Rolovich rolls with starting call
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i found its starting quarterback just in the nick of time last night.
After a week-long debate, head coach June Jones opted to start Nick Rolovich ahead of injured starter Tim Chang against Texas-El Paso. The final decision was made about two hours before kickoff, with Chang's right wrist apparently not healed enough for him to start.
If last night was any indication, Rolovich has made future decisions about the position even more difficult.
Rolovich passed for 252 yards and three touchdowns in three quarters of action to lead the Warriors to a 66-7 romp over UTEP.
"I'm just enjoying the moment," said Rolovich, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior. "This is what I wanted to do my whole life — play college football. And this is my shot, so I have to do what I can with it."
Since replacing Chang as the starter last week, Rolovich has guided UH to two victories. In those wins, he has completed 48 of 87 passes for 577 yards and five touchdowns.
"We put it all on his shoulders and he's carried us," said receiver Ashley Lelie, who caught two touchdown passes from Rolovich last night.
Still, Jones has a long-standing policy that players can not lose their starting positions to injury. Jones even announced earlier in the week that Chang would start against UTEP if he was healthy.
"It didn't bother me at all," Rolovich said. "Either way, you have to be ready to get in the game."
Rolovich received word from Jones that he would start last night just as he was putting on his shoulder pads in the locker room.
"I was prepared for it," he said. "I felt like I was ready."
He proved it on the Warriors' second drive of the game, when he completed passes of 19 yards to running back Mike Bass and 35 yards to receiver Justin Colbert, setting up a 1-yard scoring run by Thero Mitchell. Hawai'i's next two touchdowns in the first quarter came on interception returns by the defense.
"That was huge," Rolovich said. "I felt like I wasn't even comfortable yet and it was already 21-0. It really helped me to relax."
After completing just four of his first 11 passes, Rolovich completed 13 of his next 24, including the three touchdowns. For the game, he went 17-for-35 with one interception.
Most of his success came on thread-the-needle passes to his receivers. "(UTEP) was playing a lot of man-to-man coverage, so we felt like our (receivers) could beat it," he said. "A lot of times, they did. I feel like all the incompletions were my fault."
Added Lelie: "We tried to go (deep) all night. Most of those passes were timing, so we're not going to hit it every time. But we got what we needed. (Rolovich) came through when we needed it."
Rolovich was pulled from the game after the third quarter, with Hawai'i ahead, 52-7.
It was quite a contrast from his last game against the Miners last season. Then, he was pulled at halftime after an ineffective 6-of-28 performance. The Warriors lost that game at El Paso, 39-7.
Chang became the starting quarterback the following week.
"That's a big turnaround, huh?" Rolovich said of the difference between last year's UTEP game and last night's. "I only got to play one half last year, so it felt good to play well tonight."
