UH working on final ’09 foe

Hawaii athletic director Jim Donovan continues to seek one more opponent to complete the Warriors' 2009 football schedule, with Central Arkansas emerging as a possible candidate to fill the season-opening date.

Central Arkansas, a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) program, is among the schools UH is talking to about playing at Aloha Stadium on the season's opening weekend, according to a story in yesterday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A contract hasn't been drawn up, but Donovan said associate athletic director Carl Clapp has been in discussions with the school and Donovan is considering a proposal to play the Bears on Friday, Sept. 4, 2009.

The Warriors are scheduled to play at Washington State and UNLV the following two weeks.

"Playing on Friday might not be a bad deal for us, in that we'd have an extra day to get ready for Washington State," Donovan said.

Donovan said he has been in contact with Division I-A schools as well, and his personal goal is to have the 2009 schedule completed by the time the Warriors open this season at Florida on Aug. 30. But he added, "If it's October, it's not the end of the world."

He said he'd prefer to open the season at home, but if needed he could put a game at the end of the schedule on Dec. 5. UH is currently scheduled to close 2009 against Navy, led by former UH quarterback Ken Niumatalolo, and Wisconsin.

Central Arkansas is a member of the Southland Conference and went 6-5 last season. UH has one FCS team, Weber State, on this year's schedule.

Donovan said UH has received its Sugar Bowl payment from the Western Athletic Conference, which distributes bowl shares to the member schools. UH's net of $2.2 million was to help to balance the budget for the 2008 fiscal year.