Duo has some
catching up to doReceivers Owens and Cockheran
ready to be back on the field
Hawaii's top two receivers -- Chad Owens and Jeremiah Cockheran -- are poised to return to the Warriors lineup Saturday against Fresno State.
The two have caught seven of UH's 11 touchdown passes this season, and are responsible for 683 of Hawaii's 1,767 receiving yards. Neither played in the Warriors' 27-16 loss at Tulsa last Saturday.
Owens, a starting slotback, was suspended for two games for missing a team charter flight without permission on Sept. 19. In the time since, he continued to practice with the Warriors when the team wasn't on the road. Yesterday Owens said he's ready to go as UH (2-3, 1-1 Western Athletic Conference) prepares to host the Bulldogs (3-3, 1-0) at Aloha Stadium.
"I feel good," said Owens, a junior who played in 23 games as a receiver and return specialist before the suspension. "I'm just coming out here every day and practicing hard. I'm just getting myself ready the best I can."
Owens is one of the Warriors' most exciting players in recent seasons. The 5-foot-9, 174-pound Roosevelt High School graduate is 11th in UH program history in all-purpose yardage with 2,649.
The Warriors went 1-1 in the games Owens missed. He said the unexpected break helped him personally in some ways.
"The positive thing that came out of it is I got to rest. My injuries are all pretty much gone," said Owens, who was bothered by an infected cut on an ankle among other minor ailments earlier in the season. "I'm feeling pretty good right now and it made me that much more hungry to play. I can't wait to get out there, back in Aloha Stadium in front of the home crowd and make some excitement."
Owens had 23 receptions for 255 yards among 355 all-purpose yards in the three games he played prior to the suspension. Three of his catches went for touchdowns.
Head coach June Jones will make the final decision, but receivers coach Ron Lee said Owens is ready to start. Second-year freshman Ross Dickerson has played in his place, catching six passes for 111 yards.
Right wide receiver Cockheran, sorely missed against Tulsa, tested his sprained right ankle yesterday in practice and said he should be able to play Saturday.
"It's gotten a lot better and I was able to run full-speed on it. Deep routes and everything," said Cockheran, who leads the WAC with 107.0 receiving yards per game. "I wasn't doing cuts and everything, but it's getting there."
Cockheran made the trip to Tulsa, but said it's probably a good thing he didn't try to play against the Golden Hurricane.
"It really helped not pushing," the senior co-captain said. "Anything could have happened. I could have rolled it up, could have tweaked it and I could have been out for the season.
"Even though the outcome of the game hurt the team, it was good for me to rest and get prepared for this game."
Lee said Cockheran is far from fully recovered.
"It's nice that Chad's back," Lee said. "Jeremiah ran today, but he's still 65 (percent) to 70 percent. We'll see. (True freshman) Jason Rivers is having some good practices. Hopefully he takes a step or two up and Britton's (Komine) there. We got Chad back; that helps us with our inside receivers.
"The receivers have to make some plays this week."
Said quarterback Tim Chang: "It's very good to have Jeremiah and Chad back. They bring a lot of experience, a lot of speed and quickness. They've been through those hard-fought games. They know how to move the chains and come from behind to win games. They've been to battle."
Sopoaga still out: The injury news wasn't as good on defense. Senior starting tackle Isaac Sopoaga is out for at least one more game with a tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
"They want to make sure it's really, really cured," Sopoaga said. "They don't want me to miss the whole season."
Sopoaga hurt his knee near the end of UH's 41-21 victory over Rice two weeks ago.
The injury does not require surgery.
Senior Lui Fuga will again replace Sopoaga.
Esera likely to start: Before last Saturday's game, true freshman Jeremy Inferrera seemed entrenched at left tackle.
But after a game in which Tulsa rush end Jeremy Davis got three sacks, second-year freshman Tala Esera has replaced Inferrera.
"Probably," offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh said, when asked if Esera would start over Inferrera on Saturday.
It would mark the fourth different combination of starting offensive linemen in six games for the Warriors.
Bulldog down: Fresno State also has problems with offensive line stability. The Bulldogs will have their fourth different front five in seven games Saturday, and that's not even accounting for left tackle Logan Mankins, an All-America candidate who was lost to injury before the season started.
The latest casualty is sophomore right tackle Matt Stevenson. He did not make the travel roster after spraining his knee last Saturday against Colorado State and will likely be replaced in the starting lineup by 6-6, 260-pound second-year freshman Chris Denman.
The only two starters remaining on the line in their same positions from the beginning of the season are center Kyle Young and right guard Sean Finnerty.
"We've had a lot of injuries and lost a lot of good football players," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said.
Short yardage: UH backup linebacker and special teams player Anipati Mailo expects to return in "a couple weeks" from a knee sprain suffered three weeks ago. ... Former UH and Denver Broncos defensive tackle Maa Tanuvasa visited practice yesterday. Tanuvasa is now an assistant coach at his high school alma mater, Mililani. ... Fresno State was scheduled to arrive today and practice at Aloha Stadium before heading to Turtle Bay, where the team is staying.
