The Hawaii football team began dismantling training camp with Saturday’s buildup to the Aug. 24 season opener against Arizona.

For the 14th practice of training camp, the Rainbow Warriors held a dress rehearsal that mimicked game day. They had meetings and a team meal on campus before making the bus ride to Aloha Stadium. After finding their locker-room assignments, the Warriors went through a pregame routine from music choices to where to stand during warm-up exercises.

“We came in, got dressed up, did our little rotation,” McDonald said. “We did our game scenarios warming up. It did feel like the game day without the crowd there.”

The tone of practice changes this week. Several newcomers are set to move from training-camp dorms to fall-semester residences. The Warriors are expected to begin implementing the game plan for the opener, finalize depth charts, form scout teams and discuss redshirt scenarios.

“It feels like the ending of one phase, and then you start the next phase,” defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said.

For the second practice at Aloha Stadium in as many Saturdays, head coach Nick Rolovich wanted to simulate the game experience. That meant arriving at 4 p.m. The season-opening kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

“We wanted to check out the weather, the sun at that time, that stuff,” Rolovich said. “I think it was good to get back to the stadium.”

Unlike the usual drive to the stadium, there was no police escort on Saturday. But the Warriors kept to the routine of doing mental checks.

“By the time we’re on the bus, we’re not really thinking about anything but the music going on in our ears and just visualizing what’s going to happen,” said left guard J.R. Hensley, who usually listens to J. Cole on the way to the stadium. “When we get to the stadium, I listen to DMX and Big K.R.I.T. that are a lot stronger, more upbeat.”

Cornerback Cortez Davis, who transferred from a junior college in January, said he was energized by the dry run, beginning with the locker-room assignments. “The DBs picked our area where we’re going to talk, listen to our music, and get into the zone,” Davis said.

Hensley said: “Looking around, you see guys focused. It was the same exact feeling, same exact expressions as game day.”

The two-hour practice involved a situational scrimmage. Batoon and offensive coordinator Brian Smith called the plays from the coaches’ booth on the loge level.

“It was like a mock game,” Batoon said. “It was really good work. … You can’t get enough work of situational football and game-day communication and adjustments. It was a good dry run for everybody.”

Rolovich said the scrimmage “wasn’t necessarily about winning or losing. It was about putting (the players) in those situations and seeing how their awareness was. We had a few instance last scrimmage (at Aloha Stadium) where couple decisions — teaching moments — came up. I thought our guys performed much better today.”

McDonald praised the defense for making timely plays. “The guys got after it,” McDonald said. “Some guys made great plays. Other guys stepped up into key roles. It was good all around to have the young guys come in and see how it’s done, and (for) the old guys just sharpen the iron and get better.”