Outlook Part 1: Quarterbacks
Outlook Part 2: Running Backs
With fall camp underway and the season opener versus USC less than a month away, HawaiiAthletics.com breakdowned the 2010 Warrior football team, position by position. The series continues today with a preview of the UH wide receivers.
The receiving unit returns much of its firepower from a year ago and welcomes the architect of the four-wide offense, Mouse Davis, as its coach. Davis
returns to UH, where he coached from 2004-06, and replaces longtime assistant Ron Lee. Widely considered the “father of the run-and-shoot offense,” Davis
will mentor new offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich, while over looking a unit that may be the strongest on the Warrior squad this year.
He inherits a group which returns nearly 75 percent of its production, including preseason All-American slot receiver Greg Salas. The Chino, Calif.
, native caught 106 yards for 1,590 yards and eight touchdowns in 2009 and will once again be a nominee for the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver. Salas finished fourth nationally in receiving yards per game (122.3) and sixth in receptions per game (8.15) and had the second-highest single-season receiving total in school history. He also became one of just four UH receivers all-time with 100 receptions in a season.
“We'd like to have Greg be a leader and he definitely wants to do that,” Davis said. “He's shown that he wants to be as good as he can be, and he wants the rest of the players to be as good as they can be too.”
Converted running back Kealoha Pilares made the transition to slot receiver look easy in 2009, hauling in 66 receptions for 690 yards and four TDs.
“Kealoha is a very good receiver,” Davis said. “He's very bright, you tell him one thing and he picks it up right away and that's important at the receiver position.”
Prior to a gruesome season-ending leg injury during the Idaho game, Rodney Bradley was on his way to a break-out rookie season with the Warriors. Bradley had 31 catches for 575 yards and five scores and prior to his injury in UH's sixth game of the season, ranked 13th nationally in receiving yards per game (103.4). Bradley sat out the spring but has returned to full strength in fall camp.
Also returning are wideouts Pollard, Royce (15 rec., 157 yds), who made two starts last season and Joe Avery (6 rec. 64 yds), who appeared in all 13 games. Returning at the slot position are Dustin Blount and Ryan Henry, both of whom double as returners. Newcomer Darius Bright, a 6-3 junior college transfer, gives UH a physical presence on the outside, while redshirt Billy Ray Stutzmann adds speed to the unit.
“This is an exciting group of receivers,” Davis said. “They've had some good production in the past, and now if we can get them better, they should bring even bigger production this season. They're the right kind of players for this system and they are always trying to get better.”
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