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Sports Watch
WHAT can University of Hawaii quarterback Tim Chang do for an encore after throwing for more than 3,000 yards and winning WAC Freshman of the Year honors last season? Chang to try and
improve on last yearDo a lot better, said Chang after yesterday's spring practice, the team's first day in pads.
Admittedly, what Chang accomplished in his freshman year was beyond even his wildest expectations.
Quarterbacks mere months out of high school rarely get to play, let alone start and pass for 3,041 yards and 19 touchdowns.
"I didn't really think of coming in and being a force with the team and leading them," said Chang, still as boyish-looking as ever.
Then again, why not? He's only 19 and won't be 20 until October.
"Quarterback is a key position. I didn't really feel that I was mature enough. My only expectations last year were to get bigger, stronger and mentally tougher.
"But Coach (June) Jones put me in the UTEP game. And when you're forced into a position like that, you've just got to make the best of it and try to rise to the occasion."
And Chang met the challenge -- to the point that he believes he's a far better quarterback now for having to play under intense pressure and scrutiny.
"It helped me grow in so many ways, as a young man and as a football player," he said.
"In the first three or four weeks (as a starter), I learned more than in all the years I played before then."
Despite his remarkable passing numbers, the 2000 season didn't have too many satisfying moments, Chang said.
Not when the team finished a disappointing 3-9.
"We weren't winning. Anytime you don't win, it's hard on the team."
Spring football's the time to start working on getting better, according to Chang.
"If I don't work hard in the off-season or spring ball, it's really going to show," he said. "I don't want to look bad out there."
The first thing Chang wants to work on is his passing accuracy, which he admits was poor, especially on deep throws.
But Chang loves UH's four-receiver set, a continuation of the offense he ran at St. Louis.
"I'm blessed to be here in this system," said Chang, who knows the run-and-shoot like the back of his hand. "I just love throwing that ball."
FOR that very reason, Chang now feels he's in a position to surpass what he did as an incoming freshman.
"One of my goals is to be the leading passer in the nation," Chang said. "The way we throw the ball, an average of 50 to 60 times a game, I should be the leading passer in the nation by far. I should be leading in every category."
One category he'd like to not lead in is interceptions. He threw a school-record 19.
Chang feels the team will still accomplish a lot during spring ball despite the absence of June Jones, who nearly lost his life in an auto accident.
"We miss him. But right now his family needs him more than we do," Chang said.
Chang first got an inkling of what happened to Jones when he was watching a game film with quarterback coach Dan Morrison.
Offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh interrupted the session to talk to Morrison and both hurried off. "You could tell it was something very urgent. None of the (other) coaches were around," said Chang, who was told about the accident by a friend and later heard more details on the radio news.
"We know he'll be back out here again one day. Until then, he needs to get fully recovered. We'll be waiting for him."