The best cure for a football hangover?

Cold-brewed facts.

“You say, ‘three and oh,’ ” Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich told his players in a warning of Central Arkansas, the Rainbow Warriors’ unbeaten FCS opponent this Saturday. “They know how to win. They’ve been down. They’re very productive in the fourth quarter.”

The 2-1 Warriors’ three-game run of Pac-12 opponents ended with a 52-20 loss to Washington at Husky Stadium on Saturday.

“It’s disappointing,” Rolovich said of that outcome. “I don’t know how many times we’d beat that (Washington) team if we played them 10 times, but I thought we could have put on a better show and made it more competitive from the start.”

Rolovich is admittedly wary of Central Arkansas, despite UH officials promoting this meeting as a homecoming game.

“I would think their coach is telling his team, ‘They opened with three Pac-12s, they didn’t even think about us,’” Rolovich said. “That’s not the case.”

During the offseason and training camp, the UH coaches studied and focused on the season’s first four opponents: Arizona, Oregon State, Washington and Central Arkansas. Some drills would feature schemes the Warriors might use against Central Arkansas.

“They must have some grit,” Rolovich said of the Bears. “They’ve got some belief in each other. They’ve got players who make plays. The quarterback is a fun player to watch. The receivers make a ton of plays on one-on-one, 50-50 balls. And, I think, schematically, they are very sound and they cause a lot of issues.”

Ailments have forced the Warriors to draw from their depth and reconsider redshirt plans. A year-old NCAA rule allows a player up to four appearances in a season while still maintaining redshirt eligibility. But barring injury, two true freshmen — linebacker Darius Muasau and defensive back Steven Fiso — will not redshirt this season.

“I don’t know how many we’re going to be able to hold (for redshirting),” Rolovich said. “If you can, it’s strategic to do. But I don’t think it should affect the current season if someone can help us win a football game. You look at a guy like Penei (Pavihi) who played his first two years and now is able to redshirt.”

Pavihi, a middle linebacker, suffered a season-ending injury three days before the opener. After that, Muasau was elevated into the linebacker rotation. Muasau has played in all three games this season.

“It’s not like there’s a linear path with redshirting,” Rolovich said.

Rolovich said he expects safety Donovan Dalton and running back Hekili Keli‘iliki to have expanded roles. On the third play against Washington, Dalton entered as a replacement for Khoury Bethley, who was ejected for targeting.

“I think there are a lot of things he can improve on,” Rolovich said of Dalton, a third-year sophomore. “But he made eight tackles (against Washington). One good thing about Donovan is he never stopped trying to be better. He didn’t feel sorry for himself when he was buried. His opportunity came. … He went in and didn’t want to let his teammates down.”

Keli‘iliki played in the second half against Washington. Through the second game, the reps were shared among Dayton Furuta, Fred Holly II and Miles Reed. Furuta, a captain, suffered an ankle injury against Oregon State, and underwent surgery a week ago. Keli‘iliki will get some of the reps, although Holly and Reed are considered the two main backs.