Game Week: Washington State - Wednesday News

Via the Idaho Statesman, The Sports Network has a game preview.

Jason Kaneshiro profiles true freshman nickelback and special teams contributor Richard Torres.

The Hawaii freshman joined the Warriors last spring figuring he'd have a redshirt season and some time on the scout team awaiting him in the fall.

Heck, at 5-foot-7 and 165 pounds, simply keeping a place on a Division I roster would be considered an accomplishment for a defensive back his size.

But Torres not only stuck around, he impressed the coaches enough in practice to earn a job on special teams, then continued to move up the depth chart in the UH secondary.

Kaneshiro also has an injury update on Kealoha Pilares and notes about Tyler Graunke and tomorrow's practice.

Stephen Tsai also profiles Richard Torres, who talks about his Kahuku roots.

"I remember looking up to Inoke Funaki and Leonard Peters," Torres said. "Being around, all you could think about was growing up and playing Red Raider football. When you actually get to do it, it's a big honor. You take pride in it."

Tsai also has notes about Graunke's absence, Kealoha Pilares' injury and John Estes' new fan-assisted haircut.

Center John Estes' long hair became entangled in a fan Monday night. As a result, he approved lopping off the hair he had grown for the past two years.

"I was sleeping by a fan and it got sucked in," Estes said. "It's unfortunate, but I needed a haircut, anyway. ... It's high maintenance, but it looked good."

Ferd Lewis writes how the NCAA APR has affected Idaho and Washington State.

And Ferd writes that UTEP is a possible Hawaii Bowl opponent for UH.

In that case, the bowl's "contingency agreement" with Conference USA could send a team here, according to C-USA associate commissioner Russ Anderson and others involved in negotiations. C-USA has six bowl tie-ins but would have seven bowl-eligible teams if UTEP (5-6) beats East Carolina (7-4) Saturday in Greenville, N.C.

Anderson said UTEP "would probably be a slight favorite" among the C-USA possibilities — Rice, Southern Mississippi and Memphis if all are bowl eligible — to play here. "But there are so many moving parts right now that things could certainly change," Anderson said.