“Athlete” commits to Warriors
Faga'itua High School.
In a text to the Warrior Beat, Steven Fiso of Faga’itua High in American Samoa confirmed he has accepted a scholarship offer from the Warriors.
Fiso said he plans to ink his commitment during the NCAA’s early signing period, which begins Dec. 19.
Fiso said he is 6 feet 2 and 178 pounds.
He played receiver, running back and safety for the Vikings, but is being recruited as an “athlete.” If he gains weight, with his frame, he might eventually develop into a linebacker or rush end.
Joey Iosefa, a Faga’itua graduate who also was recruited as an athlete, developed into a prolific running back for the Warriors. The Tampa Buccaneers selected Iosefa in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
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Keep that American Samoa pipeline flowing!
We can think that this year 7-6 is a whole lot better than last year’s 3-9. Makes one feel a lot better. LV looks winnable, and who knows UTS might have a letdown. Again, “O” coaching looks dismal as receivers running around all mixed up and QB same. Think QB might be protecting old injury from flaring up. Interesting fact, just before game someone googled and said QB sitting Wyo game was an attitude problem. that’s what he read from the page.
Keep up the great recruiting!
To diehard fans only: Who needs tix for the Fresno St road game on Oct 27 sitting with other Hawaii fans on the 40 yard line behind our Warrior bench; can’t beat this road game experience! $55 each; or $30 for sideline end zone. I can email you the tix by Friday. Text me 415-324-0585.
Also for SDSU on Nov 24 @$35; our group there is over 200 UH fans now.
Nevada’s defensive front 3 was the best we’ve seen so far. Instead of running into those 3; we should have done swing passes to our RB’s; or more RPO’s with Cole running the ball. Our only swing pass went for a TD at SJSU with Elijah Dale.
Used to watch Nick Rolovich show on the station website. Anybody got a suggestion. All that’s there now dates back to Army game-Mahalo
Heard John say on the radio say that he saw Cole and Levao was arguing on the side line. Also said Elm Manning and The o line captain was arguing and frut had to go in between them. Disfunction starting? I hope not. Love the warriors since 96. Frustrated.
I did not hear Veneri say that. Plus, John is in the booth. We’re so far away we sometimes can’t see who’s in the game much less what they’re saying to each other
appears from last 2 games comments — it appears, IMHO, coaching staff failed to properly evaluate and prepare team for games.
1st 3 games — Rolo went with establishing the pass 1st and then run the ball — not so from the 4th game as it appeared, to me, that he wanted to establish the run with Furuta 1st and then go to the passing game — personally, i prefer the pass 1st game strategy
Wyoming and Reno DL were effective against UH game plan which surprises me that the coaching staff did not take advantage of play-action or delayed short pass to the RB — anything to stop the front “four” — is it my imagination that UH coaching staff makes very little changes during half-time for the 2nd half or am I too blind to spark the changes? seems, 2nd half UH gets blasted
as other have pointed out, UH secondary, as a whole, is slow compared to the WRers in the past 4 games — surely, changes can be made during the week to counter opponents
strategy — strategy — strategy!!!
yes, yes, after 9 straight game players are dinged and tired — yet, especially on offense, I have yet to see “whole-sale” changes with the OL like the defense does — gotta coach up the 2nd and 3rd levels
why the mis-connects between UH QB and WRers? they were so in sync for the 1st 3 games!!!
surprised that Rolo does not use another QB when McDonald is struggling.
slim, but maybe Fresno or Utah State or SDSU will have an ‘ OFF ‘ game — ha, ha, ha — he, he, he
“anything can happen” — Angels in the Outfield
Mr. Tsai, is Thomas Webb grayshirting, or not coming?
Do you mean Thomas Wade?
He’s coming. He’s grayshirting, along with Jonah Panoke and Michael Washington
Just talked to John. He said he didn’t say anything like that.
Listened to the game and watched replays..Announcers did say there seemed to be QB./ Rcvrs “discussions among themselves on the field and sidelines..Also yes QB looked very tentative, hence the sacks this week and last, they wondered that if he went thru progressions and not there, why didnt take off, why retook..Earlier games he took off with success..Open Rcvrs drops or wide open just shaking their heads..Not the same team from early in season.
