WARRIORS NOTEBOOK
Young receivers tossed in mix
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
With 75 percent of the University of Hawai'i's starting receivers expected to miss Saturday's road football game against Tulsa, head coach June Jones will be forced to use not-ready-for-prime-time players.
Jones said right wideout Jeremiah Cockheran, who aggravated a sprained right ankle in Saturday's 41-21 victory over Rice, will join slotbacks Chad Owens and Nate Ilaoa on the inactive list. Owens is serving a two-game suspension for violating team rules and Ilaoa is recovering from knee surgery two weeks ago.
Wideout Jason Rivers and slotback Ross Dickerson are a "long way" from becoming standouts, Jones said. "To be quite honest, they're not even good enough to play right now. ... Look at the film. They don't know what they're doing yet."
Rivers, a freshman from Saint Louis School, was regarded as the valedictorian of this year's recruiting class.
"I wouldn't play Jason Rivers right now unless I had to play him, and I've got to play him," Jones said. "He's got to get better for us to get better."
Jones said Rivers and Dickerson, a second-year freshman who is starting in place of Owens, are struggling to learn the run-and-shoot offense, which requires the receivers to choose a pass route by their third step. Rivers and Dickerson played in a version of this offense at Saint Louis. Jones said their mistakes in decisions and technique are the consequence of on-the-job learning.
"You have to live with some errors while they learn," Jones said. "Jason Rivers and Ross Dickerson will be better this week because they played, but that's what happens all of the time. You live with errors until they get into the game and do it. They grew up a lot and they'll be better this week, but they're not good enough right now, and they're a long way from being what we need."
Health report: Jones said Cockheran, defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga and linebacker Watson Ho'ohuli will not play against Tulsa. Ho'ohuli has a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and will not play again this season, Jones said.
Sopoaga has a torn medial collateral ligament. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a procedure that uses magnetic fields to create a picture of the body's interior, will try to show if Sopoaga also has damage to his ACL.
The trouble is the 6-foot-3, 335-pound Sopoaga is too large for the regular MRI machine, which resembles a small tunnel. In an MRI procedure, a person is placed inside the tunnel. The machine's strong magnetic fields charge the protons. When the magnetic pull is lessened, the protons ease. Doctors can determine injuries by comparing images of the charged and eased protons.
Sopoaga probably could fit in an "open" MRI machine, which is designed for patients who weigh more than 300 pounds or are claustrophobic. There are only two or three "open" MRI machines on O'ahu, according to Dr. Jay Marumoto, the team's physician, and "availability and scheduling might be a problem."
Jones said running back West Keliikipi has a broken bone in his hand, but is expected to play. Defensive tackle Abu Ma'afala, who missed the Rice game because of a fractured right hand, will return this week.
Speaking out: Jones said the Warriors' poor play against Nevada-Las Vegas Sept. 19 led him to break his self-imposed rule of not criticizing his players publicly.
Jones said his team's lack of focus "was an issue after the Vegas game, more so than it's ever been, and that's been corrected."
Jones said his critical comments during a Sept. 22 news conference were premeditated.
Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.
