Catching a throw out of the backfield late in last week’s win over Northern Iowa put Justin Vele in the spotlight at a key moment.

Most of the time, his payoff comes in seeing teammates pass him by.

Listed as a fullback/tight end on the roster, Vele’s primary responsibility remains to help clear a path for the Hawaii running backs.

"I love seeing them run by me," Vele said. "That tells me I’m doing my job."

While Vele has logged four receptions for 29 yards over the past two games — 18 yards coming on a critical third-down conversion to extend UH’s final possession in last week’s win against Northern Iowa — the statistics attributed to the other Warrior running backs tends to be the more telling measure of his impact.

Steven Lakalaka picked up several chunks of his career-high 124 yards last Saturday while tucking behind Vele and following the Farrington graduate through holes opened by the offensive line.

"He such a valuable guy," UH coach Norm Chow said. "What we call our tight end and fullback are very similar things and he knows how to do them both.

"Everybody knows we’re short at running back and he could even play there if we needed him to."

Vele played in 11 games and made one start as a freshman in 2012, but suffered a broken ankle the following spring and was limited to two game appearances last year.

He was back to full strength entering his junior year and has started the past two games at the "F" position, where he can line up in the backfield or just off the line of scrimmage.

An All-State linebacker at Farrington, Vele hasn’t completely shed his "defense at heart" mentality although he now spends most of his time clearing lanes rather than plugging them. The Rainbow Warriors enters Saturday’s game at Colorado averaging 155 rushing yards over their first three games, led by 100-yard performances from Lakalaka and Joey Iosefa.

He twice helped keep the UH offense on the field in last week’s win with third-down receptions. The second came with less than two minutes left and UH protecting a 27-24 lead.

"It was just, ‘OK here we go,’ " Vele said, a broad smile crossing his face recalling the play being called in the huddle.

Vele sold his block then leaked out to the left side of the formation while the UNI defense loaded up inside. Jeremy Higgins hit him with the throw and Vele had open field ahead for an 18-yard gain.

There was still some drama left as a fumble on the next play was recovered by tight end Harold Moleni, who also caught a touchdown pass and provided a key block on Lakalaka’s 30-yard touchdown run earlier in the game.

Vele said he’s picking up the nuances of playing tight end from Moleni and spent most of Wednesday’s practice with the running back group. Whatever his label or where he lines up on the field, "I just love playing football," Vele said.