UH football’s offense picks up some confidence

For Hawaii’s sixth practice of spring training, the sky was gray and the offense was bright on Saturday morning.

“They’ve been getting their butt kicked for a few days,” head coach Nick Rolovich said of the offensive units, “and for them to come out and have some success, I think it did a lot for their confidence.”

For this spring’s first full-padded practice, the defense delivered some big hits and moments. Defensive tackle Zeno Choi had a sack, linebackers Jahlani Tavai and Solomon Matautia made knock-down stops, and nickelback Cameron Hayes scored on a pick-6.

But the offense showed progress after two weeks in the run-and-shoot offense. Cole McDonald, who was first in the three-quarterback rotation, completed six of 10 passes in the full-contact, scrimmage-like session. Justin Uahinui, a walk-on from Farrington High, threw a 45-yard scoring pass to slotback Cedric Byrd on a seam route.

“I just wanted to get open,” Byrd said. “After I got open, (Uahinui) saw me and threw it right up the seam. When I saw the ball in the air, I didn’t know if I was too slow (on the route). I tried to speed up and go get it.”

Uahinui said: “That’s just Division I speed.”

Byrd said he ran 40 yards in sub-4.4 seconds at Long Beach City College last year. “I’ve gotten faster,” said Byrd, who enrolled at UH in January with the intent of challenging for one of the two slotback jobs.

Isaia Leeth, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound wideout who redshirted as a freshman in 2017, made five catches, including three for first downs. After a leaping grab, a defensive coach yelled, “Stop 88!”

“It’s surreal,” Leeth said of the attention. “It’s crazy. Just to be that threat is good.”

Of Leeth, McDonald said, “When I see him out there 1-on-1, I know he’s going to get that ball. I saw him playing basketball. He’s such an athletic dude. He’s really mature. He’s mentally locked in. That’s what I like the most. ‘Third down and 8? I’m coming to you, bro. Let’s get it.’ That’s what happened. It’s always nice to have that feeling.”

Rolovich said Leeth “doesn’t know how good he can be. That’s probably the one thing he has to work on now. He has a pretty high ceiling. He has a lot to get better at. But he shows his playmaking ability when he does know what he’s doing. We’re excited to see him make a few good plays.”

The Rainbow Warriors were able to showcase their diverse running attack during the public practice. Freddie Holly and Miles Reed provided quickness; Kaiwi Chung, Hekili Keliiliki and Dayton Furuta showed power. “I saw some good runs by the running backs,” Rolovich said. “It was good for the O-line to have some success.”

Because of injuries and graduation, the line depth has been shallow. But Rolovich praised offensive tackles Joey Nu‘uanu-Kuhi‘iki, who switched from defensive tackle, and Kamuela Borden, who spent the past two years on a church mission.

“Probably our tackles are the most impressive right now on this whole football team,” Rolovich said of a position that also includes second-year freshman Micah Vanterpool. “These are guys who four months ago weren’t thinking about playing tackle. They’re doing a great job for us.”

Tavai, who led the Warriors in tackles the past two seasons, said the defense looked forward to putting on the full pads.

“It was finally a time when you can release some stress,” Tavai said. “Everybody just got after it.”

Tavai said the Warriors are adjusting to the new defensive coordinator Corey Batoon’s multi-look schemes. “We have a lot to prove, especially because we haven’t been statistically good the past few years,” Tavai said. “We want to make sure we beat those odds and prove people wrong and do our job.”

The defense might have been too good in a 7-on-7 drill when nickelback Manu Hudson-Rasmussen intercepted Rolovich, who took a quarterback turn.

“Manu might not get his cost-of-attendance (check) this semester,” Rolovich mused.