The University of Hawaii football team practiced under the lights Sunday in its first night practice ahead of Thursday’s season opener against Colorado.
In the four weeks of preparation, tight end Metuisela Unga has stepped into the spotlight.
Unga has impressed observers with his mouthpiece — loosening blocks and his sure hands, particularly on deep routes. Sometimes, he has combined both — catching a pass in full sprint, then bowling a defensive back.
Unga moved to tight end in the middle of the 2014 season, his first as a Rainbow Warrior. He appears to be a different player, and not just because he switched jersey numbers from 44 to 7 a week ago.
"It makes me look smaller," Unga mused about the single digit, "not such an angry guy out there. Seven can disguise it, I guess."
Last year against UNLV, the Warriors rallied to victory when wideout Marcus Kemp caught a pass in the end zone as time expired. The play was preceded when Unga, short of the goal line, dropped a pass with a second remaining.
"That was a bad thing for a player to go through, a good thing for a team to go through," Unga said. "As a player, I’m mad I dropped the ball. If I caught it, I’d probably be short (of a touchdown). But as a player, you don’t ever want to drop the ball. It just sucked. I felt I let my team down. What if that one second wasn’t there and I dropped it?"
Unga embraced strength/conditioning coach Gary Beemer’s offseason workouts. Running "gassers" — sprints of 55 or 110 yards — kept him fueled during passing drills.
"You can run your routes without being tired," said Unga, noting his fitness enabled him to maintain the same pace on consecutive patterns.
Unga also bonded with quarterback Max Wittek. "He can put (a pass) in places where other people can’t grab it," Unga said. "I like the chemistry we have."
But Unga still has a blocker’s personality. Part of it is honed from offensive line coach Chris Naeole. In many of the position drills, the offensive linemen and tight ends are grouped together.
"Coach Naeole is 100-percent aggressive every play," Unga said. "You want to win (a matchup) no matter what. That’s how Coach Naeole thinks. Our coaches are tough. They teach you how to be a man on the football field."
Unga also learned from his three older brothers, including J.J. Unga, an offensive guard with the Baltimore Ravens.
"Brotherly love, I guess that’s what you call it," Unga said of the rough-house play.
But J.J. Unga taught his younger brother about blocking techniques. "All of my brothers are very supportive," the younger Unga said. "We have each other’s back, no matter what."
Still, the Unga brothers lived by their father’s rules. Unga committed to Fresno State in 2012, but did not fulfill the requirements to enroll immediately. More than a year later, Unga had three choices: Go to a junior college, Fresno State or Hawaii. There was not a fourth option.
Unga, from Rochester, Calif., recalled: "Pops was like, ‘You’re not going to stay around the house. You should go out and do something with your life and get a degree. If football doesn’t work out, you’ll have a degree.’ He felt (going to Hawaii) was the best choice for his son to make. I like it out here."
