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Tuesday, September 5, 2000
The look on Nick Rolovich's face told the story. Rolovich is the choice
for UH at quarterbackBy Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinBefore yesterday morning's practice, University of Hawaii head coach June Jones told the junior college transfer that he would be the starting quarterback for this Saturday's game against Portland State.
True freshman Timmy Chang is listed second-string and sophomore Mike Harrison is third.
"Nick is going to start," Jones said yesterday. "He took the majority of reps today and did a good job at practice.
"Timmy is backing him up and Mike is going to back him up. We'll just try to get ready to play on Saturday night."
In the end, it was Rolovich's experience and ability to make the right choices that won him the job.
Although junior college is not the same as Division I, he still led his College of San Francisco team to the mythical junior college national championship.
"Can't say that I'm not happy with the decision," a relieved Rolovich said. "It's very exciting. I worked hard, all the guys competed and that made everyone better.
"When we got down to the last three, every guy got a lot better, just watching and getting a little more reps. My JC experience helped me a lot.
"Out of high school, I didn't have much of a knowledge of the passing game in general. So I go to City College and got that experience in my head. Even so, it's still much faster at this level. You've got to be able to squeeze them in."
That's something Rolovich has done well of late. After his roommate, Jared Flint, went down with a shoulder injury, Rolovich's main competition was suddenly Harrison and Chang.
Harrison seemed to be right with Rolovich in the early going, but Chang came on strong the last three weeks of practice.
"I'm really happy to be the second guy," Chang said. "I guess the coaches saw something that they liked. I'm backing a good quarterback and I wish the best for him.
"I'm happy with the decision because I'm still getting the reps. I'm going to prepare like the starter and I'm going to be right by Nick's side all through the season. And I hope Hawaii backs him, too, because he deserves to start."
Quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison is also hopeful local fans will give Rolovich time to develop into a Division I quarterback. His junior college experience gives him an edge over Chang, who is only a few months removed from high school football.
"It's time to move on and get to the next step, get these three guys ready to go," Morrison said. "And they'll do well. They've been competing hard all along and they know they're just a blink of an eye from being in there.
"They're as far a long as a group as Dan (Robinson) was last year as an individual. They're all great kids and they understand they must stay focused and ready to go throughout the season."
Not that Rolovich has to look over his shoulder pads to see who's gaining on him. That's not Jones' style.
"I like to stay with one guy," Jones said.
"It's better if he knows he's our top choice."
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
