By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
To watch the University of Hawai‘i football team’s defense these next few weeks will be to almost wonder if the Warriors are preparing for the Big Ten instead of the Western Athletic Conference.
For as they begin spring practice tomorrow in Manoa, Job One will be to improve on stopping the run.
It’s also Job Two, and Three.
Call it a spring to be spent on the run for the Warriors who, by comparison, will deal with the aerial game mostly in passing.
It isn’t that they have forgotten about stopping the pass as much as it is they don’t want to relive the chore it was last season trying to slow the opposition’s running game.
An off-season spent watching tape underlined for defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa where the priority is. "Our emphasis will be on stopping the run," Lempa said. "It is one area where we have to get a lot better — and believe we can."
Indeed, the numbers were not kind to the Warriors last year. They ranked 105th among 114 NCAA Division I-A teams in run defense — giving up an average of 4.26 yards per carry. It was a major reason they were 99th in scoring defense and became a heavy contributor to a 3-9 record.
When Lempa arrived from the San Diego Chargers last year, the assumption was that he had just landed "in the pass-happy WAC, where people throw the football all the time" and the defense would be involved in an air raid every week.
The reality was that the Warriors’ biggest challenge, more weeks than not, came from the infantry. Of course, rarely has a UH defense been confronted with three of the NCAA’s top four rushers in the same season the way it lined up against LaDainian Tomlinson (Texas Christian), Michael Bennett (Wisconsin) and Deonce Whitaker (San Jose State), 1,500-yard runners all.
So, in preparation for the season ahead, it will be back to basics. It will be textbook Defense 101. "We have to tackle better, we have to get off our blocks better and we have to play our techniques better," Lempa said.
The moves of Chris Brown, Joe Correia and Kevin Jackson to linebacker and the arrival of transfers Wayne Hunter, Travis Laboy and Colin Wils on the line should help shore up two important areas.
"We’ve got good kids who want to learn and get better and we’ve got coaches who are working extremely hard at it," Lempa said. "At this point, we feel good about that."
With a year of experience behind him and a more mature line in front of him, quarterback Tim Chang and the offense should be better this season.
For the Warriors to return to a bowl, their defense will have to be better, too. These 15 days of spring practice is where they get a running start.
[back to top] |
