Warriors’ O-line
looks to bounce back
Rice had five sacks against
UH, but Jones doesn't place
responsibility solely on
his offensive line
For the Hawaii offensive line, last week's loss to Rice was painful in multiple ways.
The game took a physical toll with starting center Derek Faavi going down with a foot injury. The final score brought on an emotional letdown, and yielding five sacks to the Owls was a blow to the pride of the Warrior linemen.
"Obviously, it wasn't one of our best games as a unit," senior lineman Uriah Moenoa said after the Warriors' practice yesterday morning. "(UH assistant coach Mike Cavanaugh) really prides himself on this O-line and we take pride in ourselves and I really felt like we let the man down."
The Warriors return all five starters from a unit that gave up one sack for every 30 pass attempts last season, a total of 26. They performed well in the season opener against Florida Atlantic, keeping quarterback Tim Chang on his feet nearly the entire game, which is why the five sacks Rice recorded came as a surprise to the UH coaches.
But head coach June Jones doesn't place the responsibility solely on the line's shoulders.
"Sacks always surprise me," Jones said. "I thought they were pretty good pass rushers, but I thought we had chances to throw the ball away on probably three of those. It's cumulative, not just directed to the O-line."
Cavanaugh commended the Owls defenders for their performance, particularly lineman John Syptak (two sacks), and is looking for the UH linemen to put the game, and the sacks, behind them.
"How you are able to bounce back from snap to snap is critical," Cavanaugh said. "Coach Jones always talks about one snap and clear. You give up a sack you can't go in the tank. We have to make sure we're tougher mentally and have some resiliency there.
"I believe in this, it's not so much what a defense does to you, it's what you do. Are you trusting your set, are you trusting your punch, are you trusting your finish, how do you finish blocks? A lot of that is desire."
Cavanaugh was forced to shuffle the lineup when Faavi left the game with a sprained right foot.
Faavi has started 19 consecutive games at center, mastering the shotgun snap over that span. When he went out, Moenoa shifted from right guard to center and senior Phil Kauffman filled in at guard.
"Uriah did a good job," Faavi said. "It's good that he knows the calls and he can adjust from guard to center. He's a smart guy."
Brandon Eaton, a starter at right tackle, moved inside to guard for yesterday's practice with Jeremy Inferrera sliding in at tackle. Eaton and Inferrera had been rotating at right tackle in the first two games.
"We've tried every year to move guys around so they get an idea of the whole scheme," Cavanaugh said. "Eventually I think Brandon's going to be a guard."
Moenoa said he had taken some snaps at center during fall camp and played the position during spring drills earlier in his career. He started at right tackle his first two years at UH, moved to guard last season and is preparing to step in at center if Faavi is not available for next week's Western Athletic Conference game against Tulsa.
"I'm so used to seeing half of the field, seeing the whole field is a bigger picture to me so I just have to get used to it," Moenoa said.
"It wasn't that bad in the game, but I noticed in practice today (snapping) gets a little tough doing it all the time. I just have to get a lot more reps and work at it."
With the Warriors recovering from an 0-2 start to the season, Moenoa was among the seniors exhorting their teammates to pick up their effort in practice yesterday.
"You can't let your tiredness get to you," he said. "You have to push yourself to get better every day. What you do in practice is what you do in the game. On the O-line, we were lacking in the last game, so we have to pick it up in practice.
"I feel this really helped the O-line to grow up. We have some young guys, granted we have a lot of experience, but we have to mature and prepare. It was a real wake-up call for the O-line. I think it was good for us."
More hurts: Jones is concerned with the status of linebacker Ikaika Curnan, who may have torn ligaments in his elbow during last week's game.
Curnan had five tackles last Saturday and is tied for third on the team with 14 total stops. Jones said Curnan hyperextended the elbow against Rice and probably would not have been able to play this week. The Warriors have a bye and his availability for the Tulsa game won't be determined until next week.
"It'll be wait and see," Jones said. "We won't (make a decision) until the game."
Linebacker Tanuvasa Moe leads the Warriors with 18 tackles and also sat out yesterday's practice with a sprained elbow. He expects to be back in action later this week.
"When you have the adrenaline going you don't really feel as much pain as you usually do," Moe said. "I had it taped up and I really didn't notice it until after the game, that's when the pain actually came."
Receiver Britton Komine sat out yesterday with a strained calf, but Jones expects him to be ready for next week's game. Defensive linemen Lui Fuga and Keala Watson also rested injuries.
Welcome back: Defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis strapped on the pads for the for the first time this season. The sophomore hadn't taken part in drills since having back surgery during the summer and hopes to be ready for the Tulsa game.
"I'm not where I want to be right now. The main thing is to keep my head clear, be mentally strong and get better every day," Alama-Francis said. "Physically, I'm still trying to test the waters. It's my first day back, so it's basically getting the flow of things.
"I've watched some film on Tulsa. But the main thing is I have to get out here and do it. You can do all the book work you want, but you have to get out here, put on the toys and work as hard as you can."
Backup plans: With the bye this week, Jones gave some of the UH reserves most of the repetitions during the team periods yesterday. Chang took a break while Jack Rolovich, Kainoa Akina and Taylor Humphrey did most of the throwing in the session.
"This week they'll have a little opportunity to let them throw, give them a chance to get in there," Jones said. "They really haven't done anything for two or three weeks since we broke camp."
www.hawaiiathletics.com
