Satele wants Hawaii to clean up its play vs. Boise

The tri-captain says the Warriors can't afford penalties and turnovers this week on the road

Coach June Jones isn't the only one around the Hawaii football program concerned about the Warriors' penchant for turnovers and penalties in the early-going of the 2006 season.

Tri-captain and starting center Sam Satele said UH can forget about winning at No. 25 Boise State on Saturday if it doesn't clean up its act.

"Our team right now, we make a lot of mistakes. Hopefully we can cut down on our mistakes and come away with the victory," Satele said after yesterday's practice.

The Warriors have lost four fumbles and been intercepted three times, while generating just one interception and no fumble recoveries on defense.

The penalty stats aren't much better, with Hawaii being flagged 22 times for 174 yards in just two games and Alabama and UNLV combining for 6 infractions for 49 yards against UH.

"Nobody can question the physical ability of this team," Satele said. "Everybody knows that we're tough. Mental mistakes like jumping offsides, holding, personal fouls, all that kind of crap, we have to cut out if we want to win."

Satele observed most of yesterday's practice from the sideline, as he is dealing with a lingering injury to his collarbone area. He left the field early in Saturday's 42-13 victory over UNLV (as did the rest of the starters, anyway).

"I took a helmet there at practice last week Monday. It wasn't sore until it got hit again Thursday, and then I hurt it again (in the game) Saturday," Satele said. "If it was a tighter game, I'd be playing, but 28-0, it was pretty done with, so I just rested it."

Satele said there's no way he'll miss Saturday's game.

"I've got Boise State on my mind. Nothing else but Boise State," the four-year starter said. "They're undefeated at home and been WAC champs ever since I've been here. They're a good team. They're well disciplined. They're a hard-nosed football team that does their assignments."

Patton to start:

Kenny Patton, who practiced with the first team Tuesday and yesterday, will start at left cornerback Saturday.

"He's a senior and he's played well in the first two games. It's his turn," defensive backs coach Rich Miano said.

Patton, a fifth-year senior, is UH's most experienced cornerback, but this will be his first start of the season. He's started 22 games at corner and has played in 38 going back to 2002. As a true freshman, he recovered a blocked punt and returned it for a 74-yard touchdown against SMU.

Patton experimented at wide receiver in spring practice before returning to the secondary.

Including 10 stops in the first two games this year, Patton has 131 career tackles and two interceptions. He's also returned two kickoffs for 56 yards.

A.J. Martinez will start at right corner after opening the first two games at left corner, Miano said.

C.J. Hawthorne started at Alabama and against UNLV.

Back on the bike:

Sophomore starting inside linebacker Solomon Elimimian spent yesterday's practice riding an exercise bike and otherwise trying to rehab his strained right knee.

It was a setback for the defensive signal-caller, who returned to the first team at Tuesday's practice and appeared to move well. He hopes to play Saturday at Boise State.

"It really is a day-to-day thing, I guess," Elimimian said. "It's pretty sore today."

Elimimian, who injured the knee in the season-opening game at Alabama on Sept. 2, was replaced by Brad Kalilimoku last Saturday against UNLV.

Regardless of his injury status, Elimimian will be on the 60-man travel roster and was scheduled to be with the team when it left for Boise today, UH coach June Jones said.

Not real sharp:

Perhaps those who observe UH practices on a regular basis (as well as the games) are getting spoiled.

But yesterday's practice seemed to include more than the usual number of off-target passes and miscommunications between quarterbacks and receivers.

Wet footballs caused by intermittent rain probably had something to do with it, but there wasn't the usual number of eye-popping pass-and-catch plays, other than a great connection between backups Tyler Graunke and Pat Olchovy on a deep post, with Olchovy making an over-the-shoulder grab of a perfectly placed pass.

Jones voiced his displeasure in no uncertain terms on one busted route. But afterward, he said it wasn't a particularly bad practice for the offense.

Was the offense out of sync?

"No not really," Jones said. "Just normal stuff."

Peters picks:

Starting free safety Leonard Peters moved well after taking Monday's practice off to receive therapy for his broken rib cartilage suffered in the Alabama game.

He intercepted two passes (one that bounced off Olchovy) in team drills against the first-string offense in limited reps yesterday.

"I've been getting two or three treatments a day from the trainers," Peters said. "(There's) not too much (pain) walking. Just running and accelerating, jumping, reaching up, stuff like that still hurts. I'm just trying to get used to playing with the pain. I'm getting used to what things I can do and what things I can't."

Keomaka reinstated ... again:

Junior backup cornerback and special teams player Ryan Keomaka will be back with the team next week, Jones said.

Keomaka was dismissed from the team Tuesday because he had not attended mandatory study halls.

Jones said he reinstated Keomaka because of a letter of recommendation from a staff member at UH's Nagatani Academic Center.

But Jones said it was not enough for Keomaka to return to the team for Saturday's game at Boise State.

"He knows what the deal is," Jones said.

Keomaka was also suspended from the team prior to spring practice for academic reasons. He was reinstated in late August and played against Alabama and briefly against UNLV.

He played cornerback extensively last year, including a nine-tackle game against San Diego State in which he also intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble.

Short yardage:

Receiver Ryan Grice-Mullins tweaked his groin yesterday, but said it shouldn't limit him Saturday. ... Jones said backup nose tackle Kahai LaCount probably won't play because of an elbow injury. ... The Warriors fly to Boise by charter today. They will practice at an area high school tomorrow.