Atlanta

Stephen Tsai reports from Atlanta that C.J. Allen-Jones and Tyson Kafentzis will be the starting OLBs, with Amani Purcell and Brashton Satele backing them up. Here's a few quotes about them.

Defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said Allen-Jones "runs fast and hits hard. That's a good combination, don't you think?"

"What I like about Kafentzis is he's full blast every step," Glanville said. "He's an all-out, full-speed player, even when he's sick, and I think he's still a little bit sick."

Sounds like we'll be solid on the outside!

Former Warriors and current NFLers Chad Owens, Vince Manuwai and Kynan Forney dropped by practice to say hi. Here's what Chad had to say:

"That's a big game," Owens said. "It's an opportunity to show what Hawai'i is all about. Every time we play a big team, we tend to raise our level of play. I'm just as excited as they are. No matter where I go, I represent Hawai'i. These guys represent Hawai'i, too."

Chad and Vince are supposed to give the Warriors pre-game pep talks. I'm inspired already!

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And Dave Reardon has a quote from Ikaika Alama-Francis regarding his match-up against Andre Smith:

Along those lines, Alama-Francis was surprised to learn Alabama plans to start true freshman Andre Smith opposite him at left tackle.

"Really? That's a change. I just got to be ready. If the coaches at Alabama think he's ready to start, I just have to play that much harder. I can't take anybody lightly," said Alama-Francis, who had five sacks last year. "He's probably a tremendous player who works hard and earned his spot on the starting roster, so I've got to come ready to play."

Like I wrote a couple days ago, this will be one of the more interesting match-ups to watch when UH is on defense. It's a battle of pure raw talent vs. someone who just a few years ago was a skinny basketball player, but through hard work and discipline has developed into something special.