University of Hawai'i punter Kurt Milne was back in the South, a two-hour drive from his Georgia hometown.

He was surrounded by friends and family. His brother had flown in for the opener against Alabama. His father brought dozens of Krispy Kreme doughnuts for Milne's football teammates. His mother planned a team excursion.

For Milne, everything was good . . . until the last drop.

"I made a mistake," said Milne, who dropped a snap, turning what should have been a routine punt into a safety in the Warriors' 25-17 loss to Alabama two weeks ago.

"It was a mental error," Milne said. "But then again, I am a senior. I've been here for a while."

It was Milne's first dropped snap in his UH career. He is so sure-handed he serves as the holder on field-goal and point-after attempts.

"I've never really dropped anything," Milne said. "That's part of the deal. I haven't dropped a snap in pretty much three years."

The safety gave Alabama a 12-3 lead, and the field goal at the end of the ensuing drive made it 15-3.

What's more, he had wobbled punts of 31 yards, which preceded the Tide's 61-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, and 25 yards.

"It wasn't just about dropping the snap," Milne said. "I had two pretty bad punts at Alabama, too. I think those (punts) upset coach (June Jones) a little more than dropping the ball. That was the big issue."

With last week's bye, Milne had extensive time to replay the mistakes. In a nudge to Milne's ego, slotback Davone Bess was allowed to punt during Tuesday's practice.

"This could turn out to be a good thing," Milne said. "It could push me to be a better punter."

Milne said teammates have been "really supportive. They're like, 'Don't worry about it. You'll rebound.' It was a little better than the whole freshman thing."

He was referring to a game against Rice in 2003, during which a snap sailed over his head. He chased down the football, but it was knocked away, and Rice recovered for a touchdown.

"Nobody was supportive about that one," Milne said. "This time, I've been here a little longer. I probably have a little bit more credibility now. I have to fight through this. It's been the hardest thing I've had to deal with."

The thing is, Milne had one of his best training camps. Last year, he was told to run toward the edge of the pocket before punting, a strategy designed to place punts near the sideline. His punt average dropped from 39.9 yards in 2004 to 36.1 last year. This year, he has been asked to swing away. During training camp, his punts had an average hang time of 4.5 seconds.

"Everybody's got a tough job," Jones said. "You've got to fight through adversity."

Asked about using Bess as a wake-up call, Jones said, "Competition always makes everybody better. We have some guys who can punt. But (Milne is) the best punter we have now. It's like a golfer. You have to play through it. Tough guys get tougher."

LANE CHANGE POSSIBLE

The blueprints call for Malcolm Lane, a freshman wideout who was graduated from a high school in Germany, to redshirt this season.

But in the past two weeks of practices, Lane was asked to portray UNLV quarterback Rocky Hinds, who is 6 feet 5, 225 pounds and can run 100 meters in 10.4 seconds. Lane, who is 6 feet 2, has been impressive enough to make UH coaches search for loopholes in the redshirt agreement.

"We'll do what's in the best interest of the program, and that's always June's criteria, but man, oh, man, Malcolm is a weapon," said assistant coach Jeff Reinebold, who recruited Lane. "You see him in kickoffs or out there running around. He doesn't have any idea what he's doing, but he sure can do it fast."

Lane said: "I'm trying my hardest."

In casting Lane, Reinebold found a player who is tall and nearly as fast as Hinds. In UNLV's spread-option offense, Hinds is allowed to scramble or take off on quarterback draws. Lane helped UH defenders identify Hinds' cutback routes.

"Nobody is going to mistake (Lane) for Joe Montana throwing the ball," Reinebold said. "He'll never be a quarterback. But you can see he's a stone-cold athlete. He can run, and he's big. He ran away from us a couple of times. He made plays because he's an athlete."

Defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said: "Malcolm didn't earn his scholarship for his throwing. He did an excellent job in preparing our defense."

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