UH deep in some positions, thin in others
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
A position-by-position look at this year's team (with players listed alphabetically):
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QUARTERBACK
Redshirt freshman Uriah Moenoa is expected to break into a veteran offensive line at right tackle.
Candidates: Tim Chang, Jared Flint, Jeff Rhode, Nick Rolovich, Shawn Withy-Allen.
Player to watch: Before undergoing surgery on his right (throwing) shoulder last August, Flint was considered the top quarterback. The arm is now pain-free, and Flint is back to throwing accurate medium-range passes. If he continues to improve, he might even push starter Chang for playing time.
Outlook: It took two games to settle on Chang, then another three weeks for the offense to adjust to Chang's style. Chang has bulked up — he weighs 205 pounds, 35 more than his playing weight as a St. Louis School senior — and appears to have a better understanding of the offense. Last year, he often hurried his passes; in spring drills, he patiently sorted his passing options.
RUNNING BACK
Candidates: Tui Ala, Mike Bass, Brian Daniels, Pesefea Fiaseu, Josh Galeai, Chad Kapanui, Jonathan Kauka, Steven Mahelona, Thero Mitchell.
Player to watch: Bass, an all-state California high school player, played in an offense similar to the one UH uses, featuring draws and counters. Even at 5 feet 7 and 165 pounds, he is regarded as an efficient blocker.
Outlook: In football's version of the girl-next-door syndrome, the Warriors usually embrace the running back who has been there all along. It was Travis Sims in 1992, Russell Grant in 1996, Afatia Thompson and Avion Weaver in 1999, and James Fenderson last year. The one-back system calls for a combination blocker/interior runner, a description that fits Mitchell.
RECEIVER
Candidates: X (left wideout): Justin Colbert, Neal Gossett, Tafiti Uso. H (left slotback): Omar Bennett, Channon Harris, Britton Komine, Kenoche Mostella, Chad Owens. Y (right slotback): Clifton Herbert, Nate Ilaoa, Ryan Richards, Craig Stutzmann, Gerald Welch. Z (right wideout): Kanale George, Ashley Lelie, Frank Rivers, Isaac Rodrigues, Mark Tate.
Player to watch: Stutzmann has lost 10 pounds (he's down to 190, his playing weight in 1999) and the torn ligament in his left arch has healed, enabling him to regain the role of possession receiver.
Outlook: Colbert, Harris, Stutzmann and Lelie return as starters, but don't expect them to play every down. Herbert, the leading candidate to return kicks, and Komine played well in the spring, and the 190-pound Welch, who is 28 pounds lighter, will play more. The best battle is on the left side, where Uso, who turned down a chance to start at Stanford to return to the Islands, and Gossett are pushing Colbert. The Warriors relied on short packages — curls and hitches — last year, but should open it up with more deep patterns.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Candidates: Left tackle: Brandon Eaton, Jonathan Eckno, Charlie Dutra, Lui Fuata, Mike Holt, Phil Kauffman, Ryan Santos. Left guard: Chad Kahale, Shayne Kajioka, Manly Kanoa III, Uriah Moenoa, Sione Tafuna. Center: Alapa'i Andrews, Lyle Castro, Fuata, Vincent Manuwai, Brian Smith. Right guard: Eaton, Kajioka, Kanoa III, Manuwai, Tafuna. Right tackle: Dutra, Holt, Kanoa III, Manuwai, Moenoa, Santos.
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Player to watch: The handyman — Fuata — is finally holding down a regular job at left tackle. After playing every line position last year, Fuata has settled at left tackle, where he has developed into an agile open-area blocker.
Slotback Craig Stutzmann should be more elusive after losing 10 pounds, down to 190.
Outlook: In a sing-song voice that could have inspired the invention of the "mute" button, line coach Mike Cavanaugh, scanning his starting blockers, from left to right, warbled, "Foo-ah-tah ... Kah-no-ah ... Bri-ann Smith ... Mah-noo-wai ... Mo-ee-no-ah ... ah, what a beautiful sound. It would make a nice song."
With four starting blockers back — Moenoa, a redshirt freshman, breaks in at right tackle — the line is indeed an in-sync group. In a scheme in which each lineman yells out blocking assignments and trap blocks are set on nearly every play, cohesiveness is a key, Cavanaugh said.
