By Jason Kaneshiro

SAN JOSE, Calif. >> One thing the Warriors won’t have to worry about tomorrow is the field conditions.

The last time UH visited Spartan Stadium, heavy rains turned the field into a muddy mess when Colt Brennan and crew escaped with an overtime win. San Jose State installed a FieldTurf playing surface this year.

The Warriors had a chance to get a feel for the field at their walk-through this afternoon.

“I remember being up to my ankles in mud the last time we were here,” UH head coach Greg McMackin said.

>> The status of quarterback Bryant Moniz and receiver Greg Salas remain game-time decisions. Both have been limited in practice due to their injuries. 

>> The Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California and UH Alumni Association are hosting a series of events in the Bay Area as part of the 11th annual Road Warrior Tailgate.

More than 1,000 fans are expected to attend the events, which included pregame parties in San Francisco on Thursday and San Jose yesterday. There’s a pregame tailgate planned at Spartan Stadium tomorrow as well as a postgame party at the Hukilau San Jose.

The groups have been hosting the events for UH’s visits to Northern California for 11 years.

By Jason Kaneshiro

Slotback Greg Salas and quarterback Bryant Moniz both said they’ll likely practice on Thursday and assess their status for Saturday’s game at San Jose State.
“It’s feeling better from yesterday so if it keeps improving like this then hopefully I’ll be ready to go,” said Salas, who is nursing a sprained foot.
Moniz is dealing with bruised ribs suffered in last week’s win over New Mexico State.
“They might give me tomorrow off, but at least by Thursday I have to get out there and see how it feels,” he said.
In the meantime, Kealoha Pilares took some repetitions at slotback just in case. He’s started the last four games at wide receiver. Shane Austin was first in the rotation at quarterback.

>> Kickoff time for the regular-season finale has been set for 6:30 p.m., ESPN and UH announced today. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

>> Former UH defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville resigned as head coach at Portland State today. The Vikings went 9-24 in his three seasons at Portland State after leaving UH following the 2006 season. He hired former UH slotback and graduate assistant Craig Stutzmann as receivers coach just before the start of fall camp.
Stutzmann said the staff was informed of their release today. As for the next step in his career, Stutzmann indicated he wants to remain in coaching and will “just keep my options open and see what God has next.”

By Jason Kaneshiro

When Greg McMackin arrived for his press conference today, he was still awaiting word on the results of X-rays on Bryant Moniz’s ribs and Greg Salas’ ankle. “(The trainers) think it’s a sprained ankle and a bruised rib, but they’re getting it X-rayed,” McMackin said.
McMackin said both injuries occurred in the first quarter of Saturday’s win over New Mexico State. Salas played the entire game while Moniz pulled himself out early in the fourth quarter.
>> Former UH coach and current San Jose State coach Dick Tomey announced his retirement effective at the end of the season today. The timing of the announcement, the week of the Hawaii game, and the emotional impact it could have on the Spartans wasn’t lost on McMackin. “But the thing is I knew they’d be ready to play anyway,” he said.
“Dick Tomey’s a great coach, great person. I think he’s one of the best coaches in the country.”
>> From the AP account of Tomey’s press conference: “We have a lot of responsibilities left on the mainland, including six grandchildren to visit, but effectively we will be going back to the place we love the most and that’s Hawaii,” Tomey said.
>> The Warriors’ practices Wednesday and Thursday will be closed to the public.

By Jason Kaneshiro

With his record-breaking performance against New Mexico State, Greg Salas now leads the nation in receiving.
Salas entered the game second among FBS receivers and passed Bowling Green’s Freddie Barnes by racking up 196 yards on a school-record 16 receptions.
Salas now has 1,360 yards, averaging 136 per game, also the best in the nation. If he keeps up his current pace, Salas could break Ashley Lelie’s single-season yardage record of 1,713 set in 2001.
Barnes has 1,285 yards and leads the way in receptions per game with 11.7. Salas is second with 8.5 catches per game.
>> Safety Mana Silva leads the WAC is tied for eighth in the country with five interceptions in 10 games.

By Jason Kaneshiro

A few notes from the Warriors’ last full practice before Saturday’s game against New Mexico State:

>> Receiver Jovonte Taylor hasn’t practiced this week while receiving treatment for a staph infection in his arm. But, “I’m planning on Jovonte being back,” UH head coach Greg McMackin said.
In the meantime, with Royce Pollard’s status still looking iffy for the game against New Mexico State, Craig Bell and Joe Avery took most of the repetitions at Z receiver. Mike Tinoco could also figure into the mix.
>> Cornerback Jeramy Bryant (arm) remained sidelined.
>> Kickers Scott Enos and Brian Blumberg continued to alternate in the kickoff and field goal periods.

