Cornerback Ne’Quan Phillips and linebackers Kamalani Alo and Kendrick Van Ackeren are expected to receive greater workloads in Hawaii’s next football game.

They played well in reserve roles in the season-opening 49-10 loss to Southern California on Saturday. The Warriors have a bye this weekend. They play Lamar on Sept. 15 at Aloha Stadium.

Tony Grimes emerged as the top right cornerback during preseason training. Grimes started against USC, but admittedly struggled, missing a tackle on what turned into a 75-yard touchdown play and being penalized twice for pass interference.

Phillips, a freshman from Florida, replaced Grimes, making three tackles, including one in the backfield, recovering a fumble and breaking up two passes.

Head coach Norm Chow said he still has confidence in Grimes, who played at Mississippi as a freshman two years ago.

"We’re not going to dice Tony," Chow said. "That’s what competition is all about. We’re going to let them compete."

Alo made one of the Warriors’ top defensive plays, chasing down running back Silas Redd and forcing a fumble. Alo had started the play covering a receiver on the other side.

Van Ackeren, who redshirted last year, made three tackles before suffering an ankle injury. Chow said he does not expect Van Ackeren to miss any games.

Chow said there is a coaches’ meeting this morning. After that, he said, "We’ll make some decisions."

Chow said his debut as UH’s head coach came with adjustments after serving as an offensive coordinator for several years.

He had to get used to calling plays from the sideline instead of the coaches’ booth; standing for 4 hours; and making decisions on when to begin warmups and when to call timeouts.

Chow said that, in hindsight, he probably should have chosen to receive after the Warriors won the pregame coin toss. USC’s first play from scrimmage was a touchdown.

He also joked he will need to do a better job keeping his reserve players from standing too close to the field.

"We had the two worst get-back coaches in the world," Chow mused. "They were so involved in the game, they forgot to keep everybody back."

Chow said he will ask Ken Rivera, coordinator of football officials for the Mountain West Conference, for an interpretation of a penalty called on the Warriors for a fake punt. Pac-12 officials worked the UH-USC game.

Chow said he told the officials before the game that he likely would call for a fake punt. He said the officials agreed with the scheme. But then Joey Iosefa’s 3-yard gain on a fourth-and-1 fake was nullified because of an illegal formation.

Chow said seeking an interpretation won’t make a difference.

"Those guys go back to working in the bank," Chow said.