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Hype harder to
swallow this year

THERE is optimism on the first day of practice for every team in every season for every sport. There is that "fresh start" belief that anything is possible, that those first-day sprints really are going to pay off in a championship down the road.

Every player feels this way, on the first day.

Especially on teams coached by June Jones.

But Hawaii may need this optimism now more than it has in a long, long time, if we are to see the kind of season we've gotten used to. With this schedule, with these open roster spots, with last season's defensive stats, with the departure of a couple of guys named Owens and Chang, UH may need to embrace this feeling, hold onto it, ride it for as long as it possibly can.

Because, yes, yesterday everybody felt unstoppable (at least until the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh runs of the annual conditioning test). But the season opens with USC and at Michigan State, and then there's Boise State, and oh, my.

And last season Hawaii was next-to-last in total defense, dead bottom against the run.

And Chad Owens changed more games than we can remember, last season, but now he's gone, on the mainland returning punts for cash.

And UH opens with USC and then on the road at Michigan State (that's the second mention, but it bears repeating).

The truth is that it's hard not to get swept up in the hype when you're around the UH football program. But this season, well, let's just say it seems not quite as hard.

This season there are a lot of questions, and a lot would have to fall into place.

But then comes opening day, and the guys show up in green and white, and they tell you they can take on the world. And you think, Maybe. Just maybe ...

There was quarterback front-runner Tyler Graunke sprinting ahead of the pack like Secretariat. Then refusing to breathe heavily afterward, saying things like, "Anything they put in front of me, I'm going to do."

And how's this: Did spring ball with Jerry Glanville wipe away the hangover of last season's defensive last-placeness, or is that something still to be overcome?

"The last two or three games (last season) kind of wiped that out, Northwestern, Michigan State and UAB," All-WAC candidate cornerback Kenny Patton said.

So, yes, they believe. They'll need to, this year.

You have to like a lot of the coaching moves -- the hiring of Glanville is only the biggest and most visible -- Jones has made heading into this season. But you also have to wonder if these adjustments have come in time to take effect immediately -- in the face of a killer schedule and rebuilding on both sides of the ball. You have to wonder if all this stuff is going to pay off big-time ... down the road.

Sometimes these cycles take time to kick in. Last season UH was clearly a team that needed to make a few of these tweaks -- and yet Hawaii still made a bowl game when Owens just made plays that were back-breakers in a handful of games and UH got eight, nine, 10 calls against Michigan State.

So now we'll see if making all the right moves -- Glanville, etc. -- is enough. It probably won't be. This year these guys need more than that. This year it looks like it will take something special. This year UH will also need unshakable belief.

Check. Jones always has it. Glanville, too.

"He's just really intense," Patton said of his new defensive boss.

"You can see it in his eyes, his passion, knowledge, wisdom, all that stuff. It's not 'I think.' It's 'I know.' "

That's what this team needs this season. Knowing, even if logic doesn't necessarily bear them out. Believing, even if, on paper, it looks like it might be time to jump off the hype train.

Here's an example -- Hawaii has to replace and retool almost its entire offensive skill-position lineup. You would think that's a concern.

"It's to our advantage," Patton said. "Because everybody knew what Timmy could do. ... But now, you don't know what these guys are going to do."

Now that's optimism. Now that's the kind of first-day belief UH is going to need if it's going to have a chance to have another big year.

Everything is possible, on that first day.

"I've been waiting for this day forever," Graunke said.

That's good. Because here comes the season. Here come USC and Michigan State.