Warriors will keep
the defense simple on
the road in Idaho

After Hawaii's Sept. 10 loss at Michigan State, UH defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said part of the problem in an 0-2 start was that he had thrown too much information at his players too soon.

Glanville promised to seek improvement by paring down his scheme, to simplify things by allowing Hawaii's defenders to worry about fewer things, but do them better.

But is that a tough pledge to stick with, as a former NFL coach known for defensive strategy, for attacking with an array of blitzes from a variety of angles?

Yesterday, after Hawaii's final home practice before getting on a plane, Glanville said the plan is still intact heading into tomorrow's Western Athletic Conference opener at Idaho.

Hawaii went with "two calls" on defense yesterday, which was down from six or seven at Michigan State. And Glanville insisted he is capable of keeping it simple.

"One time I played the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh, we played one defense," Glanville said. "They got so mad at us, and we won in Pittsburgh. With one call. I think that's what made Chuck Noll so mad at me. We played one deal the whole game."

Meanwhile, USC and Michigan State prepared for UH by looking at every old tape of Glanville's they could find. It's a good bet Idaho may have used up valuable practice time doing the same, preparing for things that may never come.

"I think they'll look at the whole package," Glanville said. "They have to. I don't know if that helps you. I don't really care what it does to Idaho. I care what it does to us. Because I can take you into the film room -- we did this yesterday -- both games, and show you 15 of the best plays in football. Unfortunately to this point, none of them are two in a row."

Glanville hopes giving his guys less to think about against Idaho will remedy that. The long-range plan is still to add new wrinkles as old ones are mastered.

"The difference is in pro football, I get 8 hours of meeting time a day. I get 8 hours a week here," Glanville said.

Hurting and healing: Coach June Jones said there haven't been any last-second injury updates that would affect who he is taking on the road for tomorrow's game. But "we just don't know until game day" how effective a couple of guys will be.

One is inside linebacker Ikaika Curnan, who has been dinged up all season. "He was real quick, real fast early in the week, and now he runs like you and me," Glanville said.

"We're going to give him three days off. I told him today he couldn't jog, he couldn't do anything. Tomorrow will be the same. And hopefully game day he wakes up and he feels good."

Chancellor checks in: UH chancellor Denise Konan took in yesterday's practice. She said she wanted to show her support and get a look at the team before it departed for its first WAC game. Konan represents Hawaii on the conference's board of directors.

She also completed her first pass of the season, returning a football to the players following an incompletion that found its way to the sideline.

Short yardage: Hawaii emphasized red-zone offense and defense yesterday in its 2-hour helmets-and-shorts workout. ... Armchair strategists got their wish yesterday when former basketball player Tony Akpan played several snaps as a scout-team tight end. ... After Boise State's 48-20 win over Bowling Green on Wednesday, BSU radio color commentator Jeff Caves got a head start on next week's game at UH. Caves is broadcasting his sports radio talk show from Hawaii this week and next. ... The WAC has cancelled next week's meetings in Dallas because of Hurricane Rita.