[UH FOOTBALL]
|
Spring practice Keiki Misipeka's mane claim to fame is that he has the longest hair on the Hawaii football team, now that Nate Jackson is gone.
gives unknowns
chance to shine
Misipeka is one of several
unproven players to step upBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comBut the golden-locked senior running back dished out the hit of the day yesterday, capping a nice run by leveling linebacker Patrick Harley. The good news is that both players got up under their own power after the play.
It illustrated two key aspects of what the Warriors hoped to accomplish yesterday and, in general, throughout spring practice. It's about staying healthy and seeing what unproven players can do.
"Whenever you do something like this you always kind of keep your fingers crossed," said coach June Jones, who was pleased that no one had to be helped off the field during a full hour of heavy scrimmaging. He doesn't want to add to the list of walking wounded that already includes running back Mike Bass (hernia surgery), quarterback Tim Chang (right wrist surgery rehab), defensive end Travis Laboy (sprained left wrist) and defensive lineman Hiram Travis (left ankle sprain).
The Warriors also avoid major practice injuries by keeping most of their starters out of scrimmages. For example, last year's starting linebackers -- Keani Alapa, Chris Brown, Pisa Tinoisamoa and Matt Wright -- were sideline observers yesterday.
UH has 98 players in camp, and about 25 to 30 more are expected to arrive in August. Those numbers don't add up to 105, which is how many players are allowed in fall camp. That means cuts.
Jones and his staff will have some tough decisions to make after spring camp breaks a week from tomorrow.
"The last two scrimmages we devoted to giving everyone an opportunity and giving ourselves an opportunity to look at them," Jones said. "We don't want anyone to say they didn't get a chance and we don't want to miss anyone. You find some players you didn't think could play."
If Misipeka was on the bubble, he helped himself off it yesterday with several nifty runs. But the 5-foot-10, 215-pound transfer from American Samoa and Palomar JC knows that's just one part of the equation in playing running back for UH.
"The running part comes naturally for all of us. But with the scheme coach June Jones has, everything is blocking. The running part is natural anyway. You have to get the blocking technique down," Misipeka said. "To make the team and play, it all comes down to assignment, technique and knowing everything about your position and as much as you can about the whole offense. If you get all that down, you have a chance to be the No. 1 man."
Misipeka played in four games last year, carrying the ball twice for 11 yards. He had three times as many carries yesterday.
"The last couple weeks I hadn't been getting the ball a lot. It's a good feeling to get the ball and do something with it," he said.
Wide receiver Bryant Stevens has risen from even more obscurity. The Waiakea High School graduate walked on at San Diego. When that didn't work out he came back to Hawaii and talked to UH assistant Rich Miano about walking on.
"I'm just trying to make the most of my chance," said Stevens, who did exactly that by making a leaping grab of a pass yesterday, as well as several other tough grabs earlier in camp. "I'm getting the offense little by little."
Jones indicated yesterday Stevens will get that chance beyond cut-down day.
"He's coming along. By the time we tee it up in the fall, he'll be able to help, I'm sure," Jones said. "From the first couple days he looked like he was going to be a player. He's got some skills, but he's got a lot to learn."
Receivers coach Ron Lee said Stevens is among several wideouts who showed potential yesterday.
"It's good to see if they can execute the routes under fire," Lee said. "I saw good things by a whole bunch of guys, including Kanale George, Mike Akiu."
Shawn Withy-Allen remains first in the quarterback rotation, but Jeff Rhode and Jason Whieldon are not far behind.
Whieldon -- in addition to finding the right receiver most the time -- showed a good sense of when to run.
"It's instinctive and feel. There are holes in the rush, hopefully you can step up and make throws. But sometimes, if the guys aren't open and there's a big hole, the instinct is to run. Some quarterbacks have a clock in their head, how long you have. But sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. It all depends on the play and the situation."
Whieldon and the other quarterbacks were the only participants spared collisions in this live-fire exercise. But the JC transfer knows his teammates needed yesterday's scrimmage, if just to see some solid contact.
"It was a good scrimmage. A couple big hits, and that makes everybody happy," Whieldon said. "When you go through a whole week of football without any hitting, football players get anxious. So it was good for them to get out some aggression."
UH Athletics