Training Camp Day 10 Wrap-Ups, Rausch

UPDATE: It's official, Rausch is #1

Junior College transfer Brent Rausch officially was named the No. 1 quarterback today by the University of Hawaii.

Rausch beat out Inoke Funaki and Greg Alexander, who are now listed as co-No. 2 quarterbacks.

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Jason Kaneshiro writes about presumptive QB nominee, Brent Rausch.

If Rausch starts at The Swamp in his first Division I game, it'll mark a remarkable swing for someone who was playing 8-man high school football in California just two seasons ago and didn't play quarterback until his junior year.

After struggling through the first week of practice with the Warriors, Rausch said, the run-and-shoot system began to come into focus last Thursday.

"Now I can see the defense moving and setting up and I can read it a lot better now," he said. "It did, all of a sudden, click for me."

Stephen Tsai profiles Rausch, and talks to him and Nick Rolovich about how he got out of his first week funk:

Working with inexperienced receivers, Rausch had fallen behind Alexander and Funaki. Rausch became visibly discouraged.

"He was upset about it," Rolovich said. "I told him: 'What are you getting upset about? You're getting reps. You're in Hawai'i.' I want to see how tough people are.

"In the first few days," Rolovich added, "he struggled. I think it was his mindset, 'Oh, they've got me out of the competition. I'm just taking reps to take reps.' (After) the first two days, he was low on the grading. He was low on body language. He wasn't a good teammate as far as getting people going. He was quiet. He was kind of going in the tank. I said, 'Look, if you want to go in the tank, go in the tank. This isn't over for you.' "

Recalling the conversation, Rausch said: "I had to suck it up, quit being a little baby. I'm glad he put it on me like that."

Dave Reardon has an interesting analogy about the QB race.

You know that horse race/squirt gun game at the carnival? That's what this QB derby was like. As many days as not, someone drew even or moved ahead because the previous leader couldn't get enough water in the puka. Rausch took some time to find his mark, but once he did, he was locked in and he flooded it.

Ferd Lewis writes about the leap UH and Rausch are making.

When Rausch ends up as the starter against fifth-ranked Florida, it will not only be one of the most interesting opening game choices in UH history but surely one of the biggest jumps for the player making it.

Consider that Rausch played his JC home games in a stadium seating 1,000. Actual crowds were probably a hundred times smaller than what will scream back at him in two weeks in The Swamp, where capacity is listed at 88,548.

Billy Hull profiles linebacker Mana Lolotai.

"Nobody has seen me play my position since my senior year (of high school), so for me, I kind of have to prove to myself I can still play my position," said Lolotai, who added "I know there's a lot of doubters out there saying that I got married and I'm done. I'm kind of trying to show them up."

Jason Kaneshiro's Sports Notebook has news about Adam Leonard resuming practice after sitting out with a tender hamstring, Ray Hisatake taking lots of first team reps at right guard, and the offense dealing with new NCAA timing rules.