[ UH FOOTBALL ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Jeremiah Cockheran jumped on Mike Bass' back after Bass scored a touchdown against Boise State last night at Aloha Stadium.
Chang goes from
bench to end zoneWAHINE VOLLEYBALL
Things going to form for Rainbow Wahine
Tim Chang had the football in his hands -- he nervously held one all game. But for most of the night, it was on the sidelines.
The former Hawaii starting quarterback wasn't summoned to play in UH's 45-28 loss against Boise State until early in the fourth quarter, after last night's starter Jason Whieldon threw three incompletes.
Chang, UH's career passing-yardage leader, sparked the Warriors to a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that culminated in a 14-yard TD pass to Chad Owens.
"I was happy for him and love playing with him," Owens said of Chang, who was booed several times by fans at Aloha Stadium during last week's victory against Alabama. "But Jason's a great quarterback, too."
Chang finished with 10 completions in 19 attempts for 110 yards. He was also intercepted once.
After the game, he told a reporter that UH head coach June Jones instructed him to not talk to the media.
"I was proud of him," Whieldon said of Chang.
Getting tricky: The Warriors went to the bag of tricks early.
With the game scoreless midway through the first quarter, UH tried a fake punt on fourth-and-12 at the Broncos' 38.
Chad Kapanui took a short snap and pitched the ball to Omega Hogan on a reverse. Hogan bobbled the ball and was brought down after a loss of 2.
The failed fake didn't cause a problem for the Warriors, though, as Travis LaBoy tipped and intercepted Ryan Dinwiddie's pass on the next play.
Playing hurt: Owens entered at 12:34 of the second quarter. On his second play in the game, the Warriors' leading receiver caught a 4-yard pass from Whieldon.
Owens was on crutches earlier in the week and was not expected to play because of continual pain in his left foot. Owens started the second half and finished the game with six catches for 83 yards.
Holding the fort: The Broncos are all but assured of playing in the Fort Worth Bowl against No. 19 Texas Christian.
The Horned Frogs are already in the Dec. 23 bowl, but No. 18 Boise State won't become the official opponent until the final Bowl Championship Series standings come out today.
The only way the Broncos won't get the bid is if two Big 12 teams don't make it into BCS bowl games. But No. 13 Kansas State got the automatic bid with its victory over No. 1 Oklahoma yesterday and the Sooners are likely to finish in one of the top three BCS spots and either qualify for the championship game or earn an at-large bid.
If Boise State doesn't get in the Fort Worth Bowl, it's assured of a spot on its home turf in the Humanitarian Bowl on Jan. 3.
Bright fans: The Broncos had a large contingent of vocal fans in the North end-zone seats, and they were loudly dressed too -- with bright orange T-shirts.
Boise State sports information director Max Corbet estimated close to 2,000 followers made the trip to Hawaii, and said, "They really love coming here."
Many fans bought airline tickets for the originally scheduled game in November and had to change plans when the game was moved to yesterday.
Corbet thinks Boise State may get about 1,200 to 1,500 fans to cheer the team on in Fort Worth if they get the official bid.
"It's short notice and a holiday, so it's a lot harder for people to make plans," he said.
Special delivery: Special teams play helped set up Boise State's first 24 points of the game and force the Warriors to fight uphill most of the night. The Broncos began four drives in Hawaii territory in the first half, and all of them led to BSU scores.
A 23-yard punt by Hawaii's Kurt Milne gave BSU the ball at the UH 41 and the Broncos capitalized with a 30-yard touchdown run by Lee Marks to tie the game late in the first quarter.
BSU's next possession started at the UH 30 thanks to a 26-yard punt return by Brad Allen, and ended with a 7-yard run by Donny Heck. A 20-yard return by Allen led to a field goal by Tyler Jones later in the second quarter.
After UH scored to cut the deficit to 17-14, BSU's Chris Carr shifted the momentum back to the Broncos with a 55-yard kickoff return that led to David Mikell's 7-yard TD run with less than a minute left in the half. Carr might have scored on the kick return if not for a shoestring tackle by UH kicker Justin Ayat.
The only time Boise State failed to convert on good field position came late in the half after Wes Nurse intercepted a Whieldon pass and returned it to the UH 41. A sack and a penalty pushed the Broncos back and the time expired.
Meanwhile, BSU punter Kyle Stringer pinned UH inside its 20 with all three of his first-half punts.
Air time: With the win, Boise State remained perfect in games televised by ESPN or ESPN2 since becoming an NCAA Division I program in 1996.
