Sunday, September 2, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
Rolovich still Last year Nick Rolovich battled for Hawaii's wide-open starting quarterback job -- and won it.
has the itch
Hawaii's backup quarterback
takes his role seriously, and he's
ready to step in as a leader if neededBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comNow there is no quarterback controversy as UH prepares to start the season against Montana at Maui's War Memorial Stadium on Saturday. But Rolovich is no longer the trigger man of the Warriors' run-and-shoot offense. He's the back-up to sophomore Tim Chang, last season's Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.
Rolovich, who started the first two games of Hawaii's 3-9 season last fall, accepted the role change with dignity rather than bitterness. Although he went to spring and fall camp knowing it would be difficult to dislodge Chang, he worked just as hard as last year.
"I've come to grips with it pretty good. I thought about it a lot over the summer," Rolovich said. "Millions of people would give a lot for what I have, so I should be happy and do my best."
He looked sharp yesterday, completing 8 of 13 passes in 11-on-11 drills at practice. Rolovich has performed well throughout camp and fall practice, and that gives coach June Jones one less thing to worry about.
"He's still doing a good job and he knows he's one play away from being the guy," Jones said. "It's kind of the role he had at the end of last season. He'd like to start but he knows only one can."
Rolovich, a 6-foot-1, 193-pound senior from Novato, Calif., began his UH career in spectacular fashion, finding Ashley Lelie for a 22-yard touchdown pass against Portland State on the first drive of the season last year.
That was as good as it got for Hawaii and Rolovich. He passed for 367 yards, but was intercepted twice and the Warriors lost 45-20 to Jones' Division I-AA alma mater.
Chang replaced Rolovich at halftime of UH's next game, a 39-7 loss at Texas El-Paso. Rolovich returned to see significant time against Fresno Sate, when Chang was injured.
Rolovich finished the season with 63 completions in 136 attempts and four interceptions. He passed for 815 yards and six touchdowns.
"I'm still able to help the team," Rolovich said. "There's a good assurance that if anything happens to Timmy I'm up for the job."
Rolovich, who quarterbacked City College of San Francisco to a league championship in 1999, said he thinks the Warriors have worked hard enough to contend for the WAC title this year.
"This summer training was unbelievable," he said. "Every guy was working out and running, we played a lot of 7-on-7. I think we're all itching to play a game."
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Ka Leo O Hawaii
