Tuesday, March 27, 2001

Warriors hoping
not to go way
of Rainbows

It could be deja vu
all over again if Hawaii
doesn't stop its current slide

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Nearly a decade ago, University of Hawaii quarterback Michael Carter led the team then known as the Rainbows on a similar journey to the one June Jones headed in 1999.

Picked to finish near the bottom of the barrel, Carter carried Hawaii to an 11-2 campaign, including a victory over Illinois in the 1992 Holiday Bowl, in what proved to be former head coach Bob Wagner's crowning achievement and the beginning of his eventual downfall.

Carter attended last Sunday's first Spring Challenge and recalled how disappointing 1993 was for the then-senior quarterback. A dropped pass in the end zone -- Carter still wishes Paul Johnson had called the option -- followed by a missed field goal on the next play, allowed Brigham Young to rally to beat Hawaii early in that fateful season. It sent the Rainbows on a downward spiral Jones finally ended seven long years later.

There are many things that must come together in a hurry this fall, or the Hawaii football team's current struggles could continue. If the Warriors -- players and coaches alike -- learned anything in 2000, it's that a miracle one year doesn't mean another the next.

Things fell into place so beautifully in 1999, perhaps it was too much to expect for a return engagement. But that disappointment should be behind the Warriors by now. They took the first step toward this fall in last Sunday's spring scrimmage.

The goals were simple:

>> Stop the run.

>> Catch the football.

Those were two items of business Hawaii didn't tend to very well last year. And while there was improvement in both areas this spring, there were still plenty of troubling times for wide receivers coach Ron Lee and defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa.

Hawaii had several dropped passes and missed tackles in Sunday's controlled scrimmage. The Warriors also had some nice snags and bone-jarring blows, giving both coaches hope that they are moving in the right direction.

"I thought we improved," Lempa stated simply. "We had a lot of young guys in there learning the positions, and that's a good thing. They bring enthusiasm and a willingness to learn what we're trying to teach them."

Several good students were asked to learn new positions. Chief among them is junior defensive end Chris Brown, who now calls middle linebacker home. At first he was blind, but now he sees more of what's in front of him and how plays develop.

"When the ball is snapped, I think to myself, 'That's just what the coaches said would happen,' " Brown said. "I'm seeing it in front of me and I know where I'm supposed to go. It's a good feeling because it was a struggle at first."

Brown's chief competition is little-used senior Bobby Morgan. If there's one player who seems to understand what Lempa wants done, it's this fifth-year linebacker from Benicia, Calif. He was around the football several times in the spring game, and managed one pass breakup.

Brown isn't the only end taking up new residence. Joe Correia and Kevin Jackson moved to outside linebacker. Pisa Tinoisamoa also shifted from the middle to the outside, giving the Warriors a sturdy look in the front seven.

"I'm proud of how all those guys developed this spring," UH associate head coach George Lumpkin said. "I coach the linebackers and know how important it is for those guys to handle the transition. We asked a lot and they gave us what they had to give, and then some."

Lempa is hopeful these moves allow Hawaii to put its best 11 men on the field. He doesn't want undersized safeties Nate Jackson and Jacob Espiau sacrificing their bodies as they did last year. They had almost 200 tackles between them.

"It's not a good thing when your safeties are your top tacklers," Lempa said. "They are your last line of defense vs. the run. We want them more involved in pass coverage and less with the run. That's the job of the front seven."

The goals on offense this spring were equally attainable. It's true, Lee ran so many receivers in and out of the starting lineup, even the players needed a program to keep pace. It led to some ragged workouts, no question, but it also gave the younger players a chance to develop.

"Sometimes it's hard to think about catching the football if you spend all your time thinking where you're supposed to be," senior wideout Craig Stutzmann said. "Once it becomes second nature, you can concentrate more on catching the football and making yards after the catch."

Sophomore quarterback Tim Chang didn't always have an outstanding spring. With Jones recovering from an automobile accident, Chang, like many of the players, missed the daily contact on the practice field and in meetings with the designer of the run-and-shoot. Chang looks forward to Jones' return in August.

"I missed him," Chang said. "We all did. But it didn't keep us from trying to get better this spring. We'll try to build on that over the summer and into fall camp."

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