Newcomers set to debut

University of Hawaii assistant coach Chris "Demo" Demarest, who speaks fluent East Coast, offers this advice to new football players: Fahgettaboudit.

There will be 29 players who are likely to make their UH debuts when the Rainbow Warriors open the season against USC on Thursday at Aloha Stadium.

Norm Chow, UH’s second-year head coach, said he expects the newcomers to overcome the early jitters.

"We practiced all spring and fall (training camp); hopefully we’re not going to be in awe of what’s going on," Chow said. "We’re at home. I think they’re confident young guys. We’ll see what happens."

Quarterback Taylor Graham, who redshirted in 2012 after two years at Ohio State, will be making his first start since his senior year at Wheaton (Ill.) North High in 2009.

"He has some butterflies," Chow said. "Once he gets in there, he’ll be fine. I mean, what are we going to do? Not play him? What I tell the guys all the time: ‘It’s not about them, it’s about us. If we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be fine.’ We have to do what we practice every single day."

Graham said the first FBS start is "something every player, every quarterback, goes through. There are 120-something quarterbacks going through the same thing. It’s part of the experience. … There’s nothing like football. That’s why we love football. We play this game for game day."

Three months ago, Faga Wily was a Kahuku High student. Now Wily and Marcus Langkilde, who redshirted last year, will split time at tailback.

"I’m really excited," Wily said. "I can’t wait until the first play. I came to college knowing I had to work, and be prepared for whatever came."

Langkilde is making the move from fullback.

"Whether it’s hitting or running the ball, it’s all great to me," Langkilde said.

It will be a special day for cornerback Kwamane Bowens, who turns 18 on Thursday. Bowens’ family in Virginia Beach will celebrate while watching the game on television.

"Feeling that emotion from 4,000 miles away is going to be something special," Bowens said.

Backup defensive tackle Dejon Allen, who was raised near the USC campus, signed with UH in 2012 but did not enroll until this summer.

"This is a big game for me," Allen said. "I always wanted to play USC. The time is here."

Backup nose tackle Calen Friel had a longer wait than Allen. Friel is a 2010 Kailua High graduate whose UH debut has been postponed because of a series of injuries.

Friel’s surgically repaired knees and right foot are fine, and he now weighs 295 pounds after dropping 25 pounds in the offseason.

"I might have a little bit of that nervousness," Friel said, "but I feel I’m going to do fine. I’m very excited about finally getting to play."