UH expects WAC to approve Saturday's game at Nevada

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

University of Hawai'i officials expect the Western Athletic Conference to approve a plan to reschedule the Warriors' football game against Nevada to Saturday in Reno, Nev.

"Until we're told otherwise, we're planning on playing (Saturday)," UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida said.

At the urging of the league, Yoshida said, UH booked nearly 100 airplane reservations to Reno. Yoshida said he believes the tickets are non-refundable, although the school might be able to receive credit for later flights.

The WAC game between UH and Nevada, originally scheduled for last Saturday, was postponed in the aftermath of last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C.

Because UH and Nevada do not have any common open dates through the Dec. 1 end of college football's regular season, league officials believed the best scenario would be to reschedule the UH-Nevada game to Saturday, and move Saturday's scheduled game between Nevada and San Jose State to Nov. 10, when both schools have byes.

But San Jose State balked at the suggestion, arguing that by not playing this week, it would not play a home game until Oct. 13.

WAC, UH, Nevada and San Jose State officials could not work out an agreement yesterday. The WAC Board of Directors, comprised of the presidents of the 10 WAC schools, will try to resolve the matter in a conference call today.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said he believes a resolution will be made that will cause the least disruption to the league.

"That's been our goal," he said.

If UH and Nevada do not meet Saturday, the Warriors will have a three-week break from their Sept. 8 opener against Montana to the Sept. 29 game against Rice, and Nevada will not play its first home game until Oct. 6.

KFVE, which owns the local television rights to UH sports, is counting on the Warriors playing this weekend.

"We have to consider that's going to happen in order to make plans," KFVE sportscaster Jim Leahey said. "We have to reorder everything — the (production) truck, the crew, the cameras. In our mind, the game will be played. We have to think like that."

But Yoshida said even if UH plays Saturday, the festivities surrounding the game have been canceled. More than 600 UH supporters from Hawai'i and 3,000 on the Mainland had planned on attending the game if it were played last Saturday. But Yoshida said there is not enough time to reschedule the dinners and golf tournament.