Jones says
receivers
still greenWhile his young pass catchers
have shown promise, he says
they have a lot to learn
It's way too early to anoint freshmen Jason Rivers and Ross Dickerson as Hawaii's next great receivers, Warriors coach June Jones said.
Hawaii at Tulsa
When: Saturday, 2:05 p.m., Hawaii time
Where: Skelly Stadium, Tulsa, Okla.
TV: Live on SportsWest
Radio: Live on KKEA-1420
Line: Hawaii by 13
"They have a long way to go. They're not even good enough to play right now," Jones said in his weekly news conference yesterday, two days after UH's conference-opening 41-21 victory over Rice.
But play they will at Tulsa on Saturday. Wideout Rivers and slotback Dickerson have been forced into action (along with Gerald Welch, Se'e Poumele and Michael Miyashiro) due to injuries and suspensions that have riddled UH's foursome of starting receivers.
On paper, Rivers and Dickerson seemed to perform adequately Saturday. Rivers caught a team-high seven passes for 45 yards and Dickerson grabbed five for 42. But Jones said both ran several bad routes.
"They made some bad decisions, and there was some bad technique," Jones said.
Rivers also nearly made a spectacular catch for a touchdown, but dropped the ball.
"He has great upside when he learns to play the game the way we want him to play it," Jones said of Rivers. "He's hard on himself. That's why I think he will become (a good player). He wants to know. The more he plays the better he's going to get. Ross Dickerson's the same way."
Three of Hawaii's four starting receivers from the beginning of the season could be out Saturday, two for sure: slots Nate Ilaoa (knee, out for the year) and Chad Owens (second game of a two-game suspension) will definitely not make the trip.
Welch has emerged as a solid replacement for Ilaoa, while Dickerson started for Owens against Rice.
Starting right wide receiver Jeremiah Cockheran, who has more than 100 yards in receptions in three of UH's four games, might not go to Tulsa because of an ankle sprain. Hawaii's leading pass catcher and offensive captain can probably play, but the Warriors don't want him re-aggravating the injury with Fresno State on the horizon Oct. 11.
Same with defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga. MRI results were still unavailable late yesterday, but Sopoaga is believed to have a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee -- an injury that does not require surgery.
"He looked like he could play today," Jones said.
But UH doesn't want to risk its best defensive player's future.
Not that beating Tulsa (2-2, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference) is a guarantee for UH (2-2, 1-0). New coach Steve Kragthorpe's team is 2-0 at Skelly Stadium.
"They're much improved," Jones said. "They've got that Buffalo Bills attack. I'm very familiar with it."
Kragthorpe was the quarterbacks coach of the Bills last year, working with offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. Gilbride (brother-in-law of UH offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh) and Jones worked together in the NFL.
The familiarity works both ways. Kragthorpe admired UH's effective screen passes Saturday.
"We ran that play with Kevin at Buffalo," Kragthorpe said yesterday in the WAC teleconference.
Defensively, Jones said Tulsa is similar to Nevada-Las Vegas, which beat Hawaii 33-22 on Sept. 19.
"They realize it's hard to get d-linemen so they play a 3-3 scheme that complicates other offenses," Jones said. "It's not quite the same against four wideouts all the time, but against two backs, tight end (formations) it does at times tend to confuse people on blocking assignments."
