Manuma out for rest of season

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Matt Manuma, a top special teams player, has a torn ligament in his left knee and will miss the rest of the University of Hawai'i football season.

A magnetic resonance imaging, a procedure in which magnetic fields are used to capture a picture of the body's interior, showed a tear in his left anterior cruciate ligament.

Manuma, a redshirt freshman from Radford High, said he is tentatively scheduled to undergo surgery on Nov. 15.

Because there is no cartilage damage, Manuma should be able to compete in spring practice in March.

Manuma said he suffered the injury while trying to defend a kickoff return. "I was trying to get off a block, and my knee just buckled," he said.

• Health report: Despite a pulled hamstring, cornerback Hyrum Peters has been included on the 60-player travel roster for Saturday's game at Tulsa.

"He's still tender," said Rich Miano, who coaches the UH defensive backs. "He thinks he can help us and we think he can help us."

Miano said Peters will be used only if either Abraham Elimimian or Kelvin Millhouse is injured. Millhouse, who lost his starting job to Elimimian two weeks ago, regained it last week when Peters did not play.

Backup quarterback Shawn Withy-Allen, who suffered a pulled hamstring while serving on special teams, will not make the Tulsa trip. Withy-Allen said his leg is still sore.

• Chang update: Another day, another drama in the life of starting quarterback Tim Chang.

The reporters' area was abuzz when Chang, who missed the past two games because of a sprained right wrist, did not compete in contact drills yesterday morning.

But Jones and Chang insisted there was nothing wrong, and that Chang will start against the Hurricane.

"Coach wanted to hold me out and rest me," Chang said. "We're taking precautions. It's a preventive step."

Chang said he was not concerned about missing a passing session.

"I'm going to be doing a lot of throwing up there," he said. "I'll be all right."