University of Hawaii football team’s replacements have outperformed predecessors

Following Hawaii’s 2017 football season, the parting shots were launched.

Starting quarterback Dru Brown, slotback Dylan Collie and safety Daniel Lewis headed to other schools as graduate transfers. Defensive tackle Viane Moala and backup safety Keala Santiago made their way onto Utah’s roster. And two freshmen — offensive tackle Brandon Kipper and defensive lineman Anthony Mermea — exited.

Then something did not happen. The Rainbow Warriors did not fold, instead finding replacements whose performances exceeded those of their predecessors.

“There were a lot of young guys who stepped up, and transfers who came in and benefited from (the vacated positions),” said Cole McDonald, who seized the starting quarterback job.

Head coach Nick Rolovich acknowledged there was self-reflection with each departure. “ ‘What’s wrong with us’ goes through your mind, right?” Rolovich said. “You do everything right. You try to treat people right. It’s hard to explain why it all happened. I don’t know why all those guys left. I was proud of the guys who stayed and really put their mark on the path of this program.”

McDonald, who redshirted in 2016 and was an understudy in 2017, has thrown for 4,253 yards and 40 touchdowns in 14 games as a UH starter. “That was two, three years of hard work,” said McDonald, who shed his perception as a run-first quarterback. “I came here knowing what I wanted to do, and I knew if I got my shot, I would make the most of it.”

Last season, Brown redshirted at Oklahoma State. In the Cowboys’ season opener last week, he played in one series as the backup quarterback.

Collie caught 24 passes for 277 yards as a Brigham Young senior in 2018. But his successor at UH, slotback Cedric Byrd, added to his 970 receiving yards in 2018 with a season-opening 14 catches for 224 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-38 upset of Arizona two weeks ago. Byrd was named the Mountain West’ Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.

Moala and Santiago both redshirted for Utah in 2018 in accordance with NCAA transfer rules. Moala had an assisted tackle for the Utes as a backup defensive tackle last weekend. Santiago did not play. UH’s Kendall Hune, who transferred from Eastern Arizona College in July 2018, took over the starting job at defensive tackle and was named the Warriors’ most valuable player in the SoFi Hawaii Bowl.

Khoury Bethley, who was recruited as a two-way player, played in all 14 UH games as a true freshman in 2018. He filled Santiago’s role as a nickelback and third safety.

Lewis transferred to Louisiana Tech to be closer to his family in Morbihan, La. He had 25 tackles in five games last season. Ikem Okeke moved from linebacker to Lewis’ vacated spot as a UH safety. Okeke played in 14 games last year and made a goal-line interception against Arizona in the 2019 opener.

Kipper redshirted as an Oregon State sophomore last year and is listed as the No. 1 right tackle for Saturday’s game against UH. The Warriors wasted little time finding Kipper’s replacement. Ilm Manning claimed the left tackle job and became one of four true freshmen nationally to start every game on the offensive line in 2018.

“I was having trust in the system, trust in the coaching staff,” Manning said of the 2018 training camp. “They told me to keep on doing what I’m doing, and I’ll do pretty good. Eventually, I went to the top (of the depth chart).”

Mermea would have been a contender for spot in the interior defensive line. Mermea’s departure to a junior college cleared one obstacle for Blessman Ta‘ala.

Ta‘ala, who was born and reared in American Samoa, actually committed to UH in February 2017. But after undergoing knee surgery that year, he delayed enrolling at UH until January 2018.

“When I first came in, I had a lot of patience,” Ta‘ala said. “I started at fourth string. I started working hard and listening to (defensive line) Coach (Ricky) Logo, and studying the films. That was pretty much it. Coach Logo kept giving me more reps, and the reps helped me learn faster.”

Ta‘ala started 14 games at nose tackle in 2018. He was UH’s only freshman defender to start every game.

“We found people who wanted to be here, and appreciated being here,” Rolovich said. “And that led to a more cohesive team. And a team — we talk about it every week — that will play for each other. And that’s what we’re always looking for.”

DEPARTURES/ARRIVALS

> Quarterback: Dru Brown is a backup at Oklahoma State/Cole McDonald has thrown 40 TD passes in 14 starts.

> Offensive line: Brandon Kipper is Oregon State’s starting right tackle/Ilm Manning is UH’s starting left tackle.

> Slotback: Dylan Collie caught 24 passes as BYU senior/Cedric Byrd has 93 catches in 15 UH games.

> Defensive tackle: Viane Moala is a backup at Utah/Kendall Hune was UH’s MVP of the SoFi Hawaii Bowl.

> Nose tackle: Anthony Mermea is at Los Angeles Valley College/Blessman Ta‘ala has started 15 games.

> Safety: Daniel Lewis played five games for Louisiana Tech/Ikem Okeke has 90 tackles in 14 starts.

> Defensive back: Keala Santiago has yet to play in a Utah game/Khoury Bethley has played in all 15 games of his career.