Bain gets start in the slot for Warriors

Hawaii's walk-on from Saint Louis School will fill in for injured receiver Grice-Mullins

When Hawaii slotback Aaron Bain was coming out of high school last year, Division I-AA schools like Eastern Illinois -- his opponent Saturday -- didn't come calling.

"No, not even. I had a chance to walk on at a Division II school, like Fort Lewis or something like that," Bain said. "But I decided to stay home. When I thought about it, it made more sense, money-wise."

It looks like Bain made a very good decision, and not just financially. The sophomore from Saint Louis School is listed as the starter at the "Y" slot Saturday for the Division I-A Warriors game against the Panthers.

Bain gets the call because starter Ryan Grice-Mullins -- who led the WAC in receiving yards last year -- sprained an ankle in Saturday's 41-34 loss at Boise State.

It will be the first start for Bain, who has three catches for 14 yards this season and five for 88 with two touchdowns last fall.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound muscleman, who can bench 435, said he's pumped.

"No matter who we're playing, I'm always excited to play. Even if I wasn't starting," Bain said. "We don't care who it is out on the field. We have to worry about ourselves."

That's a common mantra among football players and coaches, but it's especially apt for UH, since the Warriors have mostly their own errors to blame for 8- and 7-point losses to the Tide and the Broncos, both on the road.

Hawaii figures to turn it around against EIU, but it will have to do so with a shuffled lineup at receiver because of Grice-Mullins' injury.

Ross Dickerson will likely start at wideout, but the former slotback might also rotate with Bain inside. Dickerson took all his reps at slot yesterday.

"The routes are pretty much the same," said Dickerson, who played slot at Saint Louis and as a redshirt freshman at UH. "It's just getting used to the different terminology. I get it. It's coming back to me."

True freshman Malcolm Lane still had his red shirt on yesterday, but he worked out with the first team at Dickerson's wideout "Z" spot. He made a couple of eye-grabbing catches, but coach June Jones isn't convinced Lane, who played his high school ball in Germany, is ready for action under the college bright lights.

"He's still not sure about everything he's doing, but he knows more than he did six or eight weeks ago," Jones said. "He's a good potential receiver for us with a lot of upside. I'm not going to play him unless I think he can handle it."

He throws, too: Davone Bess, who starts at the other slot, didn't take reps yesterday because of a tender ankle.

"Davone tweaked an ankle, but he'll be all right," receivers coach Ron Lee said.

Michael Washington took the slot reps, but Bess wasn't banged up so much he couldn't participate at all. Bess, who punted some balls in team practice two weeks ago, threw passes with the quarterbacks to the other receivers during individual drills for a few minutes.

Jones said all it means is that Bess, a former high school quarterback, was the first person he noticed whom he felt could do a job for a few minutes.

"They needed (fourth-string quarterback) Will (Brogan) on the scout team and we needed another arm," Jones said. "It could've been anyone. It could've been Marissa."

He wasn't joking. In addition to cheerleading, team manager Marissa Bonilla lettered in softball, basketball and volleyball at Kauai High School.

"Of course I can throw a 15-yard out," she said.

Only one of the dozen or so passes Bess threw during the drill was out of the receiver's reach. Did Jones notice his accuracy?

"I didn't even watch him," the coach said.

Linkner out again:

Sophomore wideout Dylan Linkner thought the hamstring he pulled in camp was fully healed when he was cleared to practice last week. He learned otherwise last Thursday when he pulled it again and ended up on the exercise bike.

"Terrible timing," said Linkner, noting the current shuffle at receiver.

Noticing Noa:

Soft-spoken Karl Noa had every camera, microphone and tape recorder in his face yesterday.

He answered questions about everything from Boise State's blue field to his recent engagement to high school sweetheart Kehaunani Wong.

The relative of former UH players Kaulana and Kilinahe Noa said he wasn't overly excited about all the media attention. But he understands that when a player comes from relative obscurity to post 10 tackles in a big game, people want to know more about him.

"I'm not the type of guy to embrace the limelight. I'd rather be the guy on the side," said the junior outside linebacker from Kamehameha.

Those on the side days are over for now. After his performance against Boise State last week, the 6-4, 240-pound Noa is slated to make his first career start, at strongside outside linebacker Saturday.

Because of his frame and athleticism, Noa was being considered by Pac-10 schools until a broken ankle in the second-to-last game of his senior year at Kamehameha. He ended up walking on at UH and earning a scholarship the hard way.

"After that, Cal wanted me to just walk on," he said.

Another injury, a subluxed shoulder, delayed his progress in 2004.

"I came into that season after my redshirt thinking I could play," Noa said.

At around 225 pounds, he was still light for defensive end, even with UH's 4-3 defense then. When defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville came in with the 3-4 last year, Noa definitely needed to gain weight or find another spot.

He's found a home at outside 'backer, but still wants to gain 15 more pounds without losing speed.

Noa said rooming with former All-WAC cornerback Abraham Elimimian in 2004 helped his football mentality.

"He believed in me, he told me to play like a beast, be an animal. Don't be friends with anyone on the field. I guess I come off as a nice guy off the field," Noa said.

Short yardage:

Inside linebacker Solomon Elimimian practiced with the second unit yesterday. He's missed most of three weeks with a knee sprain. ... Safety/linebacker B.J. Fruean, taking the season off to focus on academics, attended yesterday's practice. ... Eastern Illinois arrives tonight.