6 and 11. It was Mark Veneri on 1 pm the Sports Fix radio show today with Dr. Syd Smith. I just happened to listen to the show today too.
He also said he thinks something is not right with Cole ( But to me he looked good throwing the 3 TD’s ,at least).
Quick highlites of Fresno vs New Mexico.
New Mexico is rated higher than UH on the espn power index and Sagarin.
https://twitter.com/FresnoStateFB/status/1054520304456761344
One difference seems to be McDonald taking longer to get the ball out. Obviously when that happens, the chances of getting sacked or a broken play is greater. And he’s taking longer because of the defensive schemes are causing confusion with the receivers so basically their not on the same page more of the time. Probably defenses know how to disrupt the RnS scheme enough to render it less potent than earlier in the season. So Hawaii coaches need to find solutions to make the adjustments.
Re#4
Generally agree with your overall statement though I think SJSU’s front three were better or at least as good. Anyway, the problem with the offense is that opposing defenses are generally playing three down linemen and playing everybody else tight to the line of scrimmage. This clogs the short passing lanes and takes away our bread and butter short passes to the slots. Theoretically, that should open up the deeper routes, but of our wideouts only Ward has deep speed and he was quiet, though I’m not sure why.
But that brings me to the next point. Our O-Line has difficulties with outside speed rushers, particularly at RT. There have been plays where the rusher literally gets by untouched. If you notice the pass protection, the back is always looking to help on that side first. I know it’s tough to mess with O-line chemistry, particularly with new starters, but I’d like to see what Vanterpool or even Graves could do at that spot. Hard to throw longer passes when there’s no time.
Also, love Furuta, but no one can overpower an entire defense. We tried so many times to sledge hammer our way forward, but the DLine was tough and all those linebackers in the box quickly filled any holes. Would have liked to see Holly and especially Dale or Reed, get more touches because they hit the hole faster and could turn a short gain into a big one if they were to break the initial contain.
14 and 15. Is that why the Run N Shoot is not run by any other college ? Also as Blangiardi said “Physical superiority cancels all (run n shoot) theory.”
Actually the player that was projected at right tackle before Kohl Levao is Joey Nuuanu-Kuhiiki. He took all or most of the snaps in spring and was in a rotation with Kohl until Weber settled on Kohl to start. For running back, I think they need to work on introducing plays for Elijah Dale to capitalize on his shiftiness/quickness. Defenses have already adjusted to a steady diet of Froot up the middle. As for Cole, it does appear he isn’t the same.
#16 … Isn’t an opponents physical superiority one of the arguments for using the RnS scheme? If you can’t physically compete with your opponent, hit them with speed and route flexibility.
#15 – Hey Mojo!
I agree. We forget how young these guys are and our expectations are high, based earlier games. Considering that it takes the RnS a while for the “lights to go on”, I feel we’re seeing a maturation process. Overall offensive chemistry among all positions is crucial. The guys need to play assignment and trust the process. Massed repetition will help.
Dropped passes and missed tackles are fixable. Team needs to come out at full throttle on all three sides of the ball.
We have yet to see the best of these Warriors. I feel it will come.
And gosh, I’m so sick of hearing “they were the best we faced all season.” This time it was the defensive front? Please. Rose colored glasses do nothing but make things look pink and promote color confusion.
Couple more thoughts:
I’m not a coach and don’t know what the coaches know. I’m curious, though, why we were substituting our safeties that way in the second half. Nothing against Dominique, but we needed run support and I would think Bethley is much more physical in that regard. Also, haven’t watched the replay, but Derek Thomas is our best rush contain DE. Don’t think he was on the field when Nevada kept running that off tackle play for big gains and scores.
What the hell happened to our punting? That was as big or a bigger factor than the onside kicks. The receiver was barely going back 35 yards.
Also, what happened to Augafa? Don’t think he played at all. Made a key mistake at BYU, but still a quality returner.
Sorry wasn’t John was Mark Veneri. My bad. Heard that on the radio. I hope its not true. I know ill be there next saturday and watching on tv this Saturday. Hoping to watch them in december!!!!
Hey, DPK.
