Had Nick Rolovich not taken notice of that highlight tape on his desk, David Graves might be preparing for a career playing opposite Hawaii.

Graves initially committed to Nevada while at Folsom (Calif.) High School, his nimble feet making him a fit for the option phase of the Wolf Pack's Pistol offense.

But when Hawaii started showing interest during his senior season, Graves found himself drawn to the run-and-shoot and eventually signed with the Warriors. And after a redshirt year, he's worked himself into the mix in the quarterback competition this spring.

“;I've always considered myself a passer, and Hawaii's offense is a passing offense,”; Graves said.

“;Hawaii football is very explosive, the ball flying through the air, that gets people on their feet.”;

Graves continued to back up Shane Austin with the first unit during yesterday's no-pads practice at Ching Field, while Brent Rausch and Cayman Shutter operated the second unit in a still fluid quarterback race.

“;David's taken advantage of the reps, Cayman had a good day today,”; said Rolovich, the Warriors offensive coordinator. “;You talk about two kids in their first spring and they're doing good things.”;

With the repetitions that have come his way over 13 practices this spring, Graves feels he's “;a completely different person from the beginning of spring to now.”;

“;In the fall, I would go into film and take mental reps, but it's completely different when you get to the line and have to run it against a defense,”; he said.

Graves played wide receiver and slotback as a sophomore and junior at Folsom, but emerged as a prolific dual-threat quarterback as a senior. He ran for 696 yards and 11 touchdowns while throwing for 2,771 yards and 40 scores in his lone season as the starter.

He showed off both skills in a scrimmage Saturday, driving the offense to its first score and later scrambling for a touchdown.

“;I see a big jump in David Graves,”; UH head coach Greg McMackin said. “;The way he took that first unit down and scored, he showed he's really come a long way. He's going through his progressions better and he's always a weapon running the football. He's really helped himself this spring.”;

While his running ability can add another dimension to the offense, Graves knows his first priority is to deliver the ball to the Warriors receivers and running backs.

“;I took off a little prematurely,”; Graves noted on one of his runs on Saturday. “;I could have stayed in there and gotten it to one of our athletes. But it'll come with time. I'm still getting the system down and getting backside reads is part of the growing in the system.”;

With just tomorrow's practice and the Warrior Bowl on Friday remaining and Bryant Moniz still on personal leave, the quarterback situation will remain cloudy going into the summer. McMackin said the plan is to determine a starter at least two weeks before the opener against USC.

“;We've got quite a while left,”; McMackin said. “;Mo's going to be back and he'll be in the mix, so we've got five or six good quarterbacks we're going to have to decide on and see how they work in the offseason.”;

Bradley making progress

Receiver Rodney Bradley continued his comeback from a broken leg yesterday by running routes in drills and participating in the 7-on-7 period for the first time this spring.

“;My leg felt a lot better, so I just tried to test it out and see what I could do,”; Bradley said. “;It felt good, most of it is mental. I'm favoring one side, but my leg feels fine.”;

Bradley had been limited to conditioning work with the strength coaches during practice and still took it easy yesterday. He said he still needs to build strength in his leg, but “;it feels real good to have a helmet back on and catching passes with the team,”; he said.

Warrior Bowl coming up

Rather than split the team up as in previous spring games, the Warriors will hold a situational scrimmage between the offense and defense in Friday's Warrior Bowl at Ching Field.

“;We want to solidify our first and second team with reps and we're still evaluating our third and fourth group,”; McMackin said.

The Warriors hold their final full practice tomorrow at 7 a.m.