Posted on: Saturday, October 4, 2003
UH can't afford to drop ball
| • | UH faces improved Tulsa |
| • | Tulsa, UH have had success on offense |
| • | Sopoaga won't be there, but scouts will |
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
TULSA, Okla. — If this is the Tulsa game, then can Fresno State be far behind?
Not on the schedule where, for three years running now, every showdown the University of Hawai'i has had with the Bulldogs has been immediately preceded by a date with the Golden Hurricane.
With the big game against Fresno State at Aloha Stadium Oct. 11 on the horizon, Tulsa is, apparently, the Western Athletic Conference schedule-maker's idea of the perfect annual October warm-up for the Warriors. Somebody up there in the conference office is looking out for the Warriors again.
Before bringing on the Bulldogs, who have become Hawai'i's biggest football rival and toughest foe, there is Tulsa, one of its favorite punching bags the week before. Before a game that will figure heavily into the conference race, there is one the oddsmakers suggest the Warriors should be able to get through working up a good sweat but without pulling out all the stops.
Like a heavyweight fighter preparing for a title match, this is the customary tune-up bout with the team picked to win the WAC paired against the team chosen to finish last.
And this year, more so than most years, the Warriors can use one against somebody they are a 9-point favorite against.
After a 2-2 start that included a wobbly beginning to WAC play with last week's come-from-ahead win over Rice, there are still many rough edges for the Warriors to work out. After 10 dropped passes and some new faces to be worked into the rotation, there is one more chance to get the timing down.
With a growing injury list, there are still some front-liners to be rested, healed and serving penance. Chad Owens, the conference leader in receptions, will be sitting out the second and final game of his suspension for skipping the team flight back from Las Vegas. Jeremiah Cockheran, who is No. 2 in receptions, might be in for light duty after coming off a sprained ankle. All-conference defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga is out with a sprained right knee.
Still, if you are Hawai'i it would be a mistake to take this one too lightly or get caught looking too many days ahead on the schedule against a Tulsa team that is showing signs of life again after going 2-21 over the last two seasons. For the first time in years, the Golden Hurricane is actually scoring points with back-to-back 40-point games, albeit against Texas State and Arkansas State, for the first time since 1991.
With both Fresno State, the team picked to finish third in the WAC, and Boise State, the defending champion and second-place pick, coming to Honolulu, the Warriors have the closest thing to the perfect schedule they could have wished for.
With Tulsa preceding FSU, the Warriors have all they could ask for. What they don't need and can't afford is a pratfall to take the edge off of it.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
