Hawaii Foootball Preview

HAWAII
Not many teams across the land had the turnover that Hawaii went through this off-season. Gone is the run-and-shoot master June Jones as he took his head coaching skills to SMU. Also gone is the jest of players that ran the regular season table a year ago while getting a BCS bowl invite. Only seven starters return to the islands. The new offense will also take shape without Colt Brennan calling the signals. The top two returning QBs are Inoke Funaki and Tyler Graunke, who threw the Warrior's only touchdown pass in the embarrassing Sugar Bowl loss. Two JUCO prospects will also have their say at the most important position in this scheme, but it's doubtful they can learn this complicated system for the opener, which by the way is in Gainesville versus Florida...oh man that could get ugly. The Warriors will also open with four new wideouts and two new tackles. The lone-set back will continue to be Nebraska transfer Leon Wright-Jackson or Kealoha Pilares, the team's leading rusher who could also wind up playing the slot. While the defense also has to reload, they will at least have a steady group of LBs that are worthy of All-Conference status. Solomon Elimimian and Adam Leonard both combined for 246 stops last fall. Although the names may have changed on this side of the ball, the remaining players have enough quality experience to make it a positive. In no way does new head coach Greg McMackin not see a big drop off from just eight months prior when they were the talk of New Orleans. This team with all the key losses will struggle to get over the .500 border barring some huge surprises.