Yeah, this is a young team and I’m in no way off the bandwagon. Actually, I was never on the bandwagon ’cause I support no matter the results. Chow did test that resolve though, lol.
Re #17: Thanks for the reminder re Nuuanu-Kuhiiki. Not giving up on Kohl, but he’s a senior next year. Can never have too much depth. Along those lines, was interesting to see Sunia come in for Vaipulu in the 4th. Would love to see Elkington and Dalpe as well.
18. To me up to a point Run n Shoot is good. However, if the other team is physically superior, it gets cancelled out.
Last year or awhile ago, Rolovich said the some of the prior UH Run n Shoot teams had talent.
Yes. 2001 had like Lelie, NFL caliber wide receiver, who had 19 TD’s 1700 yds.
2007 had Bess, later an NFL receiver , Grice-Mullen, Rivers, CJ Hawthorne and Colt.
2010 had Green, 1199 net yds and NFL running back; Salas, 14 TD’s 1889 yds, Pilares 15 TD’s., 1306 yds.
Cole is taking longer to get the ball out. Waiting for routes to develop?..or not reading the routes as good as before? IMHO, need to get the ball out in 2-3 seconds. Can’t expect to have the O-line hold much longer.
IMUA WARRIORS!
14 Casual Observer
Watch the you tube highlights of the Colorado St. game. Cole had a 3 step (looked rhythmic) drop on almost every pass. It set up so many things (it made the db’s backup) and he could see the field better. And he kept the ball a lot on the RPO. Different now. Not as much dropback. Yep, so hesitant. No trust in the pre snap. And his RPO judgement is off too. Can fix. Not easy though. Next year the fixes will be way easier.
Cole M is currently 4th in the nation in passing yardage, with 29 TDs. Ursua is tied with the U Mass WR Isabella for #1 in receptions. This team, in spite of some setbacks still has a lot more weapons compared to 2017. This is still a very young team that is will only get better. Most expected UH to be 3-6 at this point.
Look at June Jones’ last 2 SMU teams and see how they fared.
UH is down, but not out. That’s how I look at it. It’s called “adversity,” when some will give up, while others will fight through it. Did I hear correctly on Channel 2 that UH is 24 point underdog? I feel that the UH players will have something to say about this, no doubt.
Cole is 2nd in passing TD’s with 29. Ursua is 1st in receiving TD’s with 14.
Passing lanes getting clogged, WRs in middle need to sit in open spots of zone. RB should release in flat after 2 sec. Why do we need 6 players to block 3 defensive linemen. Cole got to run after 4 sec.
Ford, Rasmussen, Hicks gotta be replaced. Play Aufaga, Time, Bethley. Rotate receivers, Jojo looks gassed. Replace LBs with lateral speed. Basicly tired of seeing no improvement on both sides of ball.
Come on Rolo & Batoon try something different, including OL and DL.
Mr. Tsai, yes, Thomas Wade, my bad. Good to hear he’s still in the mix.
Perhaps one problem is that even though the receivers are suppose to run where the defenders aren’t, that means the defenders will know where the receivers are running and so they can “direct” the receivers to a spot. What if they corral all the receivers into one or two spots? Wouldn’t that make it easier to defend? However, the Warriors have run the RnS for many years under JJ and Mack so the knowledge base is there. What else could it be that is causing the Warriors problems?
I wasn’t really thrilled with Holly in the beginning, but 1) there has to be a reason he got the most carries in the beginning, and 2) with him carrying the ball less, the O has had more trouble moving the ball. That may not be the reason but there is a correlation.
Hand-painted sign.
Modest background, judging by that photograph.
These are the guys you want to recruit.
A player like Stephen Fiso should be hungry to succeed.
Re. Cole and Kohl arguing on sideline, was that after the 3rd and long play at 2Q 2:15 remaining where Kohl didn’t get out of his stance and the end had an untouched sack on Cole? I’d be mad as hell too! Stephen, any word from coaches explaining that one?
