WARRIORS FOOTBALL
Switching sidelines
Hawaii offensive line coach Smith matches wits with his former team and mentor
When Hawaii and Oregon State last met, Brian Smith was sporting orange and black and facing a staff stocked with familiar faces.
He'll encounter much the same scenario on Saturday, this time decked out in Warriors gear.
Hawaii's first-year offensive line coach was a graduate assistant at Oregon State when the teams met in 2006 and returns to Reser Stadium this weekend for the rematch between the Warriors and Beavers.
The matchup will also put Smith across the field from OSU offensive line coach and former UH assistant Mike Cavanaugh. Smith played for Cavanaugh from 1999 to 2001, then worked beside him in Corvallis for a year.
"It's going to be a very cool atmosphere," said Smith, who was on the sideline for the Beavers' 35-32 win at Aloha Stadium to close the 2006 regular season. "I worked for those guys two years ago and now you're really competing against them - it's a cool process."
But Smith's focus this week is preparing the Warriors line to face an Oregon State front seven with new starters at every spot.
"They're very experienced guys but haven't necessarily been starters," Smith said. "They're very talented and very fast."
Daniel Libre will be among the UH backs working behind the Warriors line. The senior returned to practice yesterday after missing last week's game with a sprained ankle.
Kickoff for the game between the Warriors (1-1) and Beavers (0-2) is set for 10 a.m. Hawaii time on Saturday.