Warriors say blame belongs to Spartans

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i football team yesterday said San Jose State had only itself to blame — not the officials — for the Warriors' 13-10 victory Saturday at Spartan Stadium.

Furthermore, the Warriors said it was incorrect for the Western Athletic Conference to suspend the seven-man officiating crew for the way it handled the final seconds, and that the league's ruling would not tarnish the victory.

"We came out with the 'W,' and that's all that matters," co-captain Jeremiah Cockheran said. "We're happy and they can't take it away."

UH coach June Jones said: "We still won by three."

WAC commissioner Karl Benson yesterday ordered Jones not to discuss the suspensions.

"All I can tell you is (the calls are) supposed to even out, and we've had our share of the other way," Jones said.

Down 13-10 with the ball at the UH 5, the Spartans called their third timeout with 20 seconds left. Quarterback Scott Rislov completed a screen to tight end Courtney Anderson, who was stopped just short of the goal line. After hurrying to the line of scrimmage, Rislov appeared to lean forward, then took a step backward and spiked the ball with "0:01" showing on the stadium's end-zone clock.

But referee Gene Semko had ruled Rislov's spike came after time expired, although WAC officials decided otherwise yesterday after reviewing the Spartans' appeal.

UH safety Hyrum Peters said Rislov should not have been allowed to spike the ball because the Spartans, who were out of timeouts, had not aligned properly.

"They couldn't hike the ball because they weren't ready," Peters said. "You have to know who's on the line and who's off the line."

Cockheran said: "They were trying to move and everything (before the snap). You can't snap it while everyone's moving. If you can't snap it, you can't spike it (to stop the clock)."

Cockheran said the Spartans should be blamed for burning three timeouts during their final drive.

"You can't blame the referees for the coach's decision," Cockheran said. "I thought they were going to save a timeout so they could try to go into overtime. We figured, if they didn't get (a touchdown on) that last play, they would call a timeout. ... You cannot blame the refs over how (the Spartans) managed the closing seconds of the game."

UH cornerback Abraham Elimimian said the decision to suspend the officials was "just a stupid call on the league's part. It sets a bad precedent when they start blaming refs."

He added: "That's all in the past. We thought the refs called a really good game. It was fair and square. (The Spartans) should have kicked (the field goal) when they had the chance. They had nobody to blame but San Jose State."

• Health report: Starting defensive end Houston Ala has a sprained ligament in his left knee, but the injury is not expected to keep him from playing against Nevada Nov. 15. UH has a bye this weekend. Ala did not compete in practice yesterday afternoon.

Starting left wideout Britton Komine, who has a partially torn muscle or tendon in his left calf, wore a protective boot yesterday. Komine said he will not practice until next week.

Cockheran, recovering from a sprained right ankle, also did not compete in workouts.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.