CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii wide receiver Jason Rivers set himself up for high expectations when he caught seven passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns in the triple-overtime Hawaii Bowl victory over Houston last year.

Rivers on receiving
end of pressure

The UH receiver handles
the glare of the spotlight

More than a football changed hands when Jason Rivers caught the touchdown pass that gave Tim Chang the NCAA career passing-yardage record last month. A lot of pressure did, too.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Who: UAB (7-4) vs. Hawaii (7-5) Where: Aloha Stadium When: Friday, 2 p.m. Tickets: $15 to $40 TV: Live, ESPN Radio: Live, KKEA 1420-AM Internet: kkea1420am.com

Rivers, like Chang, is among the simultaneously blessed and cursed, a talented football player alternately glorified and vilified by Hawaii fans.

The roller-coaster ride ends for Chang in Friday's Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, when the Warriors (7-5) take on UAB (7-4) at 2 p.m. at Aloha Stadium. It's just getting started for Rivers.

The sophomore wide receiver finds himself in a situation similar to what the senior quarterback had to endure for five years. Rivers is a highly touted local athlete who chose to stay home for college, and therefore whose efforts will always be under the magnifying glass -- the one that can make you bigger than life, or fry you like a bug.

Rivers' share of the spotlight also grows because -- in addition to Chang -- six other offensive starters (including the other three receivers) all play their last UH game Friday.

"He's one of the favorite sons," senior receiver Britton Komine said. "And a lot of the other favorite sons won't be here next year."

Those who try to replace Chang at quarterback next season will be under the gun, but so will Rivers. He says bring it on.

"Me and Timmy do talk about that," Rivers said. "You can't let it get to you, but you have to acknowledge it and take it on headfirst.

"I've seen how it helped him in the long run, and I've heard some of the criticism of me this year, and I think it will definitely help me. I have to take it to heart, but not let it interrupt my game."

The scrutiny began last year, and reached a flash point when Rivers made the "mistake" of catching seven passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns in last year's Hawaii Bowl victory over Houston. The tremendous performance by a true freshman meant Warrior fans would expect nothing less from then on.

Rivers had an outstanding spring camp, but he spent the summer working on academic issues, fell behind and looked lost at times in August preseason camp; it carried on to the start of the season. His commitment, discipline and toughness were questioned by some.

He bristles at that.

"You can ask people around me here," Rivers said. "They know I'm up at 5 a.m. every day, first in the locker room, out there before the sun's up.

"It's usually the uneducated who like to criticize."

It didn't help that the UH receivers dropped a lot of passes early in the season, and Rivers was one of the major offenders.

But the 6-foot-1, 189-pound former state sprint champ at Saint Louis School heated up as the season went along, latching on to nine, eight, eight and nine passes in successive games. In the last of that string, against Idaho, he went for 167 yards and a school-record four touchdowns.

Going into Friday, Rivers is behind only second-team All-American Chad Owens in receptions (69), yards (825) and touchdown catches (6) this season for Hawaii.

"For the last 10 games he's been as consistent a player as anybody we have," coach June Jones said. "The first two games he struggled. But you have to remember he played as a true freshman, so he's still learning. He's a hard worker. He's going to get better and better."

Rivers said his execution will continue to improve with experience.

"My goal is to be more consistent," he said. "Coming in it took awhile to get it started.

"But what we do is so repetitive, you can't help but develop consistency."