Hawaii football coach June Jones made it official yesterday after practice. Leading rusher Mike Bass and emerging receiver Nate Ilaoa are out with injuries for tomorrow's homecoming game against Nevada. Warriors without
UH must stop Burleson
Bass, IlaoaBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com"He won't play this week," Jones said of Bass. "And Nate's out. Everybody else should be OK to play."
Bass tore the PCL in his right knee two weeks ago against Southern Methodist, and Ilaoa suffered a right shoulder subluxation in last week's game at Boise State.
Defensive back Kenny Patton was sidelined yesterday with a staph infection from a turf burn, Jones said. Patton and Jones said he'd be ready to play tomorrow.
Starting cornerback Abraham Elimimian is expected back from the right hamstring pull that kept him out of the past two games. But Patton, his replacement, is expected to see lots of action tomorrow in five and six defensive back sets.
Running backs Thero Mitchell, John West and Michael Brewster will likely see playing time.
Clifton Herbert, who started the first three games, replaces Ilaoa.
More PT for JC?: Wide receiver Jeremiah Cockheran is gradually working himself into a prominent role. Cockheran has only four catches in the four games he's played, but his steady improvement means he will probably continue to get more time on the field.
"He got about 35 plays last week," receivers coach Ron Lee said. "He'll play. He's getting better and better each week."
The 6-foot, 193-pound Cockheran is the tallest UH player to have caught a pass this season (not including linebacker Kilinahe Noa, who is also 6 feet and made a reception on a fake punt).
That's special: After getting a kick blocked for the second game in a row, and being called out by Jones, who said they were outhustled, UH's special teams players concentrated on getting better throughout the week.
"We're trying to get as much practice as possible," said Sean Butts, who is on several special teams. "We had a couple mistakes. A couple people, including myself, have to come back and execute."
Marked man: Daniel Inferrera has tried to do his best Nate Burleson impersonation this week. The freshman receiver was chosen to represent Nevada's star player for the scout team.
"I'm trying my best to show (the UH defense) a good picture. The coaches want me to step it up and help the defense out. This guy's one of the best receivers in the WAC. I'm just trying to mimic what he does in his routes," Inferrera said.
"He does a lot of 5-yard ins, from trips on the right side. I guess they like him doing slants, sometimes break to the corners. Mostly ins and corners. He has some reverses off the motion. I think our defense will stop him. (Safety Hyrum Peters is) always right up there on me."
Back in black: Jones said the Warriors will wear their black uniforms tomorrow.
The last time they donned the dark unis, UH beat Brigham Young 72-45 to finish the season last year.
Short yardage: Hawaii has scored more than 30 points in its last eight games. ... UH has a six-game home winning streak. ... Nevada is 0-2 away from home this season. ... Nevada was scheduled to arrive last night and planned to have a closed practice at Aloha Stadium today.
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