UH's Kia steps it up stepping in on O-line
The sixth man of the Hawaii offensive line was pressed into service yesterday. Aaron Kia knows his role at this point is to be ready for anything.
"I have no idea what I'm going to do each day," the sophomore from Mililani said. "It's whatever comes up. I'm happy to be able to do different things."
Yesterday his job was to jump into the middle of the UH offense.
Starting center John Estes suffered what he described as a sprained left elbow during Monday's practice when he tried to brace a fall. He tried to play through it, but then thought better of it.
"If it was a game, I'd be out there," said Estes, who started all 14 games at right guard last year as a freshman, despite a sprained knee midway through the season.
That gave Kia an opportunity to work with the first team. Lafu Mariner-Tuioti, who had been playing guard, moved up to second-team center.
Kia may be the most versatile offensive lineman on the team. He's worked out at center and both guard spots this fall camp, and learned the tackle positions in the spring.
"I'm just happy to fill in, happy to be in there," Kia said. "It's good to get practice snapping with Colt."
One of his snaps during the practice-ending scrimmage went awry.
"I don't know what happened on that one," Kia said.
Estes and offensive line coach Dennis McKnight said Estes will be back to practice in a couple of days.
"You never know, in this business, you're one play away from getting your chance and you gotta be ready when it happens," head coach June Jones said.
Lots of completions
Colt Brennan,
Tyler Graunke and
Inoke Funaki completed 16 of 22 passes during the half-hour scrimmage. Brennan was 10-for-11, mostly short stuff.
Nine different receivers caught passes, with Aaron Bain and Jason Rivers grabbing three apiece.
While the passing connections were there, Jones wasn't completely happy with the offense.
"I've seen a lot of positive things but I see a lot of bad things, too," Jones said. "You've still gotta take care of the ball, you know, can't give the ball away, fumbling or bad snaps, those kind of things. We've done pretty good the last few years in that area. They struggled in the spring and we gotta get it better now."
Brashton staying put
Jones said sophomore
Brashton Satele will remain a linebacker and not join the crowded running back situation.
"We're going to keep him there," Jones said.
Satele is behind Solomon Elimimian, Timo Paepule and Rustin Saole. Satele played running back and linebacker in high school for Pac-Five.
Short yardage
JC transfer cornerback
Calvin Roberts said he has his plane ticket to come to Hawaii from Oakland, Calif., on Friday. Roberts was originally scheduled to arrive yesterday, but said he's trying to get paperwork for the NCAA to verify his AA degree from San Mateo (Calif.) College. ... There may be some sore legs this afternoon; the Warriors were slated for a 3-hour practice starting at 8:30 this morning.