Lataimua will get expanded role on D

A drop of blood clung to Tevita Lataimua’s jaw line. Flecks of black rubber from the T.C. Ching Complex’s FieldTurf dotted the senior linebacker’s practice jersey and pads.

Progress was hard earned in Tuesday’s intrasquad scrimmage — that much was obvious.

Lataimua, a rising leader in the ranks of the UH defense, expressed some disappointment in his team’s performance on his side of the line of scrimmage.

As Major League Baseball teams crawl through the dog days of August, apparently so do the Rainbow Warriors.

"Shoot, I feel like we, I, gotta get more communicative out there," said Lataimua, in his second year as a Warrior after transferring from the College of San Mateo (Calif.) in 2013. "I feel like camp is a little slow right now for everybody. Shoot, it was cool, defense did all right — we could do a lot better though. We’ve had way better scrimmages."

The eyes of linebackers coach Kurt Gouveia were hidden by sunglasses, but his sigh and shake of the head quickly revealed his take on the scrimmage.

"We’re coming along, but we’re not quite there," Gouveia said. "We’re pressed for time. We’ve got (about) a week here left to go (before the Aug. 30 opener vs. Washington). We’re not there. We’re still making the same kind of mistakes we’ve been making in spring and start of fall camp. You know, again, back to the drawing board, kind of point out what was the mistakes and hopefully we can get that corrected and rectified and have those kids be confident in what they’re doing."

Last week Wednesday, in particular, Lataimua rated the D with a better performance against the O in a semi-formal setting with referees.

There are still some growing pains as the Warriors transition into their new 3-4 base defensive scheme.

"Just more polishing up of the defense," Lataimua said. "I felt like the front seven, D-line and linebackers, we did way better last time, holding the line. But I felt like, LBs and DBs got to do a lot better communicating and knowing where the help is."

The 5-foot-10 Lataimua is expected to enjoy an expanded role at inside linebacker this season after performing primarily as a reserve and special-teamer in 2013. He appeared in 10 games with one start at strongside linebacker, finishing the season with 25 tackles, including a sack in the season-ending win against Army.

On this day, he said a faster-than-usual pace employed by the UH offense threw the defense out of whack.

"Sometimes when the offense is going with that kind of fast pace, it’s hard to communicate, especially from one side to the next," Lataimua said. "Next week we’re just looking to get down and get lined up, communicating faster."

New defensive coordinator Kevin Clune said he’d tweak the team’s depth chart based on review of tape from this latest session.

Clune rated Lataimua favorably.

"I don’t know about last year … but what I’ve seen of him is he’s a guy with good quickness and linebacker instincts," Clune said. "He’s also got very strong pop. He’s a strong kid and he’s worked hard. And so he has become very accountable inside and I like that."

With the last scrimmage of fall camp in the books (and on tape), the Warriors now make their final preparations for their first real opponent.

Or as Lataimua said: "We just gotta prepare for U-Dub right now."