Warriors kick off season against seasoned Panthers

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

During the past couple of months, tonight's season-opening football opponents — Eastern Illinois and Hawai'i — have become ingrained in each other's consciousness.

Through scouting, they know each other's histories, tendencies and quirks.

"I've watched so much film, I think I know them personally," UH offensive guard Vince Manuwai said.

In the past week, UH's Jonathan Kauka, who portrays the opposing team's running back in scout team drills, has assumed the mannerism and personality of a Panther player.

The Warriors began preparing for this game since the end of spring practice in April. In June, the coaches completed the first draft of a scouting report. During the first week of training camp, when the depth chart was not yet finalized, the Warriors were going through the plays they would use against the Panthers.

The Panthers have been equally obsessive, studying videotapes of UH games and surfing the Internet for Warrior updates. One Panther assistant said he trolled several Web site message boards, trying to provoke UH fans into providing comments that could be used as motivational material for the locker-room bulletin board.

The Panthers have followed the condition of UH quarterback Tim Chang, who suffered a broken right pinkie on his throwing hand Aug. 15, and tracked the position changes.

Meanwhile, the Warriors have been updated on wideout Will Bumphus' return from knee surgery, the Panthers' travel roster (they brought 54 players) and health report (only wideout Brandon Robinson is unavailable because of an injury).

"For any opener, you have a little more time to prepare," UH defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said.

Lempa, an admitted pack rat, retrieved notes from a 1986 workshop featuring Eastern Illinois coach Bob Spoo, who was Purdue's offensive coordinator at the time.

"(Spoo) talked about the passing game," Lempa said. "It was very interesting."

On the bus ride from the airport to Aloha Stadium for Thursday afternoon's practice, Spoo joked to associates about watching out for UH spies. But then Spoo, acknowledging there are few secrets between the teams, said the Panthers' practice would offer few revelations.

"Sure, our practice will be open," Spoo told reporters at the stadium. "We don't have anything to hide."

The Warriors, as usual, also opened their practices to the public, the exception being yesterday's walk-through. Those Friday practices are open when UH is on the road.

But for all the Panthers and Warriors know about each other, they are using tonight's game to measure themselves.

"We're anxious to play a game to find out what kind of football team we have," Spoo said. "It's been a long preseason camp for us. We want to get the taste of playing against somebody else. I'm sure Hawai'i is anxious to get into it, too."

UH's Lempa has said Eastern Illinois, which competes in Division I-AA, "is good enough to compete in our league." But when asked to evaluate his own team, Lempa said, "I won't know until after the game. We've had good enthusiasm, we've practiced very hard and we've made some plays during the preseason. Hopefully, that equates to some production on the field. We won't know until the lights go on."

For now, the Warriors will be happy to finally meet an opponent they only have seen in videos and scouting reports.

"We're tired of beating up on each other every day," UH defensive end La'anui Correa said. "Uriah (Moenoa, UH's right tackle) is a nice guy, but I'm tired of going up against him every day. I want somebody different."

UH middle linebacker Chris Brown said: "We're tired of practicing. We're tired of going through all of these drills. We're tired of getting stressed out in meetings. We want to get this show on the road."