LaTech Review, Alexander, Moniz, Fresno

Dave Reardon takes a look at five key plays in UH's loss to Louisiana Tech in this week's Warrior Replay.

Stephen Tsai writes that Greg Alexander's knee injury may not be as serious as initially feared.

Hawai'i head football coach Greg McMackin said quarterback Greg Alexander's injury is to his medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

If that initial diagnosis is accurate and complete, it would not be "as bad" as originally feared, McMackin said.

If the injury is to the anterior cruciate ligament, Alexander would be lost for the rest of the regular season.

An MCL injury most likely would require, at the minimum, a recovery of a few weeks. What's more, an MCL injury can mend without surgery.

With Alexander out for several weeks or more, Jason Kaneshiro writes about the imminent rise of the Phoenix out of Leilehua (!), Bryant Moniz.

Suddenly thrust onto the field, Moniz took a calm demeanor into the huddle in his most extensive playing time as a Warrior.

"I thought Moniz did some good things, stepped up in a tough situation," UH quarterbacks coach Nick Rolovich said. "Emotionally he was in a good condition. He's been waiting a long time for this opportunity."

Although the Warriors' depth at quarterback is being tested, Rolovich feels more confident in the situation than last season, when the Warriors endured the growing pains of the post-Colt Brennan transition.

"I think our third guy is better this year than probably any one of the No. 1s were last year," Rolovich said. "He's put in a tremendous amount of work on his own, always coming up on his own, looks at film on his own, asks good questions.

"It's an opportunity for him and that's what he wanted when he came to Hawaii. That's what he wanted when he went to junior college. He's the type of person to take advantage of this opportunity."

Reardon takes a look at what this loss and the upcoming game against Fresno may say about the team.

Here in Hawaii, we'll talk more about the poor tackling, the red-zone play-calling, the sacks, the drops — and what looked like a general lack of intensity. That trip to Ruston will suck it out of you; it's a lot different than a direct flight to Seattle or a full week to get used to Las Vegas.

You spend forever to get there and once you do, there's not a whole lot — except a very physical bunch of football players with stored up anger because none of them have beaten you. No surprise because we saw it before, in 2005. Same situation, same outcome.

IT'S AMAZING how one game changed the question for many from "How good is UH?" to "How bad is UH?"

And Ferd Lewis previews Fresno's rushing attack.

Ready or not — and judging from the loss to Louisiana Tech there is much work to be done to get ready — the toughest running team on UH's schedule is up next.

Fresno State is averaging 274.8 yards rushing per game, third best in the country, which is the way Hill likes it.

Hill, it may be recalled, unleashed two 100-yard backs on UH last year and rolled up 503 yards on the ground against Warriors in a 2004 game.

In the past, he's put an offensive guard in the backfield and used three tight ends against UH, all to pound home the trademark running game.

This year, with an inexperienced quarterback and a veteran running game, the temptation is to really dig in.