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Jordan Murray’s hope is his gift is to receive.
With injuries to the top two receivers, Murray is being counted on to boost the University of Hawaii football team’s pass-and-catch attack.
Wideout Zion “Zebo” Bowens has not played since suffering a leg injury in the season opener against Vanderbilt. On Saturday, wideout Jonah Panoke sustained a broken collarbone — he might miss the rest of the season. At best, Panoke, who will not have surgery, might be able to return for the regular-season finale against San Jose State. Panoke leads the Rainbow Warriors with 15 catches and 172 receiving yards.
Freshman wideout Chuuky Hines also should rejoin the rotation this week.
Murray, who is listed as a tight end, is expected to be used more in the passing game in Saturday’s road game against New Mexico State.
“With Jonah going down and Zebo being out a couple weeks, everybody has big shoes to fill because they’re both very productive in the offense,” Murray said. “And Chuuky went down, as well. It’s the next-man-up mentality. Everybody on the roster is prepared. Coaches have done a good job getting us ready for this.”
When the offense was being assembled in spring training, the intent was to align a physical receiver in the slot or wide. But those plans were somewhat put on ice because of an injury to Steven Fiso, who was converted from tight end. But Murray, who is 6 feet 5 and 240 pounds, could fill that role. Murray transferred from Missouri State, where he was primarily a wideout for four seasons.
“I came out here, and coaches wanted wanted me to make the transition (to tight end),” Murray said. “They thought it would help me at the next level. I was trusting their vision for me.”
In the first four games, Murray has six receptions on 14 targets. He was not targeted in Saturday’s game against Duquesne. But Murray has zero drops this season — a result of tirelessly working on his pass-catching skills.
During the pandemic, Murray caught bricks, a technique borrowed from Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice’s upbringing. “Hundreds of those gets your callouses going,” Murray said. “But it gets your hands and grip right.”
Murray, who wears size-XXL gloves, said any grip-strengthening drill is helpful. “DBs are trying to separate the ball from your hands most of the time,” Murray said. “If you have strong hands, you can make a lot of contested catches.”
Murray has perfected the tight end’s version of the pick-and-roll, chipping a pass-rusher, and then curling into an open area.
Of his 184 offensive snaps, Murray has set up in the slot or wide 85 times. “I can move for my weight,” Murray said.
He also has mastered receivers coach Jared Ursua’s jab-jab-break cuts to juke a defender. “I just rep that,” Murray said. “It’s just repetition. Over time, it becomes muscle memory.”
The Warriors also are hopeful Jalen Walthall, who averages 12.4 yards on nine catches, Hines; Nicholas Cenacle and Karsyn Pupunu can contribute.
“We’ve got to keep developing our young guys,” head coach Timmy Chang said. “We’ve got a bunch of them. And we’ve got to keep finding ways to get healthy and stay healthy. But, definitely, (it’s) a position we’re thin and young. But with reps and more games, I think they’re gaining experience.”
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