Manuwai is the marquee player (he made 49 pancake blocks last year), fifth-year senior Kanoa III is the most experienced and Smith, a roving blocker who picks up blitzers, is the leader.
"Expectations are high," Cavanaugh said. "We will work our ever-loving okole off to meet them."
DEFENSIVE LINE
Candidates: Left end: Laanui Correa, Travis Laboy. Left tackle: Brett Clowers, Mike Iosua, Kalae Lee. Right tackle: Lui Fuga, Wayne Hunter, Karman Saulsberry, Lance Samuseva. Right end: Houston Ala, Kevin Jackson, Viliami Taufa.
Player to watch: In spring drills, the under-sized Ala — the coaches say he's 240 pounds — was a chaos-inducing defensive tackle, speeding past blockers to blow up running plays. It is believed that the move to defensive end will be a better fit for Ala's quickness.
Outlook: In February, there was a projected surplus on the defensive line, leading to three linemen moving to linebacker. But Fuga's second shoulder surgery (he will miss at least two games) and the unavailability of prized recruit Isaak Sopoaga (who will need another semester to earn his associate degree, an NCAA eligibility requirement for a junior college transfer) scuttled those plans. Kevin Jackson moves back to defensive end, and Hunter, projected to play right end, will move to right tackle, the space-eating position on the line. Iosua, who was to be part of a four-man rotation, now will play full-time.
LINEBACKER
Candidates: Strong: Isaiah Alameda, Joe Correia, Preston Faraimo, Kila Kamakawiwo'ole, Matt Wright. Middle: Chris Brown, Ikaika Curnan, Donny Faaliliu, Watson Hoohuli, Leo Reed Jr. Weak: Keani Alapa, Bronson Liana, Kilinahe Noa, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Lonnie Williams.
Player to watch: Size matters. The coaches are concerned that Brown, who moved from defensive end in the spring, was too bulky to play the middle and ordered him to cut back on his weight training. Brown agreed to a compromise. He will work on repetitions instead of power lifts. The 255-pound Brown has lost 10 pounds, mostly from running and eliminating rice from his diet, yet remains strong enough to bench press 225 pounds 42 times and 425 pounds five times.
Outlook: Bullied by proficient run-blocking teams last year, UH shuffled its defense, super-sizing its linebackers. Defensive ends Brown and Correia were moved to linebacker, and middle linebacker Tinoisamoa was moved to the perimeter. In the spring , they struggled to learn to read on the run — as linemen, Brown and Correia had to fight off blocks right after the snap — but associate head coach George Lumpkin is confident the switches will improve the run defense.
SECONDARY
Candidates: Boundary cornerback: Keith Bhon-
apha, Lamar Broadway, Abraham Elimimian, Omega Hogan, Hyrum Peters. Left safety: Bhonapha, Jacob Espiau, Robert Grant, Patrick Lavar Harley, Chris Riccardi. Right safety: Dan Berryman, Sean Butts, David Gilmore, Nate Jackson, Matt Manuma, Leonard Peters. Field cornerback: Broadway, Josiah Cravalho, Hogan, Cameron Hollingsworth, Kevin Millhouse, Gary Wright.
Player to watch: The Warriors divide their cover players, with the boundary cornerback defending the narrow side of the field when the ball is on a hashmark. The boundary cornerback usually is the better run defender. But boundary cornerback Hyrum Peters also is able to defend the quick receivers, a plus when a play starts in the middle of the field.
Outlook: The cornerbacks, Peters and Wright, don't have "top-end speed," the ability to keep up with sprinters 40 yards down the field. But they are quick enough to cover the areas where 95 percent of the completions go; twin safeties Espiau and Jackson can pick up the remaining 5 percent.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Candidates: Placekicker: Justin Ayat, Aaron Barret. Punter: Greg Kleidon, Mat McBriar.
Player to watch: McBriar had no experience playing organized football before joining the Warriors last year. But after working out with San Diego Chargers punter Darren Bennett, McBriar now can combine accuracy with power.
Outlook: The Warriors will miss the ten-hut direction of special teams coach Dennis McKnight, who decided not to return, and returner Jamal Garland, whose eligibility expired. But while Garland was elusive and daring, he did not have breakaway speed. His successor, Clifton Herbert, does.
