Friday, September 28, 2001
Warrior by blood A defensive end prefers to zip around an offensive tackle rather than go nowhere fast on a stationary bike.
Though he's following dad
Warrior Notebook
Cliff's lead, defensive end
Travis Laboy is trying to
make a name for
himself at UHBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comBut last spring and through fall camp, Hawaii's Travis Laboy seemed to be training for the Tour de France, not the upcoming football season.
A viral infection during spring drills and a torn right hamstring last month kept Laboy out of action. Two weeks ago he returned to practice then made an impressive debut Saturday in Hawaii's 28-20 loss at Nevada.
Laboy made four tackles, including one for a loss, in his Warriors debut. He played well enough to earn a start tomorrow as Hawaii (1-1, 0-1 WAC) hosts Rice (2-1, 0-0) at Aloha Stadium.
"He showed some speed and he got things done well," coach June Jones said.
Born: Aug. 10, 1981, Honolulu TRAVIS LABOY
High school: 1999 graduate of Marin Catholic High School, San Rafael, Calif. Earned three letters in track and field, two in football and basketball.
Utah State: Redshirted, ran a 4.55 40-yard dash in practice.
Hidden talents: Flying trapeze, juggling.
Mentors: "(Teammate) Kevin Jackson helps me out a lot, teaching me. Anything I do good out there, he gets a lot of credit." ... Also, older brother, C.J. Laboy, a defensive end at St. Mary's College. "They talk about two hours a day about technique," said their mother, Angela Curley.
Workout partner: Trained several times with Bill Romanowski of the Denver Broncos over the summer.
After watching his teammates play for 13 games and 13 months, Laboy was more than ready.
"It was so good to get off that bike. I'm a lot better on the field than on the bike," Laboy said. "You feel bad not going through camp when everyone else is busting it, working hard to get better but you're not helping out at all."
Laboy said doctors never quite figured out what made him sick last spring. He finally shook it in the summer, and participated in informal workouts with teammates. It was during one of these that he tore his right hamstring.
"It was about two days before camp. I was running routes with the receivers to keep my speed up," Laboy said. "I didn't stretch properly and I popped the hamstring coming off the line."
So Laboy, who sat out last season after transferring from Utah State (where he didn't play because of torn tendons in his left foot requiring surgery before the season started), hopped on the bike and got to pedaling again.
He said that all the down-time might help him tomorrow against Rice's option offense."I think the fact that I haven't played is helping me out in that I won't be distracted about how I would play against a more typical offense," Laboy said. "I'll just do whatever the coaches tell me. That's actually a plus for me that there will be less other stuff in my head to confuse me.
"We read the tackles. If the tackle blocks down, take the dive. If the tackle blocks out, go after the quarterback. It's just get off your block and be accountable. If there's a big play it's because someone missed their assignment."
Laboy's father, Cliff, didn't miss many assignments -- or tackles -- as a UH defensive lineman from 1973 to 1975. The elder Laboy was an Associated Press honorable mention All-American in 1974. He is Hawaii's career leader in fumbles recovered (10) and he led the Rainbows in forced fumbles in 1974 (5) and 1975 (3).
The Farrington High School graduate was known for his ferocity.
"He tackled me a lot in practice," Jones said. "He was a tough, hard-nosed player. But Travis is faster."
Travis spent most of his childhood in San Rafael, Calif., with his mother, Angela, and stepfather, Art Curley. Angela works for Hawaiian Airlines and she and Curley get to as many of Laboy's games as possible.
Travis is too young to have seen his father play.
"I hear it a lot that he was the man, just a great player all-around. I just wish someone had a game tape of something to show me. Stories and seeing it are two different things. But I hear it from so many people it's got to be true."
The father and son are beginning to spend more time together, Travis said. Travis helped Cliff with his Christmas tree business last year.
"That was definitely a bonding thing, fun," Travis said. "With school and football, there's not much free time to spend together, but we're working on it."
And Travis is working on staying on the field and off the exercise bike.
"Oh, man, it felt unreal (to play). Last year I was just watching the games and the way we ended up was kind of bad, so I had that little itch in my back the whole summer to play," he said. "Everybody says I played good, but when you lose you can't really celebrate at all. You just got to forget about it and get ready for the next game."
Rice coach Ken Hatfield said his team's offense has evolved from a pure option attack to something more diversified because it has to prepare for teams like Hawaii. Owls add variety
to option offenseBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comThe Owls run wishbone, veer, single-wing, single-back and West Coast formations at various times.
"We're doing different stuff this year, more shotgun and other things," Hatfield said. "Part of it really is to help our defense prepare for offenses like the run-and-shoot. We ended up incorporating some stuff in our own offense. So there's a dual purpose."
Wide receiver Gavin Boothe is Rice's top pass-catching threat. He has six receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown.
Back where you got it: Yesterday, UH announced that tickets for the Brigham Young game, which was switched to Dec. 8, could be refunded by mail or at the Stan Sheriff Center.
But that applies to season tickets.
Individual game tickets should be taken to whatever outlet they were purchased at for a refund.
Brown down?: UH starting middle linebacker Chris Brown's status remained day-to-day last night after trainers got a better look at the left knee he sprained in practice yesterday.
If Brown can't play tomorrow, his replacement will likely be Watson Hoohuli.
Defensive end Joe Correia did not practice for the third-consecutive day and probably won't play tomorrow because of a right-foot injury.
The official injury report also has wide receiver Justin Colbert as day-to-day (left collarbone), defensive tackle Lui Fuga out (right shoulder), defensive tackle Mike Iosua probable (right knee) and cornerback Kelvin Millhouse probable (concussion).
For Rice, cornerback Kenny Smith (knee sprain), linebacker Jeff Vanover (torn ACL), quarterback Jeremy Hurd (torn ACL) and defensive lineman B.J. Forguson (right shoulder) are all out. Kicker Derek Crabtree (groin) and safety Greg Gatlin (hamstring) are probable.
Fewer flags: Hawaii was penalized a conference-high 116 times last year for 830 yards.
The Warriors have been much better with the flags so far this season, drawing only 15 for 119 yards in two games.
Short yardage: Rice's Dan Dawson is on the watch list for the Butkus Award, which goes to the best linebacker in the nation. ... The Owls' Travis Hale booted a 72-yard punt against Duke on Sept. 8, longest in the WAC this season. ... Rice has 11 sacks in three games, led by three from lineman Brandon Green. ... The Owls were scheduled to visit the Arizona Memorial yesterday.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii