SEATTLE >> Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich had scanned the reports — 36 percent chance of rain in a football game against 23rd-ranked Washington — and came up with his own forecast.
“It’s going to be cold,” Rolovich said of this afternoon’s kickoff at Husky Stadium. “It’s going to be colder than we’ve probably been used to. It’s going to be wetter than we’d probably desire. And (Washington is) probably as good a team as we have on our schedule.”
But since spring training, his fourth as UH head coach, Rolovich has thought: “It doesn’t matter who we line up against. Line us up against whoever. We won’t be scared coming out of the tunnel. We may get our face kicked in. We may get beat up. We may lose bad. But there is not one person on this team who is scared.”
Washington has been a monument of success. Chris Petersen has won 80.5% of his games as a head coach, beginning with an eight-season run at Boise State. Each of his 13 seasons has ended in a bowl or national playoff.
Washington quarterback Jacob Eason was regarded as the nation’s top player as a high school senior in 2015. He will make his third UW start after two seasons at Georgia and redshirting for the Huskies in 2018.
The Huskies have a star-spangled roster. Faatui Tuitele, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s 2018 Defensive Player of the Year, is not even on the Huskies’ two-deep chart.
“You could argue they are the best recruiting team out West,” UH defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said. “They rule the roost in talent acquisition, and it shows. They have an understanding of what they do schematically, and they’ve got great players in that system, and they recruit to that. And they reload. And that’s how you build that.”
The Rainbow Warriors have done some retooling for their first road game of the season. Last week, Ryan Meskell missed his first three field-goal attempts — matching last year’s misfire total — before hooking in the game winner. He has worked on lengthening a jab step that created too much break on his kicks.
Melquise Stovall, who transferred from a junior college in January, is expected to have an expanded role at slotback. Stovall began his college career at California, where the Bears’ Air Raid and UH’s run-and-shoot shared similar concepts. Sort of.
“There were a number of tweaks I had to get used to,” Stovall said. “Coaches didn’t think I was ready the past weeks, but now they’re gradually moving me in there, and that’s nice. It’s nice to get out there with the guys and compete.”
Quarterback Cole McDonald also appears to have found his comfort level in the run-and-shoot. He has played only 15 games in this offense. Rolovich said in a quarterback’s development, a key step is reaching the “vet” level. It is a quarterback taking the run-and-shoot’s basics and customizing it to fit his skill-set.
“Some never get it,” said Rolovich, a former quarterback who took until his second UH season, in 2001, to earn his a-ha moment. Rolovich noted that each generation of run-and-shoot quarterback is unique.
“Chevan (Cordeiro) likes different throws than Cole,” Rolovich said. “Timmy (Chang) liked different throws than me. Colt (Brennan) liked different throws than Tyler (Graunke). Tyler liked different throws than (Bryant) Moniz and Shane (Austin). You see some of these guys, the combinations where it’s not a whole other offense or whole other package. They like different manipulations of zone, or they have different accuracy levels at different areas of the field. Some guys throw the out really well. Some guys throw the deep route and vertical really well. All that stuff comes into play.”
McDonald said: “I feel it’s developing your own personality in the offense. Colt had his. Timmy had his. Bryant had his. Rolo had his. I have mine. Chevan is a unique player. Everybody has their own method of running this offense, throwing those windows, seeing the field of play. For me, it’s just playing ball under the lights. I feel I’m a gamer. … That’s how I play.”
