Chang to miss
season openerUH's star QB was an ineligible
particpant in the Dec. 25 Hawaii
Bowl under the '6 credit' rule
Hawaii quarterback Timmy Chang will sit out the Warriors' season opener against Appalachian State due to a violation of the Western Athletic Conference's six-credit rule, the school announced last night.
Chang played in the Hawaii Bowl last Christmas, and according to the UH release, was later found to be ineligible based on the WAC rule.
The school reported the violation to the NCAA, which ruled that Chang would be reinstated after sitting out the first game of this season.
Hawaii coach June Jones said he was informed of the ruling yesterday afternoon and later informed Chang and the team.
"He was very disappointed, as you can imagine, but he'll be better for it, he'll be tougher," Jones said.
"I'm sure it was out of the blue (for the team), but a lot of things like that happen over the course of a football season and you have to learn to deal with it."
Chang could not be reached for comment.
Jones said senior Jason Whieldon is now slated to start at quarterback against Appalachian State on Aug. 30 at Aloha Stadium, with sophomore Jeff Rhode as his backup. Chang would be eligible to return for the Warriors' game at Southern California on Sept. 13.
Jones said the ruling doesn't affect any of the other players.
"This is an unfortunate situation for Timmy and our football program," UH associate athletic director Tom Sadler said in the release. "As a member institution, we are obligated to comply with the WAC and NCAA rules, but it was clearly impossible for us to do so for purely technical reasons. We have been working with all parties involved to rectify the situation and prevent this from happening in the future."
The WAC rule requires student-athletes to be certified to have passed at least six units in the completed semester in order to compete in postseason events.
Hawaii officials said they did not have time to comply with the rule because last year's fall semester ended on Dec. 20 and grades were not available when the game was played five days later.
According to yesterday's release, when grades were submitted on Dec. 28 Chang was found to be ineligible for the bowl game. The school then reported the violation to the WAC and NCAA.
"Even though it's a conference rule, the penalties are enforced by the NCAA," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said in a telephone interview from San Jose, Calif.
After UH submitted its report to the WAC, the school was reprimanded by the league and fined $5,000 for not complying with the rule.
Fresno State and Boise State, which played in bowl games, did comply, but their semesters ended before UH's. Fresno State said it held seven players, including five starters, out of the Silicon Valley Classic because of the rule.
The WAC Council, a group of athletic directors, faculty representatives and senior women's administrators, later recommended that the rule be rescinded. However, the rule was upheld by the WAC presidents at the conference's board of directors meeting in June and will be in place this season.
"We've been informed that all of our member institutions will be able to apply the rule and administer the rule," Benson said.
Benson said the conference was informed in January that an ineligible player may have participated in the bowl game.
"The conference was aware that there was one student-athlete who did not pass six credits prior to participating in the 2002 Hawaii Bowl," Benson said.
"It's an institutional obligation and the University of Hawaii processed it accordingly."
Chang started the Hawaii Bowl against Tulane and completed 14 of 21 passes for 124 yards in UH's 36-28 loss to the Green Wave. He left the game after injuring the thumb on his throwing hand in the first half.
Chang suited up for yesterday morning's practice, but sat out of the team drills. Jones said Chang's sitting out was not related to the ruling.
"I didn't know about it," he said.
UH is touting Chang, the school's career passing leader, as a Heisman Trophy candidate this season. He enters his junior year having completed 677 passes for 8,615 yards and 50 touchdowns in his career.
He suffered knee and hand injuries late last season and sat out most of spring practice.
