Bernard accelerates to starting position

Sure, the neighborhood kids knew Isaiah Bernard was fast because he was never "It" when they played tag.

But his speed became legendary when he was 7.

"I was being chased by a dog, and I out-ran it," Bernard said, smiling. "It was a small dog, too. But I used to be scared of dogs. I booked it down the street. They were laughing at me the whole time. My dad always knew I was fast. But after that, he (enrolled) me in track."

Fast-forward to this football season, where Bernard has emerged as a speedy- receiver threat for the University of Hawaii. He is tied for fourth with eight catches for 83 yards, an average of 10.4 yards per reception. His yards-after-catch average is 7.13. Bernard, who transferred from Glendale (Calif.) College in August, is projected to make his first UH start Saturday against New Mexico in Albuquerque.

"He was behind in the beginning," said offensive coordinator Don Bailey, referring to Bernard’s arrival two weeks into the Warriors’ training camp, "and now he’s getting caught up. And he’s starting to produce."

At Glendale, Bernard ran 10.9 seconds in the 100-meter dash, 21.8 seconds in the 200, 48.9 in the 400, and 1:56 in the 800.

"His biggest thing has been being able to control the speed," UH receivers coach Luke Matthews said. "He’s a fast guy. But being a receiver, you have to take that speed and be able to use it within the routes. I think Isaiah’s doing a great job working his routes."

Through the first four games, Bernard was the primary backup to slotback Dylan Collie. Two weeks ago, he moved to wideout.

"What’s helped him was playing inside, because there’s a lot of detail in there, a lot of shorter routes," Matthews said. "He learned to control that. Now we put him outside and let him run a little bit. It’s a good transition."

Bernard admittedly struggled with his pass-catching in practices earlier this season.

"In practice, sometimes I’ll be getting a little bit too tired and my mind goes everywhere," Bernard said. "I don’t focus as much as I do in the game. In game time, I have to catch it. My whole mind-set changes when I go into the game."

Bailey said Bernard practices at full speed.

"He’s going hard in practice," Bailey said. "He’s pushing himself to the limit, and that carries over to Saturday. Practices are way harder than games. That’s by design."

Bernard’s breakout play was against San Diego State this past weekend. Max Wittek threw to Bernard in the right flat.

"He threw it outside of me, so I wouldn’t get hit by the corner," Bernard said.

Bernard made the catch, as cornerback J.J. Whittaker whiffed on the coverage, and sprinted toward the end zone. He was ruled to have stepped on the sideline at the SDSU 4.

"Once I felt nobody on me, I was like, ‘Let’s go,’ and I went into track mode," Bernard recalled.

Along the way, safety Kameron Kelly grabbed the back of Bernard’s jersey, pulling off his name patch.

"The whole (name) ripped off," Bernard said. "I thought they were lying to me on the sideline about it. ‘My name ripped off?’ That was funny."