Defense digs in

After sampling a few appetizers early in fall camp, the Hawaii defense was given the chance to really dig in.

The UH coaches don’t often turn the defense loose with full-speed tackling in practice. So with such a period scheduled for Thursday’s session, the unit arrived at Ching Field eager for a taste of live contact.

“I was really excited,” UH linebacker Aaron Brown said. “When we know we have a live period coming up, you have to step up the intensity and really focus in and just be ready to bang a little bit.”

The top three defensive units applied those tackling drills that dominate the early portion of camp against a group of offensive reserves, led by quarterbacks Cayman Shutter and Jeremy Higgins.

“When you go full speed you don’t really think, you just have to react,” Brown said. “You put everything together and just play.”

The period lasted 15 plays, included a brief skirmish between linemen and ended with safety Leroy Lutu’s interception on a deep pass. Linebacker Art Laurel was in on three stops and cornerback Mike Edwards raced in off the edge to force a fumble in the backfield.

“The defense swarmed to the ball and did a good job of tackling,” UH head coach Greg McMackin said. “We wanted to give them some full-speed defensive work and tackling. … We’re about where we want to be.”

The Warriors didn’t come out unscathed from the full-contact period, though. The period ended one play after freshman defensive tackle Moses Samia was helped from the field with what was described as a sprained knee.

“That’s why we don’t scrimmage all the time,” McMackin said. “A lot of teams do that every day. We do it full speed but we don’t tackle. We simulate it, but if you do this every day you end up with everybody beat up, and you saw today we had a couple of guys nicked up. I’d just as soon have our guys ready for game day.”

The coaches also held live periods for special teams, though without tackling kick returners Allen Sampson and Scott Harding.

“We wanted them to have some pressure catching the ball,” McMackin said.

Harding, a freshman from Australia, handled the pressure just fine when he fielded a punt near the sideline, reversed his field and raced down the opposite boundary to the end zone.