Tuesday, April 28, 1998

Injuries hamper
spring practice

Fall camp will be the real
proving ground for the
Rainbow football team

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

There were no startling revelations for the University of Hawaii football team during this year's spring practice. No major breakthroughs.

With many of the impact players still in junior college and high school, Rainbows head coach Fred vonAppen won't use a pen for his depth chart until after this August's fall camp.

"We've got quarterbacks who are going to have to come in and learn the system, and offensive linemen who are going to have to do the same, and quickly," vonAppen said.

"We hope the junior college guys are a little more precocious and can get into the flow because there's going to be a lot of pressure put on everybody during two-a-day camp. We didn't have any choice because of some of the injuries to key personnel this spring."

Early injuries to the offensive line limited contact. There was no spring game for the third consecutive season, and only one certified scrimmage.

That means the two weeks of fall camp become the real proving ground. The most wide-open positions will be along the offensive front, including tight end, and in the secondary.

"I don't think this spring was all that dull because we made some measurable progress in several areas," vonAppen said. "The unfortunate thing we had to discontinue was team play.

"Anytime you don't have team play, it's detrimental. But we did bring some individuals along. I think too many of us are harking back to the old days of spring practice. Those are gone. We don't have 30 days where you have a big scrum every Saturday.

"We talked to a number of schools that shut down early. Some that had far less contact than they anticipated having. Nebraska lost two linemen in the spring game. It hardly seems worth the price, so we opted to be more prudent."

There were still several spring-ending injuries, but none serious enough to keep anybody out of fall camp. The worst injury was to top quarterback Josh Skinner, who suffered a concussion that shelved him early in the second week.

Although he didn't relinquish the role as the No. 1 quarterback, the injury hurt Skinner's overall development. He and Dan Robinson will join junior college transfers Fred Salanoa and Tom Racius in the race for the starting job.

Local high school products Bronson Liana, who had a good spring, and Shawn Withy-Allen could also figure in the mix.

"The quarterback issue could be unresolved even after fall camp," vonAppen said. "Don't be surprised if we have more than one ready to play who could receive a substantial number of snaps in our opener with Arizona.

"Josh is the most experienced, but he lost some of that edge he had after missing most of the spring. All things will be evened up this August with the two junior college guys coming in."

Hawaii also will concentrate on the improvement of special teams during fall camp. Kickers Eric Hannum and Chad Shrout saw limited duty this spring.

"The lack of work this spring with special teams doesn't concern me as much," vonAppen said. "For that you need the urgency of a game coming up. We also need some of the quickness, speed and youth that we have coming in the door this summer to make that all come together."