Warriors see a gain and a loss on defense

On a give-and-take Sunday, the Hawaii football team gained a promising linebacker of the future and lost a current defensive lineman for the season.

Drake Miller, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound linebacker from Bingham High in Utah, said he has accepted a scholarship offer from the Warriors.

But Jordan Pu‘u-Robinson, who was supposed to boost UH’s depleted defensive line, will not play the rest of the season.

Two weeks ago, Pu‘u-Robinson suffered a broken middle finger on his left hand on the first play of the Warriors’ loss to San Diego State. He played the rest of the game, but X-rays two days later showed the fracture. He underwent surgery in which two pins and four screws were inserted into the finger. He had hoped to return for this Saturday’s road game against Colorado State. But the recovery will last the remainder of the season.

"He’s done," UH coach Norm Chow said. "The surgery was such that he can’t play. It’s tough for him."

Pu‘u-Robinson transferred from Washington State this summer. Three days before UH’s fourth game, he was told he would receive a waiver allowing him to play this season without having to redshirt.

The Warriors, meanwhile, added a hard-hitting linebacker from one of Utah’s top programs.

Miller had received a scholarship offer from Utah State and strong interest from Utah. But he said it was an easy decision to pick UH.

"It’s a great program," Miller said. "Norm Chow is a great coach. It’s a great campus, of course. It’s Hawaii. They have a lot of potential. The next couple of years they’re going to be a great program."

Miller said he became passionate about football when he heard his father’s on-field stories. David Miller was teammates with future NFL coaches Rex Ryan and Rob Ryan at Southwestern Oklahoma.

"Football has always been my favorite sport," Drake Miller said. "It always sounded like a fun thing to do — run out and hit people."

He said he will pursue a degree in business at UH.

David Miller said he and his wife endorsed their son’s choice.

"Hawaii has a very good business school," David Miller said. "We were looking at the schedule and we noticed we’ll see him play a lot of games on the mainland because (the Warriors) are in the Mountain West (Conference)."

There’s another easy adjustment: Bingham players perform the haka before their games.

"He’s used to that," David Miller said.