Twice, the getaway was available for Calvin Turner.
Both times, Turner decided to remain with his University of Hawaii football teammates.
Turner declined applying for the 2021 NFL Draft to return to UH as a super senior. And despite accepting an invitation to the coming Feb. 3 East-West Shrine Game, Turner opted to not opt out of playing against Memphis in Friday’s EasyPost Hawaii Bowl at the Ching Complex.
“If it wasn’t for my teammates, I wouldn’t be able to be in this position I’m in now,” said Turner, who is used as receiver, running back, returner and wildcat quarterback. “So why would I leave them now? Why would I leave them out to dry when we’ve got one more game? I definitely want to finish strong and finish out with my guys.”
Despite the growing COVID-19 concerns involving the Rainbow Warriors, Turner remains assured the Hawaii Bowl will be played. “I’m very confident that we’ll still be able to play,” Turner said.
About 20 members of the Warriors’ program were placed in quarantine following positive test results. Because of the staggered times of infections, there are varying release-from-isolation dates under the state’s mandatory 10-day quarantine. There still are at least 75 Warriors available to play.
Turner said the Warriors have embraced the next-man-up approach that applies to beyond football-related jobs. “If a person in front of you can’t perform it, it’s the next man up,” Turner said, noting the replacements have “got to come up and perform.”
The Warriors closed their practices to not-football personnel the past two days. Post-practice Zoom meetings replaced in-person interviews with the media.
Memphis, which practiced at Farrington High’s Edward “Skippa” Diaz Stadium the past three days, arranged face-to-face interviews with Hawaii’s media after each workout. A Memphis official said the Tigers did not have any COVID-19 cases among the 260 members of their travel party. Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said the focus is solely on the game.
“Like everything else that we’ve dealt with the last two years, none of that stuff we have control over,” Silverfield said. “We’ve had great focus, great mindset. I talked to our guys, even last year when all this stuff was occurring … we talked about having blinders on and all that stuff.”
Silverfield said there are nearly 90 Tigers who are available to play. “We played Tulane last year with 62 players,” Silverfield said. “That’s college football this day and age. Obviously, we want everybody to be healthy and well and make sure there’s no safety issues.”
Silverfield said neither team will base strategies on presumptive lineups.
“We can’t make any adjustments based off of ‘we don’t know who may or may not be available,’” Silverfield said. “Same with them. They don’t know who we brought on this trip and who’s not there, either.”
One noteworthy absentee will be the Rainbow Warrior Marching Band. An agreement could not be reached on placement for the 120 band members.
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>> When: 3 p.m. Friday
>> Where: Clarence T.C. Ching Complex
>> TV/radio: ESPN • 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
