UH ready for The Swamp

OCALA, Fla. » It'll be a day of debuts for the Hawaii football team tomorrow.

UH FOOTBALL Hawaii at Florida; tomorrow; 6:30 a.m.; Oceanic Cable Pay-Per-View (Digital Ch. 255); KKEA 1420-AM.

Greg McMackin will lead the Warriors into The Swamp for his first game as head coach, and junior transfer Greg Alexander will start at quarterback in the season opener against fifth-ranked Florida.

"Greg's been taking the snaps for the last 10 days and we're going to go with him," McMackin said today.

Alexander faces a daunting task in his first Division I game, taking on an athletic Gator defense while dealing with the famously raucous crowd at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

"There's not much else you can do (to prepare for the atmosphere)," said Alexander, who was playing before modest junior-college gatherings this time last year. "I've never played in front of a crowd that big, but I don't know if it's really going to change things that much. The game is still played between the lines and it's still football."

The Swamp has long been one college football's toughest venues for opponents. The Gators are 100-12 there since 1990 - outscoring visitors by an average of 41-16 over that span - and are looking to win their 19th consecutive home opener.

Not exactly a welcome setting as McMackin makes his debut as a major-college head coach.

"When you play the best you find out where you are," McMackin said. "But this will be a big challenge."

The Warriors arrived in Florida yesterday after two practices in Atlanta and get their first look at The Swamp (capacity 88,548) in a walk-through this afternoon.

The game marks the start of a new era for the Hawaii program, complete with an updated look thanks to Under Armour.

"I'm excited to don that uniform and, like Coach said, he put 'Hawaii' on the front for a reason," said linebacker Adam Leonard, who was among the four captains announced yesterday. "We're playing not only for our families and ourselves but the people of Hawaii."

The other captains are linebacker Solomon Elimimian, defensive lineman Keala Watson and center John Estes.