Another day, another shuffle of the Hawaii receivers.
For Wednesday’s practice, the Warriors’ first-team receivers were left wideout Allen Sampson, left slotback Scott Harding, right slotback Justin Clapp and right wideout Royce Pollard.
Only Pollard was projected as a starter when the Warriors reported to training camp seven weeks ago.
Left wideout Darius Bright resumed practicing Wednesday after missing a day because of what was termed personal reasons. Offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich said Bright and Sampson, who started the opener against Colorado, will split time at left wideout.
No. 1 slotbacks Billy Ray Stutzmann and Miah Ostrowski did not practice Wednesday because of foot injuries. Stutzmann is expected to practice today, and start at left slot on Saturday against UC Davis. Ostrowski is likely to miss his second consecutive game.
Against Nevada-Las Vegas last week, Clapp started in place of Ostrowski, and made two scoring catches.
"Those are the guys," Rolovich said of Wednesday’s first unit, "who have come along. Those are the guys who are healthy."
The ailments opened the way for Harding, a former Australian rules football player, to earn first-team reps.
"Having played professionally prepared him day-in and day-out to have long-term focus," Rolovich said. "His goal-setting is pretty steady. He’s mature. He asks good questions."
Harding said the Q-and-A sessions are helpful.
"I know I’ll learn a lot better and faster if I know why I’m doing it," Harding said. "I can understand the reads, which helps in this offense because it’s all about reading the defense."
During a recruiting visit, Harding met Kealoha Pilares, a former UH slotback who was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in April.
Pilares shared tips and, after that, Harding studied YouTube videos of Pilares playing slotback.
"Once I came here, for fall camp, I was probably getting maybe 4 hours of sleep a night three weeks straight," Harding said. "Every second, I had that playbook. I tried to learn every bit about the run-and-shoot offense."
