NEW ORLEANS — At 6 feet 4 and 328 pounds, University of Georgia center Fernando Velasco is a big man.

A big man with big, wide eyes after surveying the Superdome, site of tomorrow's Sugar Bowl against the University of Hawai'i.

"It has been awesome (practicing there)," Velasco said. "It is my first time to come to the Superdome. I'm amazed how big it is. The only other dome I have been in is the Georgia Dome (in Atlanta) and this feels bigger than that." This from a well-traveled fifth-year senior.

And, how do the Warriors feel about it?

Well, we won't be able to tell you until later today because UH will be practicing in it for the first time on the eve of the most important game in the school's history.

If there is one overriding concern about UH's preparation for the game besides being able to come to grips with the Bulldogs' speed, it is that the Warriors have yet to glimpse the Superdome, much less gain a familiarity with it.

Georgia has practiced there since Thursday while UH chose to work out across town at the New Orleans Saints' indoor practice facility.

Only today, in a scheduled 1 1/2-hour "walk-through," will UH work out in the Superdome before game day.

The UH company line is that it doesn't much matter, that being indoors at the Saints' place will lend enough familiarity playing under a roof. The expectation is that the Warriors, who have seen Alabama, Michigan State and adjusted well on the road these last two seasons will be able to do it again on a larger, grander scale.

And, you hope that is the case because there is more than the politicians bets of peaches vs. pineapples riding on this game.

Overall, the players and coaches say practices have been good and they could hardly be more ready. They say they are prepared to play now. They maintain that they will find their bearings and keep their composure in the Superdome where the only thing that will matter is how they execute against the team in front of them.

You hope that will be the feeling once they walk into the vastness that is the 13-acre, 27-story Superdome, which was a Guinness Book of Records entry for the largest indoor arena when it opened in 1975.

Although Georgia, the home team for the game, selected the Superdome for its week-long practice site, the Warriors could have used it, too, a Sugar Bowl official said. "Hawai'i did have the option to practice at the Superdome and could have if it chose to," spokesman Duane Lewis said.

Head coach June Jones said he liked the Saints' facilities and, indeed, UH was better able to control access to the facility than had it practiced in the Superdome. But mindful of how big the Warriors' eyes got at Alabama last year and how huge the lumps in their throats were at Michigan State three years ago, there is concern about their ability to adjust to the more imposing Superdome.

Once UH settled down at Alabama it played well and had the opportunity to even pull out a victory. You'd hope there doesn't have to be a significant settling in tomorrow or UH could be in trouble.

Jones, who played in the Superdome as a quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons and coached there for Atlanta, Detroit and San Diego, has a wide familiarity with the place. "It is really kind of unbelievable going into that dome," Jones said after the Sugar Bowl pairing was first announced. "Our players have never seen anything like it. It is almost bigger than the (University of) Idaho dome."

He was kidding about the Kibbie Dome, of course.

The hope is the Warriors will be laughing as winners when they leave the Superdome, too.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.

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