Looking downfield and reading defenses is one thing.

But what University of Hawai'i quarterback Inoke Funaki saw when he looked around at the Warriors' first fall practice was something that no film session and none of the three previous seasons in Manoa had prepared him for.

For the first time in an August there was no Colt Brennan or Tyler Graunke ahead of him on the depth chart. When it came to drills yesterday, he was at the front of the line at quarterback, his job to keep and his team to run.

Funaki had taken note of the headlines about Graunke being indefinitely withheld from team activities for academic reasons days earlier. He had glimpsed in joy Brennan's NFL debut on TV Sunday. Still, it wasn't until Funaki pulled on a white helmet, crisp new Under Armour jersey No. 11 and took his place behind center that the realization of what it all meant took hold.

"It was definitely different," Funaki said. "I looked around and it was kind of, 'oh, it is me. I'm the first guy up.' "

The junior from Kahuku had come off his best spring showing to force a summer showdown at quarterback, ready to make a run at the starting job. And, suddenly, the keys to the offense — and the considerable responsibility that goes with it — were his.

The battle for the starting job, if there is to be one, will now have to come from two junior college transfers trying to speed read an offense Funaki has grown up in.

So, as he was reminded yesterday, all Funaki has to do is replace the NCAA's all-time career touchdown leader. Oh, and could you please step on it for fifth-ranked Florida in Gainesville by Aug. 30?

The urgency of a situation that calls for a sharper edge and a commanding voice was not lost on Funaki or overlooked by teammates. He exhorted them, clapped his hands and pumped a fist or two. More important, he sought to lead by example and experience.

Thus began the latest chapter in the coming out of Funaki, something we might have wondered was even possible a year ago. "He is very mild-mannered; there are a lot of the local boy traits in him," quarterbacks coach Nick Rolovich noted. "For the first few years he was here he didn't want to step on anybody's toes. But out here, now, at this position he knows what is expected of him. And he has a fire within him."

It has not escaped notice. "He's prepared himself for this and we have full confidence in his abilities to get the job done," said linebacker Adam Leonard.

After taking a back seat at UH, Funaki now finds himself not just moving but leaping into the driver's seat.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.