With fall camp underway and the season opener versus USC less than a month away, HawaiiAthletics.com will breakdown the 2010 Warrior football team, position by position, starting with today's preview of the UH quarterbacks.
Starters Lost: None
UH's passing game took a roller-coaster ride in 2009 with three different quarterbacks making starts and a third-string signal caller winning the job five games into the season. After starter
Greg Alexander went down with a season-ending injury during the team's fourth game of last season,
Bryant Moniz was called into action.
The first-year sophomore went on to start eight of the final nine games and finished with 2,396 yards passing and 14 touchdowns. Behind Moniz, UH finished in the top three nationally in passing for the 10th time in the last 11 years after averaging 337.0 yards per game. Moniz also directed the Warriors to 437.5 yards of total offense per game which ranked 14th nationally.
The Fresno City College transfer threw for 300-plus yards in four games, including a career-high 374 yards and three scores against Nevada. He finished the year completing 57 percent of his passes and boasted a passer rating of 128.4. Offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich praises Moniz' accuracy, quick release and competitiveness.
“He's got great poise, he's tough, and he's got a lot of great things as far as quarterback qualities,” Rolovich said. “I'd like to see more extroverted leadership, but he leads a lot by example.”
Moniz sat out most of spring ball due to personal reasons but quickly established himself as the starter at the beginning of fall camp over junior Shane Austin. Austin served as Moniz's back-up last season and even made one start at San Jose State. The 17-10 overtime win over the Spartans kept the Warriors' hopes of a winning record alive. Austin was 28-of-46 for 299 yards against SJSU.
“Shane has very catchable ball,” Rolovich said. “He's got good knowledge of the system and where he's supposed to go with the ball, although he could work on his consistency and becoming more mistake-free at the position,”
Also returning is Brent Rausch, who started last season as Alexander's primary backup before suffering a hand injury early on which cost him the majority of the season. In 2008, Rausch earned the starting job in fall camp and saw action in three games. Ready for the upcoming season, Rausch is healthy and has no lasting effects from his injury.
“Graves' strengths are his competitiveness, his desire to win football games, his good understanding of the offense, and his athleticism,” Rolovich said. “He could work on probably trying to get through his progressions but he's so athletic that he's a weapon with his feet.”
Incoming freshman
Kevin Spain was rated the 13th best recruit in the state of Arizona and the 30th best “dual-threat” quarterback in the country.
He will likely redshirt this year, but Rolovich is excited about his future.
“What I saw from him with recruiting was a very accurate thrower,” Rolovich said. “He didn't come from a throwing offense, but I think he has the natural ability to throw the ball and I think he wants to win and is very appreciative to be in this kind of offense as a quarterback.”
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