Game Week: SJSU - Friday News

Coach Greg McMackin talks about the QB situation.

"Tyler's really coming along," McMackin said after the team's final full practice prior to the game. "He's had three practices throwing the ball and it's going to be a game-time decision. Inoke's practiced well and (Graunke) gets better every day. I'm going to wait to the last day."

Stephen Tsai writes that Malcolm Lane will get a chance to return kickoffs.

Last season, Malcolm Lane finished 10th nationally in kick returns, averaging 29.2 yards. He had two returns for touchdowns.

But he was not used on kick returns in the first three games this season. Lane, now the starting right wideout, was being saved for offense.

But with the Warriors' renewed belief that the first offensive play is the kick return, Lane has been reinstated as one of the kick returners. His roommate, Ryan Mouton, is the other returner.

Ikaika Malloe, who coordinates UH's special teams, said the return schemes were altered to fit Lane's running style.

"Malcolm is really a downhill runner," Malloe said. "For the type of scheme we're doing, he's one of the better ones for it because he takes a little weave step and then he hits it down."

Tsai also has injury news on Blaze Soares and Daniel Libre and other notes.

Star-Bulletin reporter Donica Kaneshiro joins fellow Star-Bulletin reporter Jason Kaneshiro and Honolulu Advertiser reporter Stacy Kaneshiro in a select group of Kaneshiros that write about UH sports, a group that can only be called... "The Writin' Kaneshiros." Oh yes. Donica has a Warriors Football Notebook, writing about Greg McMackin's history with SJSU, along with some injury news.

Jason of the Writin' Kaneshiros profiles SJSU running back Yonus Davis.

So far in his comeback season, the 5-foot-8 Davis is the Spartans' leading rusher with 293 yards, and his career average of 5.9 yards per carry ranks fifth in the nation among active players.

"They missed Yonus last year," Hawaii linebacker Adam Leonard said. "He's a real good scatback who makes people miss, and if he gets a corner he can take it all the way to the house."

Davis was a teammate of former Hawaii receiver Davone Bess at Skyline High School in Oakland, Calif., and continues to keep in contact with Bess, now the Miami Dolphins' primary kick returner.

"I've talked to him some; he's doing real well over there," Davis said.

Davis said it had been a little while since he touched base with Bess, but "he'll probably call me some time this week.

Davis is also featured in this SJSUSpartans.com article.

And back in November 2006, Davis was featured in a prank by Mike Washington.

UH's Bess and San Jose State running back Yonus Davis were high school teammates in Oakland, and they spoke to each other Friday night. Each expressed his goal for the game. Davis said he wanted to rush for 200 yards, a prediction that Bess relayed to the UH defense.

On Friday night, Leonard received several text messages in which Davis said the inside linebackers "were trash."

"He had no respect for us," UH inside linebacker Solomon Elimimian said. "He kept text messaging Adam."

As it turned out, it was UH slotback Michael Washington, pretending to be Davis, who sent the text messages.

"It was Mike playing around," Leonard said, laughing. "He got us going. Mike made us almost want to kill the man."

I'm sure Davis harbors at least a little resentment over that. As he said after the 54-17 loss to UH in 2006, where he was held to 29 yards on the ground:

Asked if UH hit harder than other teams, Davis said, "They're not hard hitters at all."

Awww damn.