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>> Former UH head coach June Jones is eyeing a return to Aloha Stadium with one more win.

http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/11/smus-jones-if-we-win-were-going-to-hawai.html

By Jason Kaneshiro

Notes from this morning’s Veteran’s Day practice at Ching Field:
>> Jovonte Taylor sat out of practice for the second straight day while having treatment on his arm. UH head coach Greg McMackin expects Taylor will be ready come gametime. Offensive coordinator Ron Lee said Royce Pollard will be ready to rejoin the rotation, though his work load would likely be limited as he returns from a leg injury.
>> Cornerback Jeramy Bryant didn’t suit up for practice today. He had hoped to practice to test his injured biceps. Safety Richard Torres also sat out most of practice.
>> Special teams coordinator Chris Tormey said it’s an open competition for the kicking duties between Scott Enos and Brian Blumberg. Blumberg handled all of the kickoffs this morning, except for one that backup safety Kenny Estes took.
>> Backup cornerback Chris Black had two interceptions in one-on-one drills between DBs and receivers.
>> New Mexico State is scheduled to arrive in town Friday night. The Aggies a little more than 24 hours on the island before heading back to the mainland shortly after Saturday’s game ends.

By Jason Kaneshiro

Cornerback Jeramy Bryant plans to test his injured arm in practice tomorrow. Bryant has missed the last two games since injuring his biceps against Boise State. “It feels good, but I haven’t had any contact yet, so I’ll when it starts getting dinged up a little bit,” Bryant said.
Freshman Kawika Ornellas has started in Bryant’s place the last two weeks and turned in solid performances against Nevada and Utah State.
>> On the other side of the field, Lametrius Davis had perhaps his best game, coming down with an interception early in the game and breaking up three more throws. “I really didn’t care about the pick as long as we win,” Davis said. “The pick a was just a bonus.”
>> Richard Torres said he had a hard time getting around the house Sunday morning after playing through hamstring and ankle injuries on Saturday night. He took it easy in today’s practice and will try to do more tomorrow.
>> Wide receiver Royce Pollard continues to progress in his return from a stress fracture in his leg, running more routes full-speed routes in practice this morning.

By Jason Kaneshiro

Special teams coordinator Chris Tormey didn’t attend this morning’s practice due to a death in the family. He is expected to return in time for Saturday’s game against Utah State.
>> Defensive back Richard Torres suited up for practice but didn’t get in for the team periods. Torres suffered a pulled hamstring last week. His absence means Spencer Smith slides to nickleback with Kenny Estes rotating into the secondary alongside Mana Silva in nickle packages.
>> Adrian Thomas is back in the rotation at right tackle after missing the last two games due to back spasms. He shared time with Austin Hansen, the starter for the past three games in today’s practice.
>> The WAC announced that Hawaii-based official Mike Goshima has been suspended for one game for failing to overturn a call in last week’s San Jose State-Boise State game. According to a release, the suspension stemmed from a pla in which a runner was ruled short of a first down. The ruling upheld after a review, but the league office also reviewed the play and “after further inspection, the runner clearly made the first down and the call should have been reversed.”

By Jason Kaneshiro

Notes from Tuesday’s practice:
>> Greg Alexander made an appearance at Ching Field toward the end of practice. He’s still on crutches as he continues to recover from surgery to repair torn ligaments in his knee and another to treat an infection that developed. He lost quite a bit of weight since having surgery.
>> Receiver Royce Pollard took part in warm ups today to test his injured left leg. Pollard has missed the last three games due to a stress fracture in his left fibula. He didn’t take any reps in practice as he eases back, and has an appointment to have the injury evaluated.
>> The coaching staff is limiting the number of throws Bryant Moniz makes early in the week to make sure his arm stays fresh for the weekend. He shared repetitions with Shane Austin and Brent Rausch today. His work load will ramp up as the game approaches.
>> Moniz will be outnumbered come Friday night. He is among three Leilehua graduates on the UH roster along with Art and Clayton Laurel, compared to Kahuku products on the team. The Mules and Red Raiders meet in the OIA Red championship game on Friday at Aloha Stadium.
“We haven’t talked too much about it yet,” Moniz said. “I’m sure we’ll get to it.”

By Jason Kaneshiro

Notes from Greg McMackin’s press conference today addressing last Saturday’s 31-21 loss at Nevada and this week’s game against Utah State:
>> Richard Torres has an appointment to see a doctor today for his pulled hamstring. McMackin said the hamstring was tight entering the game and the staff took him off of special teams duty. But it tightened up in the first quarter. His loss forced the defense out of a package designed to contain the option.
>> McMackin hopes cornerback Jeramy Bryant will be available this week. Bryant didn’t make the trip to Nevada due a biceps injury. McMackin was pleased with the play of freshmen Lewis Walker and Kawika Ornellas in the secondary.
>> On running back Alex Green: “We know he’s an outstanding running back and had a real good game. We’ve been waiting for him to be able to block also and he’s at that point now.”
>> On Jovonte Taylor’s 109-yard game: “It’s good to have that speed on the field. Obviously when we lost Rodney (Bradley) that hurt, but it was good to see him come along because we need playmakers and he made a big play for us and helped us.”
>> On costly mistakes: “I think the guys were mentally ready to play and they were focused and together. And it comes back to making those little mistakes. We got a high snap and a 7-yard punt when we were trying to back them up. We make some of those young, inexperienced mistakes and we just have to keep coaching and working.”
>> On Utah State quarterback Diondre Borel: “Even though they didn’t win a lot of games last year, we knew he was a guy that was really good and he played really good against us (in Utah State’s 30-14 win). He’s a guy that can run and throw the football, probably throws the ball a little better than Colin (Kaepernick) does.”