Training Camp Day 14 Wrap-Ups

Jason Kaneshiro writes about yesterday's practice at Aloha Stadium.

A breeze provided some relief, but it was still plenty hot on the FieldTurf as the Warriors prepared for next week's opener at No. 5 Florida.

"This is the time we're actually going to play there, so we tried to get on the turf where it's as hot as it can be," UH coach Greg McMackin said of the 12:30 p.m. start, matching the starting time at Florida. "They watered it right before we came in so it would steam up a little bit.

"It's not as hot as we're going to get, but we're going to work on it a couple of times. ... It's the first time for a lot of the guys, it's an impressive stadium, it's fun to be here and it sort of spiced up practice. It made every drill game-like."

Clear on the other side of the Earth, Florida got ready for UH.

The Gators had a "Hawaii scrimmage" on Tuesday where the first teamers went up against the second teamers who were acting like Hawaii on offense and defense.

Gator coach Urban Meyer was generally pleased with the scrimmage and with the effort of his team. He once again said that the running backs were doing a very nice job and that the position would be one where a lot of players get a chance in a rotational system.

Meyer did say he was concerned that no one had stepped up at one of the two defensive tackle positions and that the Gators would use at times a 3-3-5 alignment defensively to compensate.

Back to UH, Stephen Tsai highlights how the Warriors practiced with the new 40-second clock.

"When the refs took their time to put the ball down, there was more thinking time," Rolovich said. "Now, it's pretty fast, especially when guys take deep routes. You have to take (into consideration) substitutions, fatigue, and all of that stuff. You almost have to have two scenarios ready in your head for a completion and an incompletion."

"We went the whole (practice) and didn't have a penalty on the 40-second clock, and we had officials," McMackin said. "I was really pleased at how our tempo is right now."

Tsai also has some news and notes about Solomon Elimimian, Keoni Steinhoff, Jovonte Taylor and Ryan Henry.

Bill Hull's Sports Notebook details some good play by Erik Robinson and the rest of the secondary yesterday.

Leila Wai profiles redshirt freshman defensive tackle Vaughn Meatoga, who talks about how the team rallied around him when his mother was ill last year, and how he's improved on the field.

"I learned both (left and right) sides, so if I get in the game, I can take out either person," Meatoga said.

Defensive tackles coach Ikaika Malloe said Meatoga's game has been "coming along."

"I would feel confident putting him in the game if I need to," Malloe said.

"It's going pretty good so far, I've been getting a lot of reps, especially because Fale guys have been out," Meatoga said.

"I've just been lucky. I'm learning how to push through when I'm tired. The coaches have a lot of confidence in me so that gives me confidence."

Dave Reardon takes a look at UH's fourth opponent of the season, San Jose State.

Reardon also has a great column answering some UH fans who criticized Brent Rausch for having a bad practice.

The electoral college of head coach Greg McMackin, offensive coordinator Ron Lee and quarterbacks coach Nick Rolovich tabbed Brent Rausch as Hawaii's starting QB last week. He was the most consistent in practice to that point, and the one with the most upside.

But the phone lines would've lit up for Inoke Funaki if it were "American Idol," and Greg Alexander wins on "The Biggest Loser" (relax, we're talking about his hard work to shed weight).

And now, after Rausch has had a couple of less-than-stellar practices, it's game-on for the second-guessers.

The slim sophomore got back on track at Aloha Stadium yesterday, coming on strong at the end of the session following some wobbly and errant tosses early. Rausch was picked off twice, but he looked sharp at times. Too bad his critics weren't allowed to watch at the closed practice.

And Ferd Lewis has more awesome news regarding the Cooke/Ching field turf.

University of Hawai'i officials are growing increasingly concerned that the delay in beginning work on the renovation of the campus artificial track's infield might keep the football team from practicing on it this season.

Athletic director Jim Donovan said a protest over the awarding of the bid for the project hasn't yet delayed things beyond this season's use but, "certainly it is a monkey wrench in the gears that, unfortunately, could make that a reality."