Colorado, News and Notes, Etc

The Sports Network has a UH vs Colorado preview.

Brian Howell of the Longmont Times-Call writes about Colorado's hopes to bounce back from the loss to Cal.

By Tuesday, the Buffs were angry. And ready to play another game.

“The confidence isn’t down,” senior receiver Scotty McKnight said. “It’s almost a little more fire. We know that game shouldn’t have gone the way it did.

“We have confidence and we know that we can be a very, very good football team.”

“I think we need to come out here and win,” McKnight said. “I think a little bit of that is gaining support back from fans. I think people are kind of down generally (about) the team. This is a big game for us. Not to say that the other games aren’t, but this is one of those things that we can use for positive momentum.”

Stephen Tsai writes about UH's moves on defense.

Richard Torres, the No. 1 nickelback, will replace Smith as the strong safety in the base 4-3 defense.

In schemes involving five defensive backs, the coaches are mulling whether to keep Torres at safety or move him back to nickelback. If Torres is at safety, then Lewis Walker, Jordan Gomes or John Hardy-Tuliau will play nickelback. If Torres moves to nickel, then Kenny Estes or Gomes will play strong safety.

Aranda said that Kawika Ornellas, a sophomore walk-on from Mililani High, now is "bracketed" with Lametrius Davis at left cornerback atop the depth chart. Davis started UH's first two games. Both will play against Colorado.

Elliott Purcell is projected to start at defensive left end. Liko Satele, who started UH's first two games, will split time with right end Kamalu Umu. The coaches want to ease the burden on Umu, who is averaging more than 50 defensive plays per game.

Tsai has some news and notes about Kealoha Pilares being a gunner on punt coverage, John Hardy-Tuliau blocking kicks, and David Graves practicing at QB and safety.

"It was a good first day," said Graves, who played safety through his junior year of high school before moving to quarterback as a senior. "I was listening to coach Miano while he was coaching up the guys for the game plan this week. It was making a lot of sense to me."

And Ferd Lewis and Dave Reardon have articles about the WAC, the lawsuits, the hurt feelings, etc.