A clerical error is preventing Hawai'i backup quarterback from being available for tomorrow's nationally televised road football game against 15th-ranked Boise State.

"I feel sorry for Brent," UH head coach Greg McMackin said. "It's not his fault."

Rausch, who is No. 3 behind Inoke Funaki and Greg Alexander, yesterday was taken off the 64-player travel roster 30 minutes before the Warriors were to leave the Manoa campus for the airport.

Jake Santos replaced Rausch on the travel roster.

"I would have liked to go," Rausch said, "but it's OK. I'm happy for Jake. He's a senior."

The problem, the UH coaches were told, stemmed from an eligibility form Rausch filled out Aug. 2 during the orientation session for first-year Warriors.

Rausch inadvertently put in the wrong code in one of the form's boxes.

The mistake was not detected until last week.

Faculty athletic representative Peter Nicholson notified McMackin the day before the past Saturday's game against Louisiana Tech.

Rausch was withheld from the Louisiana Tech game while Nicholson tried to get the mistake corrected with the NCAA.

Despite the support of the Western Athletic Conference, of which UH is a member, the NCAA had not ruled on the matter yesterday.

Yesterday morning, Nicholson told McMackin that Rausch would not be allowed to travel.

The uncertainty had caused the Warriors to scramble to prepare for tomorrow's game. Santos took the reps that would have gone to Rausch.

McMackin said he is hopeful Rausch will be cleared to play against Nevada next week.

INGRAM'S SNAP SUCCESS

Part of long-snapper Jake Ingram's preparation is to play dirty.

Sometimes in practice, he will drench a football with water.

Sometimes he will cake it in dirt.

"Games aren't going to be perfect," Ingram said. "I have to be ready. I'll go out (before practice) and water the ball down, as if it were a rainy game."

But, he said, "if I do my thing, it doesn't matter how wet the ball is or how cold the weather is, (the snap) will get back there."

In the past two years, Ingram has developed into a consistent long-snapper on punts and placekicks. McMackin said Ingram is one of the best in the country.

To be sure, the job was not, well, a snap for Ingram. It was against Boise State in 2005 when the Warriors malfunctioned on special teams. Ingram took the blame, and was demoted during the ensuing week's practices.

At the time, Ingram recalled, "I was really learning how to be a good long-snapper. From then to now is totally a 180(-degree) change."

Ingram has gone through a three-step education. He started with a technique that felt comfortable. Then he went to several Web sites that had online instruction on long-snapping. This year, he incorporated his style with tips from Ikaika Malloe, the special-teams coordinator.

Of the online information, Ingram said, "I go there and pick up little things and try it out on the field. If it works for me, I keep it. If not, I throw it out."

This year, beginning with spring practice, Ingram expanded his training program. He worked on core exercises that focused on his abdominal muscles. He said the workouts have improved his balance and strength.

"I can feel the difference," Ingram said. "I feel my release is quicker, and everything is more solid."

Indeed, his snap-to-catch times have improved. He can deliver an accurate snap to punter Tim Grasso in 0.65 seconds to 0.67 seconds. The total snap-to-punt time is down to under 2 seconds.

"We just work at it a lot," Grasso said. "It's really serious to both of us. Coach Malloe can attest to this. If we have a bad day, we're the worst people in the world to be around. Our job might be small, but it needs to be taken seriously, and we take it seriously."