For Saturday’s final scrimmage of Hawaii football’s training camp, star running back Tylan Hines enforced the no-freebie policy.
After intercepting quarterback Brayden Schager, rush end Lesterlaisene Lagafuaina appeared to have an unobstructed path to the end zone. But the 5-foot-7, 175-pound Hines sprinted 30 yards to chase down the 6-4, 225-pound Lagafuaina and make the touchdown-saving tackle.
“We don’t give away free touchdowns,” Hines said, ignoring concerns about further dwindling the running-back depth. “It doesn’t matter. We don’t do that. We don’t give up free touchdowns in games or practices.”
That determination was the theme of the 16th practice as the Rainbow Warriors broke training camp with a 131-play, fully padded scrimmage at the Ching Complex. With UH students moving into the dorms beginning Monday, the Warriors will adjust their practice schedule and shift their focus to the Aug. 26 opener against Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Warriors will form scout teams to simulate the Commodores’ offensive and defensive schemes in practices.
Chang said Saturday’s scrimmage was the “last of us going live,” meaning there will be no more takedown tackles in practices ahead of the Vanderbilt game. “It was good,” Chang said of the scrimmage. “There was some good tackling. I thought some guys made some really good plays. I thought some of the offensive guys really showed they can move with the ball in their hands. … It was a good third Saturday (of camp) for us.”
Expanding on his role as a rusher, Hines also can align in the slot when the Warriors’ run-and-shoot offense employs four- and five-receiver sets. With Derek Boyd out for the season because of a knee injury and Nasjzae Bryant-Lelei wearing a brace while recovering from a leg ailment, the Warriors have developed running backs to complement Hines.
Landon Sims, whose father, Travis, was a standout running back on UH’s 11-2 team in 1992, has made an easy transition from tight end/H-back. On the fourth play of the scrimmage, Sims sped 21 yards on a dive for a touchdown.
“You saw on the first drive we looked really good running the ball,” tight end Greyson Morgan said. “We’ve got to run it and then shoot it.”
David Cordero has proved to be a quick-cutting back. Jordan Johnson has resolved an academic issue and joined the rotation at running back.
Schager, who will start against Vanderbilt, Jake Farrell and Joey Yellen shared the majority of quarterback reps on Saturday. After completing quick outs to Morgan, Schager connected on a 47-yard scoring pass to Kansas transfer Steven McBride, who had sprinted past the secondary.
“It was a great play by Steven,” Schager said. He’s going to be a great player for us.”
McBride said: “It was a great experience. It was good to show the fans the impact I can bring. Tonight was fun. It had that connection we needed. It’s going to be (like that) throughout the whole season.”
On the next series, Lagafuaina stepped into the passing lane to make the interception.
“It’s not OK to make mistakes,” defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said, referencing the previous touchdown pass the defense allowed, “but once they’re made, there’s nothing we can do about it except respond on the next play. That’s what we’ve been teaching these guys throughout camp. We understand we’re going to face adversity at times. But it’s how we respond that’s going to make the difference in how successful we are this year.”
During the scrimmage, the only quarterback the defense was allowed to be hit was Dalen Morris, a run-oriented Navy transfer used in short-yardage situations. But the defense was able to deflect four passes in the tackle box and deliver shots on ball-carriers.
“We were able to hit,” Yoro said. “We had an extended period of tackling. … You can’t simulate live tackling. That was valuable.”
Chang praised both sides for making plays. “And that’s the whole thing about it,” he said. “We have a saying amongst our team — it’s ‘make plays, make plays, make plays.’ That’s what you want to see in these 13 games (in the regular season). I feel like, you know, a 3-10 season (last year), we didn’t make enough plays when they counted. And some of these games are one play, two plays away from us being on a different win-loss record.”
