Miranda likely
to rejoin Warriors

RENO, Nev. » The Hawaii football team's only experienced kicker will likely return to the team once school starts in late August.

Nolan Miranda left the Warriors after last spring for personal reasons, he said.

"Recently things changed for the positive," he said last night. "I'm trying to get back. I know the 105-player roster is set for camp, but I was told I could come back after camp."

Coach June Jones, here for the Western Athletic Conference Football Media Days, said he wasn't sure if Miranda will be back or not.

Miranda said he has to pass a class in summer school to be eligible this fall, but he is confident he will pass, and that does not have anything to do with his undisclosed reason for leaving the team.

Miranda, a junior walk-on from Castle, often handled short field goals and point-after-touchdown attempts instead of Justin Ayat two years ago. Miranda was given a chance to be the starting kicker last fall when Ayat was nursing an injury, but Miranda was inconsistent in practice.

He hopes to compete with incoming walk-on freshmen Jeremy Shibata and Daniel Kelly.

"I've been practicing a lot on my own, trying to get 25 to 50 kicks a day, working on improving my range with my former coach (Afton Smith)," Miranda said.

Miranda made 21 of 22 extra points and three of five field goals, with a long of 32 yards in 2003. He did not kick in games last year except for two kickoffs.

Signed: Former UH star Chad Owens is a millionaire ... sort of.

Owens signed a three-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars yesterday, his agent, Leo Goeas, said.

The contract calls for around $1 million over three seasons, contingent on the sixth-round pick making the team each year.

Owens is expected to at least return punts for the Jaguars, and could also work his way into the receiver rotation.

He also got a $78,000 signing bonus, Goeas said.

"That's just right for the round he was picked," Goeas said. "It's good that he has a three-year deal instead of four. If he does what we think he will, he'll be able to sign for a lot more after three years."

What a trip: Boise State offensive lineman Daryn Colledge just got married. He and his wife spent their honeymoon in England last week, and they were at a hotel "four or five blocks" from where bombs were discovered and de-fused in a second wave of terrorist attacks in London after the fatal one earlier in the month.

"It was a little weird, but pretty calm for the most part," Colledge said. "Everyone seemed to take it in stride. Our tours and everything went off without a hitch."

Colledge said he and his wife did not think about canceling or postponing their trip after the first attacks.

"We figured lightning wouldn't strike twice. ... I was happy to get back home, but Scotland Yard was on top of it," he said. "The police usually walk around there without guns. But when (the bombings) happened, all kinds of undercover guys appeared out of nowhere with machine guns."

Money ball: Like many other WAC teams, Nevada has booked some big road games that will give the Wolf Pack some big paydays and big exposure.

Nevada has booked games at Nebraska (2007), Florida State (2008) and Notre Dame (2010).

Walking the walk: Boise State players joked with Fresno State coach Pat Hill last night about the verbal abuse visiting players absorb from Bulldogs fans while walking the "Red Mile" into Bulldog Stadium.

"Imagine what it's like for us walking back up that thing after a (home) loss," Hill said.