Hawaii hopes heat helps early season preparation

HONOLULU – Another fiery afternoon.

The University of Hawaii football program made a slight shift to training camp’s practice schedule entering head coach Timmy Chang’s fourth season. With a pair of toastier games to open the year, UH opted to allow players to “sleep in” and begin practices with the sun beaming down brightest instead to open fall camp.

The thought process?

Two games to begin the year that will test the Rainbow Warriors with the weather, one in the hot midday sun of Hawaii in Week 0 and the other out in the deserts of Arizona in Week 1.

“We want to make sure that we give our guys the best opportunity to face what they’re going to see and put them in the elements,” Chang said of the practice schedule quirk. “We figured the first two games, here and Tucson, would be pretty hot for us.”

While the scheduling is a bit of a rarity (UH has played just three home games at 2:00 p.m. HT or earlier since 2015), many players experienced what a middle-of-the-day contest in the islands was like against a Power 4 program last year when UCLA came to town for a 1:30 p.m. HT kickoff.

UH jumped on the Bruins in Week 1 of 2024, taking a 10-0 halftime lead on an 87-degree day that had blistering sun beating down for an afternoon matchup. The offense sputtered in the second half, possessing the ball for 14:35 of game action and only adding on a field goal.

The defense was tasked with trying to be perfect in a frying pan for an entire game, eventually bending to allow 16 points as Hawaii dropped a winnable game at home against what turned out to be a below-average P4 opponent. While the offense hopes (and projects) to limit scoring droughts more than previous teams, the defense still takes aim at perfection and will look to use the added practice heat to their advantage.

“Whoever came up with this idea, it was a great idea and a bad idea at the same time,” Manuma joked after the first practice. “I feel like it’ll definitely get us ready because last season we played UCLA around the same time and, I mean, that was a way different game … Shoutout to the coaches, the support staff for coming up with this idea ahead of Week 0.”

Offensive lineman Kuao Peihopa was a fan of the switch, comparing it to time back on the playground in his youth. The 6-foot-3 senior also cited last season’s game against UCLA as an example of how elements can impact a team.

“Reminds me of recess back in middle school and kindergarten,” the bruising right guard said about playing in the hot sun following the first week of practice. “A lot of guys aren’t really used to the humidity, the heat, but I like it because when other teams come down here – like UCLA, I know they were frickin’ huffing and puffing on the second play of the game … I think it’s going to be an advantage for us. It’s good to train out here like that.”

Manuma also saw flashes from his childhood.

“It really did take me back [to high school],” the senior safety and Campbell alum chuckled. “In ‘Ewa Beach, no more really breeze, but out here has some breeze, so I mean, didn’t take me THAT far back.”

As the week progressed, the players continued to battle through the hot temperatures and a few cloudless hours of work before closing out the first set of practices with a three-hour heat cooker of Saturday reps.

“I like the way that they’re fighting through and getting used to it, from [the first day to now],” Chang said of his team’s response to the elements of the first week. “You can see them starting to understand what their bodies are going through and how we are going to get accustomed to what’s going to happen on August 23.”

With talent and experience combined, Hawaii will look to come out of the gates quickly and sustain the energy on both sides of the ball through a full 60 minutes of football in the home opener.

“The team looks really good,” quarterback Micah Alejado said. “For us, it’s just coming out and starting out fast like we said earlier and being able to put everything we went through in the offseason on the field and show everybody that we are the team that we say we are.”

The redshirt freshman quarterback diced up the defense in 7-on-7 drills on Saturday, going 8-for-11 on his attempts with four touchdowns to three different receivers. The defense got some revenge in the semi-live period with a pair of interceptions (one that was tipped) on the southpaw-slinging signal caller, but Alejado still completed 6-of-9 passes for just over 60 yards through a few different series in the hot sun.

If Hawaii is able to sustain quality on both sides of the ball for the entirety of the contest against Stanford, they can complete a feat that was done last when the current head coach was still an underclassman for the Rainbow Warriors. Many players on the current roster weren’t alive yet for the last time UH won a home game that kicked off before 2 p.m. HT.

Fourth-year head coach Timmy Chang demonstrates a stance during a University of Hawai’i football practice. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Cole McDonald and the 2019 Rainbow Warriors won a 3 p.m. kickoff of the SoFi Hawai’i Bowl but never got a chance to play earlier in the day. The 2006 unit did the same in the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl win against Arizona State, never testing the sun before the clock hit 3 p.m. while in the islands.

Timmy Chang, the quarterback, helped lead the Rainbow Warriors to a 2004 Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl title over UAB that kicked off five minutes after two o’clock at the old Aloha Stadium, but the last time UH won a game that will begin as early (or earlier) as this season’s matchup with Stanford was 2001 against No. 9 BYU.

Preparation has changed, new habits are forming and streaks will look to be broken in Week 0.

Other observations from Week 1:

• Continuity on the offensive line thanks to last season’s late-year experiences
• QB Micah Alejado dominant in 7v7s
• WRs Pofele Ashlock and Nick Cenacle picking up where they left off with production
• TE Devon Tauaefa showed a connection with both Alejado and Luke Weaver in 7v7s
• Freshman Titan Lacaden worked with the running backs throughout the first week
• Sophomore DL Aiden McComber might be hard to keep off the field despite deep defensive line room
• DB Elijah Palmer brought the energy for in coverage for the defense and had a few nice PBUs through the week against some of UH’s top receivers
• Virdel Edwards II working back into game shape slowly after medical hardship year