When Max Wittek first showed up on the Manoa campus last year, he said, he was sometimes greeted by puzzled looks in encounters with some past acquaintances from Southern California.
"It was like, ‘What are you doing here?’" Wittek said he’d be asked.
It is a long story this rediscovery of Max Wittek, but one that got off to a promising new chapter Thursday night.
In the University of Hawaii’s 28-20 opening-night triumph over Colorado, Wittek authored three touchdown passes and a 2-point conversion toss in his first college start in three years.
In the process of the CBS Sports Network telecast "Max Wittek" was trending ninth in the U.S. among night owls for a time according to @Spredfast, a brand and social marketing partner of the Mountain West Conference.
Or, as some who remember him as a one-time four-star recruit at USC were made aware, yes, that Max Wittek.
Wittek, now a fifth-year senior, actually played his first college game against UH as a redshirt freshman in 2012 and threw his first college TD pass in a subsequent game against Colorado.
He was the backup to senior Matt Barkley then and a presumptive heir to the USC starting quarterback position. But in 2013 he lost out to Cody Kessler for the Trojans’ starting role and served as the backup, playing against UH and CU in relief, again.
Then, after looking for opportunity elsewhere and being sought by UH, Texas and others, Wittek transferred to Manoa, sitting out the 2014 season.
So, at times Thursday he pretty much looked like what he was, a thrilled-to-be-back-out-there guy with a lot of exuberance and some rust.
Wittek was on target throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Pedroza on the first series and then lofting the 2-point conversion to Pedroza to stake UH to an 8-0 lead. He also connected with Marcus Kemp on what became a 79-yard catch-and-dash touchdown that was UH’s longest since 2011.
Overall, Wittek completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards and three TDs, the most by a debuting UH quarterback since Jason Whieldon against Appalachian State in 2003.
In one key play that spared UH a safety, Wittek employed all of his 6 feet, 4 inches and 240 pounds and leg drive to bull his way out of the end zone.
And sometimes Wittek struggled to see defenders and get the ball off quickly. He was intercepted twice, once on a ricochet, and saved from another by a penalty.
In one stretch, including three three-and-outs in the third quarter, he was 0-for-8. But he came right back with six consecutive completions for a touchdown and to set up a field goal for the winning margin.
"He did some good things out there (and) I just told him to stick with it when things weren’t going well," coach Norm Chow said. "You see he’s got a terrific arm and I just told him to just take what they could give us. He wanted to make the big play but it was his leadership and skills that kept us in it."
Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre, who glimpsed Wittek as a Trojan in 2013 and had a sideline view of the maiden voyage of rediscovery, said, "That (Wittek), he’s a good one."
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
