Defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville, right, and safety Lamar Broadway, left, congratulated Omega Hogan after Hogan blocked a punt during warm-ups for yesterday's scrimmage.
Glanville gets
defense going
The Warriors defensive coordinator
finds a new weapon in lineman
Jake Ingram
Being from Detroit and a race-car driver, Jerry Glanville is naturally impressed by good motors.
As a football coach, he really likes it when he sees one on a defensive lineman.
Freshman walk-on Jake Ingram led an invasion of the Hawaii backfield yesterday, as the Warriors rush often got the best of the offense in a 50-play scrimmage at Aloha Stadium.
Ingram was involved in three plays that would've been sacks, including a forced fumble by No. 1 quarterback Tyler Graunke.
"The defense is doing good," Graunke said. "They're firing off the ball and they're really explosive. I think Glanville fired something up in them to get them to fire off the ball and get at us. Hopefully, they can do that against USC."
Coach June Jones conceded the offense wasn't sharp, but also said, "both of them did some good things," when asked about the play of top QB competitors Graunke and Colt Brennan.
When they did have time to throw, both were accurate.
Brennan was six of eight for 80 yards, including a 25-yard pass to freshman Marquez Jackson.
Graunke completed four of six attempts for 52 yards, including the prettiest offensive play, a 25-yard strike to Davone Bess across the middle.
"He's got the best hands on the team. He's going to make a lot of plays for us this year," Graunke said of Bess.
Bryan Maneafaiga rushed five times for 12 yards and Kala Latuselu four times for 10.
The offense did not generate a gain of longer than 25 yards, and did not string together enough first downs to result in a touchdown.
A big reason was Ingram, a relentless 6-foot-4, 226-pound freshman from Mililani.
Glanville said he wasn't surprised.
"It's funny. I said as we watched him in practice, we'll be on the road somewhere, and it'll be the fourth quarter, and he'll make a huge play for us," Glanville said. "Because when people get tired, he doesn't get tired. He doesn't give in to physical abuse. He won't surrender, regardless. We'll be on the road somewhere, and everybody's going to be looking in the program to find out who Jake the Snake is."
"The way I see it right now, if I didn't take that year off I don't think I'd be where I'm at right now," said Ingram who weighed 190 when he graduated. "I put on weight, I got stronger, got faster. If I came straight here, I wouldn't have been able to hack it. Too light.
"I just have to keep working hard. Things went my way today."
Jones was impressed.
"He's been working hard all summer. Before he's out of here, he's going to be a player for us," the head coach said. "He's given us a great effort in every scrimmage."
Glanville said the green shirts still have a long way to go overall.
The first-year UH defensive coordinator and former NFL head coach is also implementing kick-blocking schemes. He was overjoyed to see senior Omega Hogan get his hands on three kicks, victimizing backup punter Jeremy Shibata before and after the scrimmage.
"Oh yeah, Alpha Omega. Very fast off the corner. We're trying to use his talents," Glanville said.
But can five blocked kicks and punts in a dozen attempts be healthy for a team?
"That's a good question," Hogan said. "I think it's a good thing because we're helping ourselves by proving we can block the kicks, and it helps the offense because we're giving them so many different looks. Glanville's really good at that."
Slip sliding away: Freshman receiver Michael Washington made one catch for 20 yards. He also returned kickoffs, but didn't break through the coverage for any long gains. On one return, he slipped untouched and fell to the FieldTurf surface.
It illustrated why Jones had the team practice at the stadium.
"Especially the rookies," Jones said. "They needed to get a feel for the turf, check out their shoes. It's clear some of them need to change their shoes."
Injury report: Sophomore slotback Pat Olchovy suffered a back injury when he absorbed an awkward hit on a catch-and-run play early in the scrimmage.
Two other Warriors are also day-to-day after suffering injuries yesterday.
Starting left tackle Tala Esera has a sore left knee and backup running back Chris Cole has a strained left shoulder.
Senior center Derek Fa'avi did not scrimmage.
"Derek was the only (starting offensive lineman) we held out. He still didn't have his knee brace. It's being refurbished," Jones said.
Slotbacks Ryan Grice-Mullen, Jason Ferguson and Nate Ilaoa also did not scrimmage.
Short yardage: Oklahoma quarterback Tommy Grady transferred to Utah. The brother of former Fresno State quarterback Jeff Grady was considering Hawaii. ... Today's practice is at 4 p.m. at the UH grass field.
Hawaii's Michael Malala nearly blocked a punt by Jeremy Shibata during yesterday's scrimmage at Aloha Stadium.
Hawaii's Michael Washington hauled in a pass in front of the Warriors' A.J. Martinez.
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