The Broncos had three games televised by the national network this season and defeated Brigham Young and Fresno State in their first two appearances and improved to 8-0 all-time.
Heck of a night: Running back Donny Heck scored four touchdowns for the Broncos, as many as he had all season prior to the game.
Heck's efforts underscored the effectiveness of Boise's red-zone offense. Only one of the Broncos' six rushing TDs was over 13 yards -- Lee Marks' 30-yard first-quarter score.
"He's a special kid, a real blue-collar player a guy who is willing to do whatever it takes to win," Boise State coach Dan Hawkins said.
Heck is looking forward to the Fort Worth Bowl (if the official bid becomes reality today) against TCU.
"That's going to be our best challenge ever," he said. "A lot of teams talk about our home-field advantage when we play in the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise. "Now, we're going to get a taste of our own medicine at Fort Worth."
Short yardage: Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson attended last night's game. ... UH linebackers coach Cal Lee said earlier this week there is no truth to a rumor he will become head coach at Kamehameha.
BACK TO TOP |
[ UH VOLLEYBALL ]
Things going to form
for Rainbow Wahine
It's a sure bet that there are fewer office pools for the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament than men's basketball. But for those filling in the brackets this month, the advice was simple: Follow the selection committee's lead and go with the seeds.
This Sweet 16 could easily be renamed the No Surprise 16.
Led by top-ranked Southern California's convincing win over Loyola Marymount last night, all 16 of the seeded teams in the tournament have advanced to this week's regionals. Also moving on with victories yesterday were Kansas State, UCLA, Nebraska, California, Penn State, Washington, Minnesota, Colorado State, Illinois and Texas A&M.
Thanks to a 30-26, 30-26, 32-30 win over Louisville, 15th-seeded Illinois has earned a trip to Honolulu. The Fighting Illini (26-6) will face No. 2 Hawaii (34-1) in Friday's second match at the Stan Sheriff Center.
No. 7 seed Georgia Tech (33-3), which earned its berth Friday, opens regional play against No. 10 California in the first match. The Golden Bears (25-6) defeated Michigan last night 30-26, 30-26, 30-28, getting 29 kills from Mia Jerkov.
That Illinois will be here was of little surprise to Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji. However, the scouting would have been easier had Louisville won.
Hawaii swept Louisville in the fourth match of the season, 30-17, 30-24, 30-18. Last night, the Fighting Illini had four players in double-figure kills, led by senior hitter Melissa Vandrey's 16, to oust the Cardinals.
Illinois won the battle at the net as well, 9-6. Senior middles Lisa Argabright (6-foot-5) and Shelly O'Bryan (6-3) were in on four blocks each.
Louisville was poised to push it to four games when serving for game point at 30-29. O'Bryan put down her 10th kill to tie it and, after a hitting error by the Cardinals' Lena Ustymenko, Vandrey won it with her 16th kill.
Florida regional: The winner of the Hawaii regional will face this regional's winner in the NCAA semifinal. Host Florida (33-1) earned its spot Friday with a sweep of Central Florida.
Taking on the Gators will be Colorado State (30-4), which defeated host Maryland 30-23, 30-28, 30-26. The other semifinal pits Kansas State (30-4) and Penn State (30-4). Yesterday, the Wildcats swept Arkansas 30-26, 30-27, 30-21 and the Nittany Lions outlasted Pitt 25-30, 33-31, 30-21, 30-21.
Nebraska regional: Southern Cal (31-0) will take on Texas A&M (23-9) and UCLA (23-8) faces host Nebraska (28-4). The Women of Troy eliminated the Lions 30-16, 30-22, 30-16 and the Aggies topped Wisconsin 30-22, 30-24, 30-18.
Also last night, the Bruins swept UC Irvine 30-24, 30-28, 30-22, and the Huskers eliminated Dayton 30-19, 30-14, 30-25.
Long Beach regional: Pepperdine and Stanford earned their berths Friday. The Waves (27-2) will face Minnesota (24-10), which defeated Northern Iowa last night 30-25, 28-30, 30-25, 30-23. The Cardinal (25-6) take on Pac-10 rival Washington (21-8), a 30-15, 30-20, 30-21 winner over Utah.
Note: The Wahine volleyball banquet is scheduled for Jan. 18 at the Hale Koa Hotel. The event begins with no-host cocktails at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m.
The cost is $35 through Dec. 31, $50 afterward. For information, call 735-8697.
