Slotback Komine makes big impression in first start
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Britton Komine proved to be a quick starter in his first start for the University of Hawai'i football team last night.
Komine turned in one of the top receiving performances in UH history in the Warriors' 59-34 rout of Nevada last night at Aloha Stadium.
Komine, a sophomore slotback, caught eight passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns. It represented the third highest receiving yards in a single game by a Hawai'i receiver (behind only Ashley Lelie's 285 and 262 yards last season).
"What a game he had," said Ron Lee, who coaches the UH receivers. "I don't think he dropped a single ball and he ran all the right routes. Awesome game."
Komine was starting only because of injuries to Nate Ilaoa and Clifton Herbert.
"I wasn't really nervous, actually," said Komine, who graduated from Maryknoll and was a record-setting receiver for Pac-Five prior to attending UH. "I've been practicing hard all this time, just waiting for my chance."
His chance would come early and often.
On the first offensive play of the game, quarterback Tim Chang found Komine sprinting alone down the sideline for a 72-yard touchdown.
On the play, Komine crossed patterns with wide receiver Jeremiah Cockheran in an attempt to confuse the defensive backs. Komine said his route was "just run out (to the sideline) then up."
"The (defensive backs) were playing up tight against us, so we wanted to go deep on them," he added. "Jeremiah did a good job, too. He was open also and he probably could have scored, too."
That same play worked three times to Komine during UH's record-setting first quarter last night for 171 yards. On the other two, Komine hauled in a 45-yard strike from Chang, and then a 54-yard touchdown from Shawn Withy-Allen.
"We knew we were going to run that play (Friday) night," said Komine, a 5-foot-9 sophomore. "It's not necessarily designed for me. It could go to anybody. It's just that I got open and the (quarterbacks) found me."
Withy-Allen added: "It's a matter of how the defense covers it. Britt did a good job of reading it and getting open. We just had to get the ball to him."
By halftime of last night's game, Komine had five catches for 190 yards. Prior to last night, he had a total of 151 receiving yards in his career.
"It's been a long wait for me to get a start," said Komine, who played in just one game as a freshman last season. "But you need to have a good outlook in that situation, just like (Nick) Rolovich last year. I just felt like if I kept working hard, my time would come."
Komine's breakout game was part of a record-setting performance by the entire UH offense. The Warriors amassed a school-record 674 yards in total offense last night, and the 52 first-half points is also believed to be a record (official records on scoring by halves are not kept by UH).
"It was kind of surprising, but not really," Komine said. "We know what we can do. It doesn't really matter who's in there, we all can do the job."
It may have to be that way from now on. In addition to the injuries to Ilaoa and Herbert, Chad Owens — the other starting slotback — injured his knee last night.
"It's football, guys get hurt," Lee said. "We just need other guys to step up. Britton was the guy to step up tonight."
