University of Hawaii quarterback Dru Brown’s path to football prosperity is straight and narrow.

Brown does not go to clubs or parties. He avoids cussing. He has had only a sip of beer his entire life.

Each morning, he offers a quick prayer for the blessings to come.

Brown, whose nickname “Sunshine” matches his outlook, does not judge others.

“My priorities, I feel, are in line with what I want to do,” Brown said. “All my goals are going forward. I know each and every day I have to follow certain steps. I can’t waste time doing things that don’t get me to where I want to go.”

Brown’s goal is the same as his teammate’s — a winning record and accompanying bowl berth. The Rainbow Warriors are 2-3 overall and 1-0 in the Mountain West Conference heading into Saturday’s road game against San Jose State. He also aspires to be a role model. But Brown, who led the Warriors to a 38-17 victory over Nevada in his first college start, knows he needs to accumulate more equity.

“My dad used to always tell me, ‘When you’re on that platform, you can use it for good or bad — or not use it all,’” Brown said. “I want to use it for good. Obviously, I haven’t done much yet. I’ve only won one game. Hopefully, I can win a few more games and influence kids to do good and follow their dreams.”

As a Los Gatos High senior, Brown was enduring personal challenges while also dealing with the disappointment of not receiving any scholarship offers. “It definitely took a toll,” said Brown, who then turned to his Christian faith. “You need to fall back on something and, I think, that’s something I fell back on.”

He was baptized near the end of his senior year.

Brown enrolled in College of San Mateo as a freshman last year. In junior college, Brown acknowledged, a player “can disappear for a year. Nobody cares where you are. You just have to keep your head down and grind. I definitely leaned on my faith and my family.”

Nick Rolovich was Nevada’s offensive coordinator when Brown attended the Wolf Pack’s football camp in 2015. Rolovich, who was named UH’s head coach in November 2015, kept in touch with Brown. The past spring, UH receivers coach Kefense Hynson attended San Mateo’s workouts. In late May, Rolovich offered Brown a scholarship. Brown visited Hawaii in early June, then after returning home, he was given 48 hours to decide whether to accept the offer.

“I definitely liked the fact that Coach Rolovich was honest with me,” Brown said. “My experience with college coaches wasn’t the best. I had a lot tell me things that led me to think all of them were — for lack of a better term — shady. But Coach Rolovich was probably the only one who was honest with me throughout my senior year and junior college. He continued to watch my film.”

Now Brown is the video watcher. When he is not in class, a meeting or practice, Brown studies football videos. At least once a day, offensive linemen will join the video sessions.

“We’ll have time to collaborate and talk about blitz pickups and stuff like that,” Brown said.

In reflecting on his journey to Manoa, Brown said, “Everything happens for a reason. I only had one offer. Going back to my faith, I feel like God has a plan for everyone. I think me having only one offer was God’s way of telling me this was my spot.”