a race in Hawaii since Sept. 29 of last year.
And the reasons he lost both races are eerily similar: He was way out in front and made a wrong turn.
At least this year he was able to overcome his lapse, turning around with teammate Abdeslam Naji and racing back through the field to take second place just six seconds behind winner Jon Rankin of UCLA. Naji, who was leading the race when the pair went off the beaten path, finished 10th.
"There are no excuses," coach Vien Schwinn said. "There was no lead vehicle, but we got the map and went over the course."
Schwinn estimates that the gaffe cost her two top runners 250 meters and that they would have taken the top two spots easily judging by their paces.
Schwinn could have protested the race, but decided not to because there will be other races and she hopes it will be a learning experience.
Last year's mistake happened at Hawaii Pacific's own tournament, so she knows full well how hard it can be to mark a trail.
Nina Christensen didn't miss any turns and beat Hawaii's Victoria Chang by three seconds, but her teammates dashed her dream of beating the Wahine when Jennifer Crumley, Teryn Bentley and Alethe West all slipped ahead of HPU's fourth runner to defeat the Sea Warriors 117-88.
Hawaii's Division II programs will get their next chance to catch HPU tomorrow at the Brigham Young-Hawaii Invitational in Laie.
The women might have their best chance yet, as Christensen won't run because of pneumonia. Whether she will recover in time for the next meet is uncertain.
Seasiders on their way up: The Brigham Young-Hawaii water polo team moved up a spot in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association national poll this week, jumping over UC-Davis from 19th to 18th.
The Seasiders (3-4) moved up because they beat Chaminade last Friday. Chaminade, which beat UC-Davis earlier this season, remained at No. 20.
The Seasiders will play an exhibition against the Hawaiian masters tomorrow, while the Silverswords (7-1) are off until Oct. 19, when they visit BYUH and try to even their series.
Hilo graduates all student-athletes: Hawaii-Hilo had a perfect graduation rate among freshmen student-athletes entering school in 1995, a USA Today report said yesterday.
The Vulcans also had the largest percentage point difference (plus 70) between graduation rates of student-athletes and regular students. That means 30 percent of regular students didn't graduate from Hilo.
Chaminade was also among the top 10 in both lists, graduating 88 percent and having a 50-point difference between athletes and non-athletes.
Chaminade topped the third list, getting a 58 percent improvement from the previous class of freshmen, while Hilo was second with a 57 percent improvement.