[UH FOOTBALL]
ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2001
Hawaii's Vince Manuwai, who is being promoted as an All-American, had words with BYU's Justin Ena on Dec. 8, 2001.
BOISE, Idaho >> Relatively speaking, Vince Manuwai was ahead of the pack yesterday. V-Man ready to rock
Vince Manuwai hopes to live up to
the hype as an All-America candidateBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comJohn "Lanakila" Roy, his grandfather who lives in Kona, and Billy Manuwai, an uncle who lives in Medford, Ore., were in Boise to see the unveiling of "V-Man 65," All-America Candidate.
Standout players from all 10 conference teams were available to the media yesterday at the Western Athletic Conference Season Preview. But Manuwai is the only one whose honors campaign has begun.
Yesterday, Manuwai helped Hawaii sports information director Lois Manin distribute promotional items pushing Manuwai for the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award, in addition to All-America. The right guard's interview area was as crowded as that of any of the guys who play higher-profile positions.
Manin said 1,000 notebooks and pens were produced, and most will be distributed nationwide, to every Division I football-playing school and to writers and broadcasters who vote on the national awards. It is among the earliest UH has promoted a football player in this fashion.
Manuwai, a 6-foot-2, 285-pound senior, said he knows it is important for him to live up to the hype now -- especially since the WAC coaches deemed him worthy of second-team all-conference status after last season.
"I have to make it as legit as possible," Manuwai said. "(UH) put me out there for a reason and I have to try to play at that level."
COURTESY UH ATHLETICS
The University of Hawaii has a Web site dedicated to promoting UH guard Vince Manuwai for All-Americans honors, the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award.
Manuwai, described by his grandfather as "always a gentle giant," has come a long way from growing up in rough-and-tumble Kuhio Park Terrace. He never played football until ninth grade at Farrington High School.
Hawaii coach June Jones, who coached for several NFL teams before becoming UH's head coach, said Manuwai is one of the best two offensive linemen he has coached. The other is Chris Hinton, who was an All-Pro.
"He's got great quickness and strength and balance, and he's very intelligent," Jones said of Manuwai. "He's fundamentally perfect for a center or guard."
Without watching lots of tape isolating on individual matchups, it is difficult to evaluate offensive linemen. The advent of statistics like "pancakes" and "de-cleaters" has changed that somewhat, but a passing-dominated offense like UH's produces fewer crushing blocks. That makes lack of sacks the best way to rate the Warriors' O-line. But even that is a team statistic.
In 2000, UH allowed only 10 sacks the entire season. The Warriors reached that total early last year, as they gave up six sacks in the second game of the season, a loss at Nevada.
"That was hard to swallow," Manuwai said. "It ruined our goal (of matching the previous season's success)."
But the pass protection improved as the season went along.
"By the end we gave up only one (sack) in each of the last three games," Manuwai said. "And two of those were kind of freaky, on screen passes."
Offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh has had three players drafted by the NFL in three seasons. He believes Manuwai could go the highest, in the first round.
"I think Vince Manuwai is a legitimate All-America candidate," Cavanaugh said. "He has tremendous feet, explosive power and quickness that complements his excellent balance. He is the total package."
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