Hawai’i football news, notes and takeaways from training camp’s third scrimmage

HONOLULU – Winds, rains and potential hurricanes?

Despite inclement weather, the University of Hawai’i football team continued on the path of preparation for Week 0 against Stanford on Saturday morning as the team moved up the third (and final) full contact scrimmage of the preseason to combat the effects of Hurricane Lala sweeping through the island chain.

Points vs. Point-Prevention factors
With winds whipping in the face of the offense and special teams, all four quarterbacks took their turn testing their handle of the Rainbow Warriors’ run-and-shoot offense against both third-year defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman’s unit and the elements.

Preseason Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year QB Micah Alejado and the first-team offense took a few snaps to find a rhythm as the defense stood stoutly against a few runs and got the benefit of a dropped pass and slight overthrow on the opening possession of practice.

From there, Alejado and company locked back in as a variety of the pass catchers from UH’s wide receiver room made themselves seem interchangeable with both the first and second team offenses. The left-handed signal caller took care of the football and led chain-moving plays for the offense for the rest of the day, picking up from where he left off last season.

Star WR Pofele Ashlock, who is still progressing from an injury that has kept him out of team and position drills throughout camp, could be seen working conditioning drills on the sideline during the scrimmage. His status for the opener against Stanford remains in question.

As he and a few other pass catchers deal with varying levels of discomfort, different skill position players have taken turns shouldering a bigger chunk of the offensive touch share.

Alejado’s developing connection with redshirt freshman Kai Kai Carvalho was apparent throughout the majority of the morning, seeing the two hook up in the passing attack multiple times for big catch-and-run plays and multiple first downs. Carvalho displayed a knack for finding the open space and almost seemed like a security blanket for Alejado and Jurgensen in third-and-short situations with sure hands shining through after a few big hits.

Tama Uiliata falls in a similar category, showing a natural ability to find holes in the defense and providing a comfort option for Alejado to feed. As always, the wide receiver room looks incredibly deep for the Rainbow Warriors with a variety of others making a splash play or two in limited opportunities.

DeVon Rice, who transferred in from Kansas State this spring, showed off a strong burst out of the backfield, especially while running with Bjorn Jurgensen’s attacking unit – which faced the UH first-team defenders multiple times throughout the day. The 5-foot-9 transfer was able to spring off multiple 15+ yard runs and displayed the ability to turn up another gear when he reaches the edge, showing off his athleticism with a hurdle of a defender on the right sideline during the early minutes of the scrimmage.

Cam Barfield also enjoyed a solid day after getting stuffed on a pair of rushes in the start of practice. The senior was productive for the majority of his touches, getting positive yardage in early-down situations while still popping through a few first-down clinching runs.

Bjorn Jurgensen, who has firmly secured the QB2 role with his creative playmaking ability and strong arm, was intercepted by Elijah Palmer on the first drive of the day but settled in throughout the two-hour scrimmage with by connecting on quick hitters to a variety of slot receivers.

His most impressive throw of the morning came nearly midway through the action, tossing an off-platform, rainbow-like 35-yard pass while escaping pressure that senior WR Koa Eldredge hauled in with one hand despite being draped by a defender on the right sideline.

Special teams also got a good bit of run against the rain and winds, seeing a wobbly day out of the placekickers while the punters cut through the elements for a few beautiful boots that almost looked placed where they wanted to go.

Sean Olvera-Harle, the heir-apparent to All-American Kansei Matsuzawa for Hawai’i, calmly drilled his first two kicks of the day from 35 yards and 37 yards. The 37-yard attempt was his most impressive make of the day, kicking against strong wind while the sky opened up to rain harder as he made his approach to the attempt.

He also missed a pair of kicks in the second half of practice from beyond 40 yards out as the wind and rain intensified.

(For reference of wind’s impact: QB Bjorn Jurgensen, who has displayed a lively arm throughout camp this summer, had a pass get caught up in the wind and float in the air forever before falling incomplete that would’ve normally had far more distance behind it for a receiver to run onto.)

Carvalho also seemingly has tossed his name into the ring for punt and kick returns, showing off a shifty nature on multiple occasions that gave teammates trouble trying to tackle him.

Defense decent, but not to DT’s liking
While the defense did a solid job making life difficult for the Hawai’i offense throughout the scrimmage, defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman still saw a lot of room (and need) for growth before the Rainbow Warriors travel to take on Stanford on August 29.

“Some good, some bad,” the third-year Rainbow Warrior defensive coordinator stated bluntly.

On the positive side, young linebacker Aisiah Paogofie and edge rusher Noah Wily took turns standing out with multiple QB pressures and a few “sacks” for good measure.

(Reminder: despite “full-contact” scrimmages, quarterbacks are still off-limits and wear their red no-contact jersey. In this case, a “sack” is when a defender gets by the offensive line and could get hands to/wrap up the quarterback)

Wily broke through for a couple sacks, one of which against Jurgensen that would’ve gone for a safety. His frame looked much stronger than previous seasons, improving his ability to convert speed to power in the pass rush.

Jaylon Edmonds, Elijah Gipson and Kona Moore (who has had a nice camp) all got run with the big-name returning defenders from last year, trying to stake their claim to the starting jobs that came open after big graduations in the corner and safety rooms.

Hawai’i will kick off the 2026 season on Saturday, August 29 on the continent, traveling to Stanford to take on the Cardinal. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. HT and can be seen on the ACC Network.