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| Thursday, September 7 Hawaii says last Aloha to Texas By Stephen Tsai Special to ESPN.com | |||||
Like any other game week, the University of Hawaii football team
practiced at Aloha Stadium on Thursday and conducted a light afternoon dress
rehearsal on Friday.
There were pep talks and rituals.
The band worked on its formations.
Only one thing was missing last Saturday night: A game.
"It would have been nice to play," UH assistant coach Dennis McKnight said.
The original blueprint called for Hawaii, which went 9-4 in June Jones'
first year as head coach in 1999, to play host to Texas at Aloha Stadium last
Saturday night. The game was expected to be televised nationally, and, with a
premium fee attached to each ticket, gross $1 million -- at least $250,000
more than what the Warriors earn for an average home game.
But six months ago, the Longhorns, whose $40 million athletic budget is
nearly three times as large as the Warriors', canceled the game, citing,
among several reasons, the high cost of travel. UH offered to help subsidize
the trip, and even expressed a willingness to move the game to an earlier
date.
Fresno State There now is a two-for-one sale on bad news. After losing to Ohio State, 43-10, last week, the Bulldogs face UCLA, marking the first time in school history they will play consecutive games against nationally ranked teams in the same season. Fresno State fielded its first team in 1921. ... FSU coach Pat Hill wants to play Ohio State again, but both schools are booked through the next five years. ... Against Ohio State, linebacker Orlando Huff made 10 tackles, including two behind the line of scrimmage, and had a 46-yard fumble return. Huff, who is 6 feet 3 and 230 pounds, signed with Arizona State as a high school senior, but did not meet the academic requirements to play as a college freshman. He attended a junior college for two years, then joined his brother, a wrestler, at Fresno State. Hawaii And the winner is . . . Nick Rolovich. The Warriors ended the suspense Monday, naming Rolovich, a junior-college transfer, as the starting quarterback. Eight quarterbacks entered training camp in the competition to succeed Dan Robinson, who graduated last December. The list was whittled to three two weeks ago. UH coach June Jones picked Rolovich because of his arm strength, accuracy and leadership. Last year, Rolovich led City College of San Francisco to a 12-0 record; USA Today and JC Grid-Wire proclaimed CCSF as national champion. ... Starting free safety Nate Jackson has a badly injured ankle and probably won't start Saturday. ... Assistant coach Ron Lee underwent successful quadrapule-bypass surgery last week in Straub Clinic & Hospital. Lee, who coaches the wide receivers, won't return to work for at least a month. Nevada The Wolfpack makes its WAC debut against conference favorite Texas Christian on Saturday. Nevada was a member of the Big West Conference in 1999. ... TCU, ranked No. 21 in both polls, is the highest-rated opponent to ever play at Mackay Stadium. The Wolfpack became an NCAA Division I-A team in 1992. ... Nineteen freshmen or redshirt freshmen played against Oregon last week. Rice Freshman quarterback Jeremy Hurd broke a finger in his left (non-throwing) hand and will miss four to six weeks. He underwent surgery Tuesday. Corey Evans will start in his place. ... Hurd's injury overshadowed Rice's overtime victory over cross-town rival Houston, a member of Conference USA. In the game, safety Travis Ortega made a career-high 15 tackles, deflected a pass and forced a fumble. Linebacker Jeff Vanover blocked a punt and fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown. San Jose State The Spartans melted in the season-opening road loss to top-ranked Nebraska. It was the first time the Spartans played a game in 100-degree temperatures. The Spartans rushed for 193 yards, the most allowed by the Cornhuskers in three years, and did not allow a sack. But penalties nullified three apparent touchdowns . ... Saturday, the Spartans seek their third consecutive victory over Stanford. This will be the first night game in the series, which Stanford leads 42-12-1. Stanford is installing lights this week. SMU The Mustangs are seeking their second 2-0 start since 1985. SMU defeated Kansas, 31-17, last week in the first game played in Gerald J. Ford Stadium. It was the first game on SMU's campus in six years, and the Mustangs' first sellout since 1999, in Ownby Stadium. SMU scored 24 points in the first quarter, its highest output for a quarter since 1989. TCU The Horned Frogs, ranked for the first time since Oct. 23, 1990, open their season against Nevada Saturday. TCU's five-game winning streak is the longest in the WAC. ... LaDainian Tomlinson, the nation's defending rushing champion, begins his Heisman Trophy quest. Tomlinson is apparently healed from an Achilles injury. UTEP The top two receivers, Lee Mays and Allan Ray, were sidelined with heat cramps in an opening blowout loss at Oklahoma. Rocky Perez completed 14 of 17 passes when Mays or Ray were in the game; he was 4 of 20 when they were sidelined. ... UTEP, which plays SMU, has lost its last eight WAC home openers. Tulsa Corey Brown caught five passes for 107 yards against North Carolina last week. Both of Brown's parents are deaf. ... Twenty-two freshmen made the trip to Chapel Hill, and 15 played. ... The availability of linebacker Philip Abode is uncertain. Abode suffered a shoulder injury. Abode was raised in Stillwater, Okla., and wants to play this week against his hometown school, Oklahoma State. Abode is an engineering major with a 3.7 grade-point average. ... It has not rained in Tulsa in five weeks. There were 25 days in August when the temperature was in triple digits in Oklahoma. Stephen Tsai cover the WAC for the Honolulu Advertiser. | ALSO SEE Conference USA notebook MAC notebook | ||||
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