ASSOCIATED PRESS Hawaii's Chad Owens was slowed by SMU's Jamey Harper as Allan Adami came in to help tackle him.
Hawaii sophomore Chad Owens, who had his best game as a receiver in UH's 42-10 victory over Southern Methodist on Saturday, was nominated for Western Athletic Conference offensive player of the week. Owens red
for big night
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comOwens caught 11 passes for 182 yards -- the best numbers for any UH receiver this year.
Senior outside linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa was nominated for defensive player of the week and freshman cornerback Kenny Patton for special teams player.
Tinoisamoa was in on eight tackles, including a 6-yard sack, one of five for Hawaii. He also hurried the quarterback twice.
Tinoisamoa also blocked an SMU field-goal attempt, which Patton returned 74 yards for a touchdown.
Climbing the charts: UH senior receiver Justin Colbert had a quiet game with three catches for 32 yards. But it was enough for him to move past Dane McArthur into seventh place in career receiving yards with 1,813.
Sophomore quarterback Tim Chang vaulted to third in career passing yards with 5,123, passing Raphel Cherry at 5,046.
The Decoy: Last year, running back Thero Mitchell had his best game of his career against SMU, carrying 21 times for 116 yards and two touchdowns. On Saturday, the senior carried twice for 17 yards.
But he contributed to the offense just by his presence. The Mustangs remembered what he did in Dallas, and coach June Jones called several plays early in the game in which Mitchell was a decoy -- including the first one, a 51-yard flea-flicker in which Mitchell took a hand-off and tossed the ball back to Chang, who threw it to Owens for a 51-yard gain.
"We killed them on our run game last year. You definitely could tell they were conscious of trying to stop it. We used it to our advantage," Mitchell said. "Coach Jones had a good game plan to try to take advantage of what we did to them last year. It was effective in helping us get started early on offense."
Mitchell declined to talk more about the flea-flicker or other trick plays.
"Industry secrets. I can't divulge," he said with a laugh.
Sharing the middle: Starting middle linebacker Chris Brown's injured left shoulder was OK after he started and made six tackles. It helped that backup Chad Kalilimoku rotated in from the second series on. Kalilimoku was in on three stops.
"It worked out," Brown said. "I understand why the coaches did it. It should help us against Boise State. It's not only important to keep me healthy, but to get guys like Chad experience, too."
Short yardage: The Warriors got six voting points in the coaches' top 25 poll. ... Third-string running back John West made a bid for more playing time, gaining 59 yards on 10 carries. ... Running back Mike Bass sprained his right knee. His status for Saturday is uncertain.
