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BYU Football: Scouting the Schedule – Hawaii

By Shaun Gordon

PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: Cole Brownholtz #17 of the Hawaii Warriors gets pas Keisean Lucier-South #11 of the UCLA Bruins as he runs for a touch down in the fourth quarter of the game at the Rose Bowl on September 9, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: Cole Brownholtz #17 of the Hawaii Warriors gets pas Keisean Lucier-South #11 of the UCLA Bruins as he runs for a touch down in the fourth quarter of the game at the Rose Bowl on September 9, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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PASADENA, CA – SEPTEMBER 09: Colin Samuel #10 of the UCLA Bruins gets by Mykal Tolliver #24 of the Hawaii Warriors as he runs for a first down in the fourth quarter of the game at the Rose Bowl on September 9, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA – SEPTEMBER 09: Colin Samuel #10 of the UCLA Bruins gets by Mykal Tolliver #24 of the Hawaii Warriors as he runs for a first down in the fourth quarter of the game at the Rose Bowl on September 9, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

The Defense

Defensive Line

Continuing the trend for Hawaii, there’s little returning experience for the Rainbow Warriors along the defensive line.

Samiuela Akateu (Jr.) is back at nose tackle. As a starter in 2017, he had 26 tackles, one of those going for a loss. He’ll be backed up by Eperone Moananu (Jr.).

There will be a fight for the starting defensive end spots. Three players should vie for the two positions: Zeno Choi (Sr.), junior college transfer Jeffrey Keene (Jr.), and Max Hendrie (So.).

Linebacker

There’s a little more experience coming back along the second line. The linebacker unit will be led by all-conference senior Jahlani Tavai. He led Hawaii with 124 tackles, and also had a team-high 5.5 sacks.

Solomon Matautia (Jr.) will return at one outside linebacker spot. The other one will likely go to Jeremiah Pritchard (Jr.), but he’ll have a battle with sophomore Paul Scott.

Malachi Mageo (Sr.) will battle with Jonah Kahahawai-Welch (Fr.) for the other inside linebacker spot alongside Tavai.

Secondary

Hawaii lost both starting safeties to graduation, so a pair of juniors, Kalen Hicks and Ikem Okeke, will step into those spots. They’ll be backed up in the two-deep by Manase Time (So.) and Dany Mulanga (Sr.).

The Rainbow Warriors do have one cornerback returning, Rojesterman Farris (Jr.). The corner on the other side of the field is still open, though, and Eugene Ford (So.) looks primed to get the starting nod over Zach Wilson (So.).

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