Momentum matters for Rainbow Warriors

SAN JOSE >> Following last week’s victory, University of Hawaii football coach Nick Rolovich wants his team to carry on.

“This isn’t a team that can just take it for granted,” Rolovich said. “Nobody’s at that point. The ‘we’ve arrived, the baggage-claim mind-set’ can never come. Any football team that gets that way is in trouble, looking for a letdown. You’re going to lose your bags. Your bags didn’t make it on the plane if you get that baggage-claim mind-set. You’re going to have problems.”

Rolovich is imploring the Rainbow Warriors to build on last week’s momentum when they play San Jose State today at CEFCU Stadium. This is homecoming for the Spartans, who are 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the Mountain West.

The Warriors (2-3, 1-0) used a power-running attack and swarming defense to defeat Nevada in last week’s conference opener, a significant outcome after going winless against MWC opponents in 2015.

“These guys have had a little taste, just a taste (of success), and they’d like to keep it,” defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said. “They’re focusing in. They’re trying to do the best they can do with what we’ve got to do to win.”

After the previous week’s bye, the Warriors responded with what Rolovich termed “a high-level” practice on the Thursday before the Nevada game. This past week, the Warriors had three animated practices on the Manoa campus. Rolovich said the Warriors were “dialed in” during Friday’s walk-through session at Saint Francis High in Mountain View, Calif.

Quarterback Dru Brown, who will make his second UH start, threw crisp passes. The Warriors rotated running backs Diocemy Saint Juste, Paul Harris and Steven Lakalaka against the second-team defense. The defensive players also went through their full menu of schemes.

“It was a good practice,” said Rolovich, who summoned former UH lineman Ray Hisatake to address the players. Hisatake is now the dean of students at Saint Francis.

Hisatake told the Warriors to “appreciate what they’ve got because it’s not going to last forever.”

And then he said: “Go out and kick some ass.”

Rolovich then called Terry Malley to huddle. Malley was Rolovich’s coach with the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League. Rolovich said his football influences were Dan Hayes at City College of San Francisco, June Jones and Dan Morrison at Hawaii, and Malley.

“He has the ultimate love for players,” Rolovich said of Malley. “He has ultimate respect for the game. And he has a great outlook on the season, on teams, on a whole bunch of stuff.”

Rolovich recalled one of Malley’s lessons that still resonates.

“He told me: ‘You have to learn when you win,’” Rolovich said. “When I was (a quarterback) in arena football, I tried to throw everything as hard as I could. I remember a post route I threw. I put it on the line. I didn’t need to, and I missed it. He said, ‘Look, you’ve got a strong arm, but if I gave you a gun and you shot one bullet, how big would that hole be? If I gave you a grenade and you threw it, how big would that hole be? That’s the difference in this game. Sometimes you’re going to have to use more touch. You use your gun when you have to, but you make the throw that’s needed at the time.’ I’ll never forget that.”