D-Lineman Commits

Vaughn Meatoga, a Kamehameha defensive lineman, has committed to become a Warrior.

"I want to play at home," said Meatoga, who was born on Kaua'i and has boarded at Kamehameha since the ninth grade. "As a kid, I always wanted to play for UH. Now I'll get the chance."

Meatoga, who is 6 feet 2 and 274 pounds, plays defensive tackle for Kamehameha. He is projected to compete at defensive end in UH's 3-4 alignment.

Rivals.com, a respected scouting service, rated Meatoga as the nation's 43rd-best defensive tackle. He also is listed as the state's No. 7 overall football prospect.

"That was nice, because I never went to the Nike combine or anything like that," Meatoga said.

Right on. Hopefully a lot of Hawaii guys decide to stay home. With the loss of Mel Purcell and Ikaika Alama-Francis at the end of this year, UH will definitely need people to fill their shoes. Who knows, maybe Vaughn will start as a freshman!

Speaking of Ikaika, Stephen Tsai writes in the same article that he's still hurting.

Alama-Francis experienced back spasms Friday night following a walk-through practice in El Paso, Texas. He indicated to the medical staff that he did not know if he would be able to play against New Mexico State the following night.

But Alama-Francis started at right end, helping to contain the Aggies' prolific passing attack, in the Warriors' 49-30 victory. He was used for 51 plays, the most among the UH defensive linemen.

After the game, Alama-Francis appeared to be in discomfort, again complaining of back spasms.

Monday night, he underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine the condition of his lumbar. An MRI uses magnetic fields to create an image of the body's interior.

Let's hope he's okay. Colt Brennan on the other hand, should be good to go.

An MRI showed quarterback Colt Brennan has a "curvature" in his back that can cause tightness in his hamstrings but is otherwise harmless.

He said he does not have any nerve problems, and his condition — classified as a "lumbar strain" — is not a concern.

"It's all good," he said, adding he had his best "Tuesday practice of the season" yesterday. On Tuesdays, the Warriors practice against the scout team, which portrays the upcoming opponent's defense.

Brennan said he underwent the MRI because he has had recurring tightness in his hamstrings during practices.

Dave Reardon writes that Idaho is here to win! Too bad they won't win. But they are a good team and UH is not overlooking them. Dave also writes that Tyson Kafentzis and Ryan Grice-Mullins practiced and may play on Saturday, and another player has committed to become a Warrior.

Casey Purdy, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound offensive lineman, plans to join the Warriors. Purdy, a Word of Life graduate and former Pac-Five player, is back from Western Montana, where he was on the team for a week before he suffered an ACL injury.

Idaho coach Dennis Erickson is giving UH some respect.

"You’re playing against a football team that is, in my opinion, as good as Boise State, and they proved that week in and week out," said Idaho coach Dennis Erickson, whose Vandals travel to face Hawaii on Saturday.

Of course all coaches say stuff like that before the game, but it's still pretty cool.

And finally, Ferd Lewis profiles and praises Dennis Erickson.

When the 49ers let Erickson go, Spear, on a whim in 2005, said he asked Erickson over dinner if he might consider returning to coaching some day. When Erickson said he was done with the NFL, Spear persisted. Would Erickson consider a non-Bowl Championship Series school? One like Idaho, perhaps? "Sure,'' Spear said he was told.

Still, when Nick Holt was preparing to resign as Idaho's coach in January, Spear said caution told him Erickson had probably just been polite. Common sense told him not to get his hopes too high. "When I called him and reminded him of the conversation we'd had eight months prior, I said, 'well, I think the job is going to open up, coach, what do you think?' "

Spear said, "The exact words out of his mouth were: 'I'll take you to the next level.' "

That's right Dennis Erickson, Play UP! While that slogan still sounds lame, it's great that the WAC has all these great coaches, and that can't help but to improve the entire conference.