[ OFFENSIVE LINE ]

Samson Satele holds the line
when it comes to brute strength

By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

Why he's good

Like his Biblical namesake, Samson Satele possesses much more strength than a typical man. Satele is much too practical to believe that if his locks were shorn like that other Samson he, too, would lose his power. But he's not taking any chances -- it is part of Polynesian lore that mana, or positive energy, comes from masses of hair. Satele's strength comes from tireless work with weights, studying of technique, good footwork, and a nice little mean streak. According to UH numbers, Satele allowed only one sack in 754 pass attempts during his entire freshman season.

Samson Satele

>> First-team Freshman All-America
and second-team All-WAC in 2003

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM

X-factor

So far so good for right guard Uriah Moenoa, except for that pesky knee problem that kept him out of early fall camp practices. Moenoa, now a senior, finally reported to camp in shape, losing 40 pounds and increasing his strength. The closer Moenoa gets to 300 pounds, the closer the Warriors are to having the best guards in the WAC -- if they don't already.

Quiet and effective

Moenoa is Mr. Personality and right tackle Brandon Eaton can be vociferous, but the rest of the starters are on the quiet side. That's OK off the field, but O-line coach Mike Cavanaugh won't hesitate to replace any of them if they don't communicate enough to get the job done. Three current backups started games last season.

Style file

Tattoos are especially popular among the players of Polynesian ancestry, but Satele said he'll pass for now. "Tattoos are addicting. Guys get them and they go back and get more and more, so I'm afraid to get the first one."

Moenoa insists his rasta-style head band is no homage to Maui girl Camile Velasco of "American Idol" fame.

Ones to watch

The top players with the probable starter listed first:

Left Tackle

NO.	PLAYER	HT.	WT.	CL.
70	Tala Esera	6-3	291	So.
72	Dane Uperesa	6-5	328	So.

Left Guard

NO.	PLAYER	HT.	WT.	CL.
64	Samson Satele	6-2	278	So.
65	Hercules Satele	6-2	279	Fr.

Center

NO.	PLAYER	HT.	WT.	CL.
59	Derek Faavi	6-0	271	Jr.
63	Michael Lafaele	6-1	297	Fr.

Right Guard

NO.	PLAYER	HT.	WT.	CL.
69	Uriah Moenoa	6-2	336	Sr.
67	Phil Kauffman	6-1	286	Sr.

Right Tackle

NO.	PLAYER	HT.	WT.	CL.
66	Brandon Eaton	6-2	291	Jr.
74	Jeremy Inferrera	6-2	284	So.

Offensive Line coach

Mike Cavanaugh is in his fifth year. He has sent Adrian Klemm, Kaulana Noa, Kynan Forney, Wayne Hunter and Vince Manuwai to the NFL.

UH Athletics
www.hawaiiathletics.com