Blaze, Corners, Grasso, Etc

Dave Reardon writes about how the injury to Blaze Soares might keep him out of Saturday's game.

"If it's close, we're not going to play (Soares). I don't know that he's ruled out, we'll know more (today)," McMackin said. "If a guy doesn't practice ... We don't want to hurt him for the season.

"You always miss a guy like Blaze, but we've got a lot of guys, we've rolled those guys since spring as four starters," McMackin added. "We're blessed with some good guys behind them."

Brian McInnis profiles starting corners Myron Newberry and Gerard Lewis and how they've dealt with the competition.

Both Lewis and Newberry brushed off any worry about increased pressure to perform.

"Somebody goes down, the next person, they will do the job," Lewis said. "Only thing I was thinking was, do your job, and everything else pays off."

Stephen Tsai talks to punter Tim Grasso about getting the starting nod.

Told of Jones' decision after yesterday's 65-minute practice, Grasso said: "That's a first for me. It's awesome. It's something I've been working for. I worked my butt off all summer long for that moment to be named."

Another punter that should be applauded, writes Kalani Simpson, is Northern Colorado's Rafael Mendoza, who went through that whole ordeal being stabbed by his rival.

Also from Tsai's article:

• More about Blaze Soares' injury.


• Injury updates on John Fonoti and Raphael Ieru.


• Details about the backup offensive linemen and some of their nicknames.


• Ryan Grice-Mullins discusses his fashion sense.

Northern Colorado QB Dominic Breazeale talks about his hopes for Saturday's game, and the strategy the Bears may be using.

Breazeale isn't foolish enough to guarantee a victory, but he is confident enough in his team to believe an upset could happen.

"It's football and anything can happen," Breazeale said. "I have the mentality that I am going to go in and win the game. I am going to play to the best of my ability, and I hope everybody else does too. And we just have a great outcome."

"Controlling the ball is going to take a lot of effort from out of the running game and the line and everything in general," Breazeale said.

Still, the Bears know they will also need a ball-control passing game to keep Hawaii honest.

I think the UH defense will have a great game on Saturday.

And finally, Dave Reardon continues his opponent previews, taking a look at Fresno State.