Quarterbacks Tim Carey and Dan Robinson did their job facing defensive pressure for the first time. Many of their passes were where they needed to be.
Now, if vonAppen can just find someone who can pull them in.
"We had too many dropped footballs," vonAppen said after yesterday's practice at Cooke Field. "I don't know if it's a direct result of being in pads and the contact level picking up.
"The concentration level falls off. I don't think we have anybody who lacks courage, but we just didn't pull them in. And I thought there were a lot of good throws -- really good throws -- out here.
"And we made some plays down field. We just can't drop that many balls and expect to be successful. But I feel like we'll cut those down as we go along."
Wide receivers coach Tim Green wasn't quite as forgiving. Countless times he told his receivers to do 10 push-ups after they failed to come back for the football on sideline routes and for dropped passes over the middle.
"We dropped at least a dozen, probably more," Green said. "I'm not interested in any excuses. If the ball is there, our guys have to catch it."
VonAppen and offensive coordinator Wally English have a shared theory on why so many footballs were left on the ground. Whenever you're working so many different quarterbacks and receivers, timing is going to be a problem.
"We're rotating a lot of quarterbacks and their timing, throws and location are going to be different," vonAppen said. "Right now, Tim Carey is throwing the deep ball better than Dan is, but Dan is throwing the intermediate and short routes really well.
"John Gurasich is impressive, but too inconsistent and Hunter Young is just too inconsistent right now. So, the footballs get sprayed around, and as a result, some are going to be dropped."
English echoed those sentiments. In his mind, it's too early to expect too much.
"Sometimes, it's tough to coordinate things, especially in pressure situations," English said. "We threw a lot at our guys today and it's really tough to learn things in full-speed situations.
"We did a lot better today when it was slowed down, and we're still trying to play with bunches and bunches of wide receivers, and bunches and bunches of tight ends. And different quarterbacks, so it's tough coordinating everything this early in practice."
Robinson is comfortable in this offense because he ran basically the same thing while at Ricks (Idaho) Junior College. He understands the coverages and knows who to throw to when making his progression reads.
Carey is more familiar with the West Coast offense Hawaii ran last year, but English believes the senior is getting there.
"Tim throws the long ball very well," English said. "The trick to throwing the long ball is getting it up there, so the receivers can adjust to it.
"Dan is a little too flat right now, but hey, these two guys are very impressive quarterbacks. They put the ball where it needs to be most of the time."
MAKING THE SWITCH: Lonn Kalama appeared in 10 games last year as a fullback, rushing five times for 10 yards.
But this spring, the Ricks Junior College transfer has been moved to tight end, where he has fit in quite nicely.
"He has done a real good job of getting open for us," English said. "He understands what the offense is all about. He's small (6-foot, 226 pounds), but he can run fast and he's a muscular little guy.
"We're trying several guys at that position, but we're looking for some guys who can run and get open, especially on third down and in passing situations. The tight end is very important in this offense."
TAKING THE DAY OFF: A party of 100 players and coaches will spend their day off traveling to Kapaa to take part in the memorial service for former UH kicker Shannon Smith, who drowned 10 days ago while saving the life of vonAppen's youngest son, Cody.
"It's going to be a day of mourning for us," vonAppen said. "We are going to name the locker room after him, which is nice. We're also going to keep his locker just the way it is, as a reminder for what he did."
The service is scheduled for today at around 2 p.m. Family members said yesterday they expect an overflow crowd at St. Catherine's Church.
INJURY UPDATE: Chad Shrout returned to practice, despite spraining his right elbow on Monday. He took part in all the kicking drills.
UH trainers also announced that freshman receiver Ricky deLaura is listed as day-to-day after spraining his ankle.
Defensive lineman Ellie Kapihe got married to Rebecca Downing Monday night and paid the price for it at yesterday's practice."We tied him up to the goal post with tape before yesterday's practice because he's going to be tied down for the rest of his life," UH defensive coordinator Don Lindsey said, then smiled. "It's kind of a football tradition."
Local players Eddie Klaneski and Al Hunter said Kapihe enjoyed the impromptu celebration the defense gave him.
"He was laughing about it, but we kind of caught him off-guard," Klaneski said. "It was Coach Lindsey's idea. We just grabbed him and tied him up. Then everybody came by and told him congratulations."