[ UH FOOTBALL ]
Warriors arrive,
talk weather in Nevada
RENO, Nev. >> The Hawaii football team arrived here last night a few minutes ahead of schedule after its charter flight from Honolulu and settled into rooms at the Reno Hilton near the airport before team and position meetings.
"It's pretty much the same as in 2001," receivers coach Ron Lee said. "But it's chillier here than it was last time."
Two years ago, the Warriors played the Wolf Pack on Sept. 22 at Mackay Stadium, and the UH defense wilted in the heat and Nevada won 28-20.
"There was a lot of grumbling," recalled senior safety Hyrum Peters. "Like everyone was hurt. It was too hot. Our feet are burning. We can't focus."
This time, the concern is if cold and wet weather will derail the Warriors' run-and-shoot passing attack.
The Hawaii players say the cold won't bother them, and it was actually cooler at San Jose State two weeks ago than it was last night in Reno, where the temperature was in the high 40s.
The Warriors (6-3, 4-1 Western Athletic Conference) meet the Wolf Pack (5-5, 3-3) at noon Pacific time tomorrow. While it might be as cool as it was yesterday, it is expected to be sunny again. A storm front is expected to hit, but not until tomorrow night at the earliest.
"Cold weather doesn't really bother me," UH cornerback Kelvin Millhouse said. "I worry more about the altitude. A lot of guys on our team had trouble getting used to breathing up there. A lot of guys were tired, especially defense because we played so many plays. So we're doing a lot of conditioning this week to prepare for that."
The Warriors are scheduled to practice at an area high school this afternoon.
Laying it on the lines: Looking for the key to tomorrow's game? Try focusing on the line of scrimmage.
Both the Hawaii offensive and defensive lines will be tested by Nevada tomorrow and the team that controls the action up front will have the edge in the Western Athletic Conference contest.
"I think every week it's that way, I think it's focused more this week because their D-line's very good and of course that running back (Chance Kretschmer) put it on us the last time we were up there," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "So the trenches are going to play an important factor."
For Hawaii's offense to operate, the Warriors' offensive line will need to keep quarterback Tim Chang off Mackay Stadium's FieldTurf. It won't be an easy task against a Wolf Pack defensive front that leads the conference in sacks with 33.
The Wolf Pack racked up eight sacks in their 28-17 win at Washington on Oct. 11.
Defensive end Jorge Cordova (11 1/2 sacks) and tackle Derek Kennard (10 1/2), both seniors, are the WAC's top two sack specialists and rank fifth and sixth in the nation.
"They're probably the best defensive line we're going to face in the WAC," UH offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh said.
"Obviously (Cordova's) very productive, both those guys are. They're both experienced and it's going to take our best game up front to win it."
The Warriors have surrendered 14 sacks this season, or one for every 34.8 pass attempts.
Cavanaugh said sophomore Brandon Eaton will be back at right tackle now that a sprained ankle has healed. Freshman Jeremy Inferrera moves back to left tackle. Freshman Tala Esera had started the last three games at left tackle while Eaton recovered from the injury.
"(Eaton) seems healthy, he's moving around better and has more strength," Cavanaugh said.
Inferrera knows full well what Cordova brings to the game.
"He's a good player, everybody knows he's a good player and it will be a challenge," Inferrera said. "I'm looking forward to it."
Traveling men: The Warriors embarked on their final road trip of the regular season yesterday afternoon and are scheduled to return to Honolulu at 10 p.m. tomorrow.
The UH players have grown accustomed to living out of a suitcase over five road trips this season. A win tomorrow would even their road record at 3-3 this season.
"I think we're getting used to it," Jones said. "We have to play well again this week and hopefully we can steal another one on the road. That's all we're trying to do."
Scoreboard watching: WAC leader Boise State (8-0 overall, 4-0 WAC) returns from a week off to host UTEP (1-4, 2-8) tomorrow.
After tomorrow's game, the 23rd-ranked Broncos have WAC road games against Fresno State (Nov. 21) and Hawaii (Dec. 6) sandwiching a home game against Nevada (Nov. 29).
Fresno State (6-4, 4-1) is just behind UH in the standings and hosts San Jose State (2-4, 3-6). The all-time series between the schools is deadlocked at 32-32-3.
Surprising Tulsa (6-4, 4-2) will try to extend its three-game winning streak at Louisiana Tech (3-3, 5-5).
