UH-Fresno Previews, Na Koa Lunch Report, Graves on Kick Returns

HawaiiAthletics.com and GoBulldogs.com have game notes and info for Saturday's UH-Fresno game.

The Sports Network has a game preview.

The Bulldogs will get a much better idea of just how strong their pass defense is this season when they try to lock down on Hawaii. The Warriors would be smart to try and get something going on the ground against a weaker run defense for FSU, but that's not likely. If Moniz is dialed in then the Bulldogs will have their hands full.

Na Koa has this week's Lunch Report up on NaKoa.org. The featured speaker was Coach Cal Lee.

Stephen Tsai writes about an interesting change to the kickoff return team.

Yesterday, the Warriors introduced a key change on their kickoff returns. David Graves, a backup quarterback who has practiced at safety, was named the second deep returner. In UH's scheme, Graves will be aligned at the same depth as Sampson, only he will be on the wide side of the field. Sampson will field most of the kickoffs, with Graves sliding in front as a lead blocker.

"I don't mind blocking," Graves said. "It's another way to get in the game, another way to do something for the team. I'm down for it."

It usually is difficult to move a quarterback to special teams. But because Graves has been moonlighting at safety the past three weeks, Tormey said, "There are no trades involved. He's already a defensive guy."

Tsai has news and notes about Moniz missing practice for school, Alex Green working on ball security, Rodney Bradley getting cleared to play against Fresno, and Dustin Blount getting more playing time as the 5th receiver.

Fresno's ABC affiliate has a video preview of the game.

Ferd Lewis writes about what Fresno football means to the San Joaquin Valley.

For 3 hours on a Saturday -- like this one when the University of Hawaii comes to town -- and beyond, the Bulldogs give the California's hard-pressed central San Joaquin Valley something to rally around in tough times.

"We play for the valley," Bulldogs' head coach Pat Hill says. Indeed, along the asphalt path the Bulldogs take from their locker room to the field at Bulldog Stadium is a green wall painted with the slogan, 'Pride of the Valley.' On the back of the Bulldogs' helmets since 1997, when Hill took over, has been a green letter "V" symbolizing the valley and its agricultural base.

And Dave Reardon writes about UH football games being broadcast in Japan.

After a successful debut last season, Warriors games are again being televised by a network in Japan. The difference this year is the play-by-play and color analysis are being translated into Japanese.

The games produced and telecast here will be available to more than 600,000 homes in Japan through a collaborative effort of Pac Rim Sports Initiative, UH, Oceanic Time-Warner and KHNL-KFVE.

This year the Hawaii Tourism Authority has kicked in $50,000 to defray production costs incurred by Pac Rim.