CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Strongside linebacker Blaze Soares might miss out on Hawaii's opening game because of a pulled hamstring.
|
|
Soares might sit
As of yesterday afternoon Blaze Soares wasn't out, but he was pretty close.
Greg McMackin hadn't eliminated the possibility of Soares playing Saturday, but the Hawaii defensive coordinator doesn't want to do anything to risk the entire season for his explosive starting strongside linebacker.
UH opponents
The Star-Bulletin will preview Hawaii's opponents every day until the start of the season. See today's story on B6:
Aug. 20: Northern Colorado
Aug. 21: LaTech
Aug. 22: UNLV
Aug. 23: Charleston Southern
Aug. 24: Idaho
Aug. 25: Utah State
Aug. 24: San Jose State
Yesterday: New Mexico State
Today: Fresno State
Tomorrow: Nevada
Thursday: Boise State
Friday: Washington
|
Neither does head coach June Jones. Both said yesterday they won't gamble with Soares' pulled hamstring in the opener against Northern Colorado at Aloha Stadium.
Why should they? The 23rd-ranked Warriors have been favored by between 50 and 60 points over the fledgling I-AA Bears.
Plus, UH has plenty of depth at linebacker -- including Brad Kalilimoku, a player McMackin has considered a starter all along (rightfully so, since Kalilimoku is the only Warrior to have started at least one game in all of the past three seasons).
"If it's close, we're not going to play (Soares). I don't know that he's ruled out, we'll know more (today)," McMackin said. "If a guy doesn't practice ... We don't want to hurt him for the season.
"You always miss a guy like Blaze, but we've got a lot of guys, we've rolled those guys since spring as four starters," McMackin added. "We're blessed with some good guys behind them."
Meanwhile, the rest of the UH lineup is set for Saturday, as Jones named Tim Grasso the starting punter in a close decision over Briton Forester, who is also the backup kicker.
In the secondary, Gerard Lewis and Myron Newberry (profiled on B6) fought off all challengers and will be the starters Saturday. Ryan Mouton is still a backup, but is expected to get plenty of playing time, and is also scheduled to return kickoffs with Jason Rivers and serve as a gunner on punts.
"Ryan will be a third starter for us, probably as soon as (Northern Colorado) is over," defensive backs coach Rich Miano said. "He'll play as much probably as the other two guys in this game, and we'll evaluate and see who the starting two are for next week."
