Monday, March 19, 2001

UH starters
missing out on spring

While many veterans recover
from injuries, younger guys get
a chance to impress

FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

If June Jones makes an appearance at any of this week's practices, he will see youth being served.

Whether that has any effect on the University of Hawaii football program --still mired in transition -- come the fall, depends primarily on injuries. Entering this morning's 11th spring workout, projected starters Ashley Lelie, Craig Stutzmann, Nate Jackson, Jacob Espiau, Lui Fuga, Mike Iosua, Tafiti Uso, Hyrum Peters and Keani Alapa have spent most of their time on the sidelines.

Recovering from injuries, both minor and major, is the main reason so many front-line players are sitting this one out. It forced the coaches to dig deeper in an already shallow pool to see who emerges as real depth chart threats during fall camp.

"I think a lot of our younger players knew this scrimmage was a chance for them to show what they can do on film," UH associate head coach George Lumpkin said. "We have an idea what the depth chart will look like as far as our starters go. But if somebody goes down, we need somebody to be ready to step up."

These last three workouts prior to Sunday's spring game at Cooke Field will be more situational with the first offensive unit squaring off with the second defense. The first defense will also work more against the second offense, promising some spirited sessions.

There were three brief skirmishes in Saturday's 54-play scrimmage, prompting one assistant to say, "Stop that crap. We're wasting valuable time."

But UH defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa felt there was more intensity than in the first scrimmage.

"There were some good, clean hits out there," the second-year coordinator said. "We wanted to work on tackling this spring. And for the most part, we tackled pretty well today, although we did miss 18 tackles. There are some things we need to clean up in the run defense.

"We've got to do a better job than we did last year. Once we get everybody back on the field in the fall, we can continue to fine-tune things. The playbook has been cut. Fundamentals are being stressed. And we're looking at some guys at different spots, who seem to be getting the hang of it."

The linebacker experiment continues unabated. Chris Brown is getting a long, hard look at middle linebacker, Pisa Tinoisamoa continues to do good things at his weak outside spot and Joe Correia, when not filling in at end for a depleted defensive front, will be a formidable foe at the strong outside position.

"I felt like I was really exploding at linebacker the first part of spring," Tinoisamoa said. "But I feel like I've leveled off some in the past few workouts. I want to finish stronger these last four practices."

Pushing Tinoisamoa is Alapa, who has come back from knee surgery quicker than anyone expected. Still not involved in full contact, Alapa straps on a knee brace every day and is working hard to make a difference on the weak side.

"To me, he's having an outstanding spring," Lumpkin said of the player he coached at Kamehameha Schools. "If we were playing Montana on Saturday, he'd be our starter. He's been impressive."

So has the offensive line. The Warriors have spent almost as much time developing their run blocking as dropping back and protecting the passer.

This is the first time Cavanaugh has had so many starters back with him. And like most folks attending the last two scrimmages, he's pleased with what he has seen up front.

"Our guys are coming along well," Cavanaugh said. "We still have a lot of work to do. But Uriah (Moenoa) is making a lot of progress at right tackle. That's the only spot that was really open. But like everybody else, we want to develop our depth in case somebody goes down.

"What I like is how well we're communicating with one another. I'm still going to be tough on them. I want them to be tough on themselves, you know what I mean?

"You have to work hard to continue to get better."

Quarterback Tim Chang likes what he sees. Although the defense can't tackle him, hardly anyone has touched him in the two scrimmages. Give Correia credit, however, after he pushed Chang in the back during a pass play that resulted in an incomplete pass.

"We're not supposed to touch the quarterback," Lempa said, then smiled.

"But I'm glad Joe made it through. That's what we're going to see more of the last few workouts. We've worked a lot of young guys in and out of there.

"Now it's time to see what we've got."

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