When the Hawaii football team needed a player to step up to the line, center Taaga Tuulima did not hesitate.

“He gave it everything he had,” coach Nick Rolovich said of Tuulima’s first NCAA start Saturday against UNLV.

For nine years, Tuulima has been as dependable as a sunrise — maybe even more punctual. Since the sixth grade, he has awakened at 4 a.m. each weekday to prepare for the two-hour ride from Ewa Beach. From sixth grade through graduation at ‘Iolani School, and then the past two years at UH, Tuulima has been tardy to class only once. And when the Rainbow Warriors’ ailing offensive line recently was in need of a reliable substitute, there was one logical choice.

“I was really blessed for the opportunity,” Tuulima said.

In the Warriors’ schemes, the center makes the blocking calls and voices the cadences. Senior guards Chris Posa and John Wa‘a bracketed Tuulima to provide assistance.

“It’s always nice when you have veteran people around you, but he’s still setting all the calls,” offensive coordinator Brian Smith said.

Smith said Tuulima was a quick study against UNLV this past Saturday, picking up inside blitzes and attacking defensive tackles and second-level defenders. On some plays, it appeared Tuulima’s hand-placement technique was actually a series of jabs.

“I’ve done some MMA stuff when I was little,” Tuulima said.

“When I was watching the film, it looked like he was doing some things to spice it up,” junior quarterback Dru Brown said. “It was good to see.”

Tuulima, who is 6 feet 2 and 285 pounds, learned the basics at ‘Iolani, where fundamentals were the weapons against plus-sized defenders.

“‘Iolani was very disciplined,” Tuulima said. “Coach (Wendell) Look was very strict with us. That helped us win games.”

Without any Division I scholarship offers, Tuulima opted to join the Warriors as a walk-on in 2016. He was assigned to the defensive line during his redshirt year. This past spring, he moved to the offensive line.

“There’s definitely a transition to it,” Smith said. “He came over (to offense) very early in his career. … He was really starting from scratch. You’re not breaking habits, you’re building good ones. It makes for an easier transition.”

There are three other Warriors who can play center. But when starting junior center Asotui Eli departed in the fourth quarter against San Diego State two weeks ago, Tuulima was summoned to play the final two series. With Eli unavailable because of an ailment last weekend, Tuulima started against UNLV.

“I guess my teammates and the coaches trusted me enough,” Tuulima said.

Brown said Tuulima has “been working hard this whole time with zero recognition, and he finally gets a chance to play, and he takes advantage of it. He did a great job communicating what he felt comfortable with and what he felt we needed to do. That’s all you can really ask for is communication between a quarterback and center. He did his job, and he did it well.”

Sixteen years ago, Rolovich and Smith were the Warriors’ starting quarterback and center. They appreciate the relationship between this year’s quarterback/center tandem of Brown and Tuulima.

“Taaga does a good job with communication,” Smith said. “That’s the most important part of the (center) position. You have to have a lot of confidence that you know the scheme, that you understand the defense, and you can get everyone on the same page. The center has to be the best communicator out there. He’s really done a good job with it.”

Eli, who also can play guard, is expected to be available for Saturday’s game against Fresno State. “I’ll be ready if they need me,” Tuulima said.