Warrior O-line Wayne Hunter went from hunter to hunted when he switched from defensive line to offensive tackle last spring.
ready for challenge
Fresno State's D-line may be
Notebook
the toughest Hawaii's seenBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comThat didn't last long.
Hawaii's starting left tackle has made a smooth transition, and now defensive ends are his prey.
The 6-foot-6, 299-pound junior has protected quarterback Tim Chang's blind side effectively all season. Hunter is an important cog of an offensive line that has allowed 1 1/2 sacks in seven games this season. According to UH statistics, he has been responsible individually for zero sacks, while making 18 pancake blocks.
"He's made a great transition," offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh said. "He's a real smart guy and a tremendous athlete. His technique continues to get better. He's good at getting people off him, and he has a great punch. He's starting to see the field and anticipate."
Hunter's biggest challenge to date is coming up Friday when he tries to neutralize Fresno State's Nick Burley. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Burley leads his team with nine tackles for loss, including five sacks. Both are team-highs.
When: Friday, 3:05 p.m. Hawaii vs. Fresno State
Where: Fresno, Calif.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 1420-AM.
Hunter vs. Burley is a key matchup when the Warriors (5-2, 4-1 Western Athletic Conference) meet the Bulldogs (5-2, 4-1).
"I feel I'm ready. Nick Burley's supposedly an All-American," Hunter said. "But we'll see about that."
But Burley's not the only threat: Ten Bulldogs have registered at least one sack this season and the team has reached the opposing quarterback 20 times.
"This will be a good test, because they do a lot of blitzing, a lot of zone blitzing, and they're physically probably the best front four, overall, that we've played," Hawaii coach June Jones said.
Nose tackle Jason Stewart and outside linebacker Bryce McGill have three sacks each.
"Our whole offensive line and the running backs will have to continue to play well," Cavanaugh said. "Fresno State has a great defense. They confuse a lot of people. We have to be sharp mentally."
Although some teams have decided blitzing the Warriors is futile, others have come up with novel approaches to try to get to Chang. Nevada and Tulsa tried to rush with schemes UH hadn't seen on tape, but neither team got a sack.
"Teams are bringing a lot of new stuff," sophomore right tackle Uriah Moenoa said. "Fresno shows a lot of different blitzes. They'll try to give us something different, we'll just have to be ready."
As always, the offensive line's magic number is zero -- as in zero sacks. But Cavanaugh's more concerned with lettering -- getting another "W."
"I said it before in 2000 when we gave up 10 sacks all season but won only three games. I'd rather have nine wins than 10 sacks," Cavanaugh said. "We take pride in protecting the quarterback. It's very important to what we do in our offense. It takes time for five guys to get comfortable together. I figured by the fifth or sixth game they'd come together and they have."
Hunter said he and his linemates don't have any special tricks to keep the Bulldogs out of their backfield.
"We just need to do the same thing we've been doing -- stress our technique no matter who it is," the Radford graduate and Cal transfer said. "It's on us. Nothing out of the ordinary."
WAC standings
CONFERENCE OVERALL W L W L Str Boise St. 3 0 6 1 W5 Hawaii 4 1 5 2 W2 Fresno St. 2 1 4 4 L1 San Jose St. 2 1 4 4 L2 Nevada 2 1 3 4 W1 LaTech 1 2 2 5 L4 UTEP 1 2 2 5 W1 Rice 1 3 2 5 L1 SMU 1 3 1 7 L9 Tulsa 0 3 0 7 L17 Friday
Hawaii at Fresno State, 3 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday
Nevada at Louisiana Tech
Boise State at San Jose State
UTEP at Tulsa
SMU at Rice
UH Athletics