I don’t think fans had the highest expectations for this team going into the 2018 season. Did we really think at the start of the season we would be 6-3 at this point. Winning the way we did in the beginning gave many of us false expectations (including myself). This team is physically, mentally and emotionally tired and they’ve lost the confidence and swag they had to start the season. When you’re tired you have a tendency to make mistakes and blame one another. We still forget that this is a young team running a relatively new offense and new defensive schemes. New coaches and assistants, mistakes are bound to happen. Coach Rolo needs to get his team together and clear the air, if issues exist. This team has so much potential , and another couple of victories are definitely not out of the question. As coach Rolo constantly reminds us and his team, you need to play for one another, and play for the people of Hawaii. If they get back to doing that, and playing with the swag they had in the beginning, we’ll be bowling this year.
Go Bows
This has an eerie familiar feel, I remember QB Dru Brown was using his playmaking ability by using feet to extend plays when things broke down. Keeping defenses honest. Then last season we wondered what happened to his playmaking ability as it seemed he was restricted to being a pocket passer by the coaches. Rush 3 drop 8 with a spy that knows the QB is being told by the coaches not to take off running and sit in the pocket even when there is open green field right in front of him. Not exactly keeping the defenses Honest.
Now Cole McDonald is the QB and we saw him making plays with his feet early in the season and once again we wondering what happened to his playmaking ability as it seems he was restricted to being a pocket passer by the coaches. History repeating itself?
I mean seriously, nobody wants QB’s to take a high number of hits like UCF 5’11” 180lbs QB McKenzie Milton and lead the team with his playmaking abilities to possibly 2 undefeated seasons? Do we?
Go Warriors!
37.
Hawaii needed a bye after the BYU road trip.
OR
Cole McDonald could have sat in Provo. Non-conference game.
We are 23 point dogs-part road part them part us. Let’s get off we’re tired we are young we got six wins-we got cold slaps in the last two weeks. Shake off the losses and play football like we can. Anything can happen so let’s just show up and play-this team can play much better and sorely needs to. If swapping out personnel will cause sparks do it. Fresno is a good team but cmon-let’s go there change it up a little and make good solid decisions-GoWarriors!!!!
40. Try change up some in the plays, the other teams know what we are going to do from the videos. Good execution of the base plays helps too. You can’t win with only trick plays, but we need some tricks and more deception, if possible.
What’s Up, exactly what I was thinking.
Frustrated Dru transferred…now….
37 Braddah Baje: Thanks for driving home that perspective. There’s a lot disappointment and frustration going around, and a lot of things to fix, but no one predicted Hawaii to be 6-3 much less having won six of its first seven.
Early in the season I looked at the back half of the schedule and realized that conference play was going to be difficult for this young team. For all the wondrous accomplishments of its offense, teams like Nevada, Fresno and Utah State were putting up 70-plus points. The reality is had the schedule been flipped, UH could very well have started the season 1-6, or 0-7.
Just want the Warriors to compete down the stretch. If they win one of the next four and the ensuing bowl game, then they would have had a very successful season.
From the time JJ was coach, the QB was always instructed to stay in the pocket because while a scramble could lead to a 1st down, passing can lead to the big play, plus they don’t want the QB to run. At a certain point the QB may be more comfortable staying in the pocket and looking instead of running, but may not be able to see the play developing. IMO, you live to fight another day, take the 1st down and keep moving the chains. When you have a Cole or a Moniz who can run, use them.
I’m starting to wonder if Rolovich is a “real” analytics guy. Looked like it in the Nevada game (whole season actually but real apparent Saturday). Some compromising, “head scratching” decisions. “River Boat Gambler” or “Data Analyst”? Hmmm. Might work in baseball but I prefer field position and field goals when we are not “physically inferior”. Compromising? Idealistic? IDK. Live and learn I guess. Learn now and apply the lessons next year. No “learning curve” next year, the learning happens NOW. Get it all out of your system. Thy whatever you need to now. Next year is the HOT year. Just hoping for advancement. Lets Go Warriors.
So Tavai is out. Here’s hoping nothing serious. He has played himself in exhaustion every game. So now pick up the slack…..no one guy should alter any course. Yes he is a key component but does not play offense-now is the perfect time to find out who you are what you are and the role you play in team success. I am still more than optimistic with 4 remaining games. This 24 point underdog crap is totally insulting-so we will see. GoWarriors!!!!
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