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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Saturday, October 4, 2003

UH faces improved Tulsa

 •  Tulsa, UH have had success on offense
 •  Sopoaga won't be there, but scouts will
 •  FERD LEWIS:
UH can't afford to drop ball
 •  2003 UH football schedule

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i vs. Tulsa

Who: Hawai'i (2-2, 1-0 WAC) vs. Tulsa (2-2, 0-0)

When: 1:05 p.m. today Hawai'i time

Where: Skelly Stadium, Tulsa, Okla.

TV: Live on K5

Radio: Live on 1420-AM

odds: UH by 9
TULSA, Okla. — Rain swept through the Southern Hills section, adding to the clouded circumstances surrounding tonight's football game between Hawai'i and Tulsa at Skelly Stadium.

Tulsa enters its Western Athletic Conference opener with its third head coach in five years. With a 2-2 nonconference record, Tulsa, under Steve Kragthorpe, has improved upon last year's 1-11 record.

UH, 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the WAC, is back on the road two weeks after losing consecutive games at Southern California and Nevada-Las Vegas. Last week's 41-21 victory over Rice "is a done deal," strong safety Hyrum Peters said. "We had our fun. Now we have amnesia (about Rice). We're only thinking about this game."

Kragthorpe, who was the Buffalo Bills' quarterbacks coach the previous two years, and the Warriors' June Jones, who was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and San Diego Chargers, bring a professional style to the college game. Like National Football League teams, UH and Tulsa do not have full-contact practices — "I always subscribe to the theory you don't leave your best game on the field on Wednesday afternoon," Kragthorpe said — nor are they liberal in providing personnel information.

Through the second week of training camp, Kragthorpe did not list a depth chart publicly. James Kilian, the obvious No. 1 quarterback after Tyler Gooch transferred to Oklahoma to pursue a baseball career, was not officially announced until less than two weeks before the opening kickoff.

Spokesman Donald Tomkalski said the team only lists injuries of players who will not play the rest of the season.

While Jones provides injury updates, he will not confirm his starting lineup before a game. During last week's pre-game introductions at Aloha Stadium, Leonard Peters was announced as the starting free safety. Peters did not start and, as a matter of fact, the Warriors' reconfigured defense did not use a free safety.

Both teams make their players off limits to the media from two days before the game through the game's final whistle. That was not a problem this week for the Warriors, who did not arrive in town until yesterday afternoon.

For the previous two games against the Hurricane, the Warriors practiced at Jenks High in Tulsa. Sometimes they practiced on a field next to the stadium, with the only light coming from the junior varsity game.

But Jones said UH could not afford a nonstop charter from Honolulu to Tulsa, forcing the team to take a direct commercial flight to Houston. Rather than stopping over in Houston for a couple of hours and then going to Tulsa, Jones decided the team should spend Thursday night in Houston. That allowed the team to practice at a high school field in Houston Thursday night and yesterday morning.

It also kept secret the Warriors' late plans. Jones has said he is concerned about lineup changes or secret plays being posted on the Internet.

But while some of the Warriors' plans might be a secret, their intentions are known.

"We need to win on the road," Jones said. "We have six road games. We'd better win. We'd better do it. This is our next chance to do it."

UH slotback Gerald Welch said the team believed it should have won at least one of the first two road games. "We're anxious to get a road win," he said.

Of the Warriors' circuitous route to Tulsa, Welch said, "It doesn't matter to us. Once you get on the plane, you know it's going to be different. The Mainland is the Mainland."

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

• • •


2003 UH FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Tulsa Golden Hurricanes
  • Oct. 4
  • Skelly Stadium, Tulsa, Okla.
  • Series Information: 7th meeting
  • Overall series record: 4-2-0; in Honolulu: 2-1-0
  • First meeting: Sept. 22, 1951(Tulsa 58, UH 0)
  • Previous meeting: October 19, 2002 (UH 37, Tulsa 14)

Fresno State Bulldogs

  • Oct. 11
  • Aloha Stadium
  • Series information: 36th meeting
  • Overall series record: 16-18-1; in Honolulu: 12-8-0
  • First meeting: Nov. 18, 1938 (Fresno State 15, UH 13)
  • Previous meeting: Oct. 25, 2002 (UH 31, Fresno State 21)

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

  • Oct. 18
  • Joe Aillet Stadium, Ruston, La.
  • Series information: 2nd meeting
  • Overall series record: 1-0-0; in Honolulu: 1-0-0
  • First Meeting: Nov. 18, 2000 (UH 27, Louisiana Tech 10)

Texas-El Paso Miners

  • Oct. 25
  • Aloha Stadium
  • Series information: 30th meeting
  • Overall series record: 17-12-0; in Honolulu: 11-5-0
  • First meeting: Dec. 14, 1948 (UTEP 49, UH 6)
  • Previous meeting: Sept. 21, 2002 (UH 31, UTEP 6)

San Jose State Spartans

  • Nov. 1
  • Spartan Stadium, San Jose, Calif.
  • Series information: 27th meeting
  • Overall series record: 10-15-1; in Honolulu: 8-10-0
  • First meeting: Dec. 11, 1936 (San Jose State 13, UH 8)
  • Previous meeting: Nov. 2, 2002 (UH 40, San Jose State 31)

Nevada Wolf Pack

  • Nov. 15
  • Mackay Stadium, Reno, Nev.
  • Series information: 8th Meeting
  • Overall series record: 3-4-0; in Honolulu: 3-3-0
  • First meeting: Dec. 15, 1920 (Nevada 14, UH 9)
  • Previous meeting: Oct. 12, 2002 (UH 59, Nevada 34)

Army Black Knights

  • Nov. 22
  • Aloha Stadium
  • First meeting

Alabama Crimson Tide

  • Nov. 29
  • Aloha Stadium
  • Series Information: 2nd Meeting
  • Overall series record: 0-1-0; in Honolulu: 0-1-0
  • First meeting: Nov. 30, 2002 (Alabama 21, UH 16)

Boise State Broncos

  • Dec. 6
  • Aloha Stadium
  • Series information: 5th Meeting
  • Overall series record: 2-2-0; in Honolulu: 2-1-0
  • First meeting: Sept. 21, 1996 (UH 20, Boise State 14)
  • Previous meeting: Oct. 5, 2002 (Boise State 58, UH 31)