Ilaoa's TD is just a preview
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
EL PASO, Texas — With a catch and eye-opening 25-yard touchdown run last night slotback Nate Ilaoa let the Western Athletic Conference in on a little secret during Hawai'i's 31-6 win over Texas-El paso.
"That," said quarterback Shawn Withy-Allen, who authored the short pass and then watched the rest of it unfold, "was a small glimmer of what he's going to be doing the next four years in this conference."
Even at a self-described, "80-to-85 percent" health-wise after coming off a severe hamstring injury, the 5-foot-9, 204-pound redshirt freshman from Virginia was remarkable in coming up with three catches for 61 yards.
"That run of his was big time," said June Jones, the UH coach. "It gave us a big lift."
Indeed, with the Warriors nursing a 7-0 lead in the second quarter, Ilaoa's touchdown was the play that allowed UH to begin to pull away, several Miners felt.
"It was probably as big — maybe bigger — than the (fake) punt," Jones said.
Withy-Allen said he had initially looked to Michael Bass for a short slant route on third-and-3 at the UTEP 25. "But, I didn't like the look of the situation and went to Nate instead," Withy-Allen said. "When Nate caught it, I thought, 'good, now we've got the first down,' but he cut back and I'm thinking, 'What's he doing? We're gonna lose the first down.' But he kept running and running and nobody could stop him and suddenly he's in the end zone and my first thought is, 'wow, I just threw a touchdown.' "
Ilaoa said, "I got a block from (Jeremiah) Cockheran and support from my teammates and just went for it."
It was just that kind of special ability that made Ilaoa one of the big names of the Warriors' recruiting class two years ago as the Washington Post Metro Player of the Year. But he redshirted last season and, after a promising debut against Eastern Illinois, Ilaoa was slowed by a hamstring.
This past week in practice Ilaoa showed enough return to form that coaches hoped he might make his mark at UTEP. "We knew he was getting better," Jones said, "and we wanted to find ways to get him the ball. But what he did there (in the second quarter) was big time. He's gonna be a great player for us. What you saw out there, there's a lot more to come."
• QB for two: Jones said he expects Tim Chang to start at quarterback against Southern Methodist Saturday at Aloha Stadium and Shawn Withy-Allen to also play.
"There are some things both of them can do to help us," Jones said.
• Elimimian's status unknown: Cornerback Abraham Elimimian suffered a hamstring pull late in the game. His status for the SMU game was not immediately known, officials said.
