UH not giving up, will play its best players to the end

A football adage is the most popular players are the backups.

Even though the University of Hawaii football team is approaching the final game of a season to nowhere, don’t expect seldom-used players to be called to duty for Saturday’s game against Louisiana-Monroe.

“We’re going to play the best guys until ‘next man up,’” said interim head coach Chris Naeole, using the vernacular for summoning injury replacements. “That’s how it is, and that’s how it’s going to be. … That’s the reason we go to (training) camp. Some guys earn positions, some guys don’t. If you want us to feel sorry for you, that’s that. I’m trying to win games.”

Naeole said the coaches evaluate every play in every practice to determine the rotation.

“We grade everything — footwork, effort,” Naeole said. “That’s the beauty of (video). You can (play it in) slow motion, you can rewind, you can see exactly what you want to see. You’d be surprised what the camera catches.”

If a player questions his playing time, Naeole said, “I’ll pull up the (video) from practice. The eye in the sky does not lie.”

Naeole also said he does not believe in “gamers,” those who claim they perform better in games than practices.

“You’ve got to practice during the week,” Naeole said. “This is a hard sport. You can’t go out there and just turn on the lights. You’ve got to work at it every day. … What you put out on the practice field is what you put on (in the game). You don’t just turn it off and on.”

Naeole said Ikaika Woolsey, UH’s only experienced quarterback, will make his fourth consecutive start this weekend. Woolsey said he suffered an injury to his Achilles’ in the second half against San Jose State on Saturday. Woolsey remained in the game. He took all the first-team reps during Tuesday’s practice.

“Ikaika’s ready to go,” Naeole said. “He’s durable. He keeps ticking. He keeps fighting. He’s going to line up under center for us.”

Max Wittek’s season-ending injury two weeks ago left Woolsey and 22-year-old freshman Beau Reilly as the only available quarterbacks. Aaron Zwahlen, a freshman, is redshirting this season. Reilly has not taken a snap in a game during his two UH seasons.

“Beau’s a great kid,” Naeole said. “He does everything we ask. But until the ‘next man up,’ we’re with Ikaika.”

Despite last week’s lopsided loss, Naeole said, there was no inkling to give Reilly mop-up work.

“I’m not going to quit,” said Naeole, who did not pull his top players. “I’m never going to quit. I’m going to keep playing the best guys. Those guys give us the best chance to make plays.”