Despite playing on a sore right ankle in the second half of Saturday’s 23-20 victory over Stanford, Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado is expected to be ready for this coming week’s road game against Arizona.
“I expect Micah to go,” UH coach Timmy Chang said. “Right now we’re putting together a list of things for him to do to recover … We’re going to get him to people in the community who can help him. That’ll be good for him. He’s going to be in the training room and get a lot of treatment before we (depart on Thursday afternoon).”
On UH’s first possession of the second half, Stanford linebacker Matt Rose sacked Alejado for a 2-yard loss. Alejado’s right ankle was injured on what appeared to be a hip-drop tackle. (Although that technique is an infraction in the NFL, there is no rule against it in college football, according to referee George Gusman.)
After being on the artificial turf for several minutes, Alejado was able to hobble-walk to the UH sideline. Luke Weaver’s ensuing third-down pass was deflected, and the Warriors punted. Alejado returned for the start of UH’s next possession.
Three of the Warriors’ final five drives resulted in Kansei Matsuzawa field goals, including the winning 38-yarder as time expired.
“Gritty,” Chang said of Alejado. “That’s all I can say. He’s a tough competitor.”
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Chang said Alejado’s determination stems from his family “who made a lot of sacrifices. Because of that, you have an unbelievable young man.”
Chang said backup quarterbacks Weaver and Dermaricus “MarMar” Davis will receive significant snaps in practices this week.
Despite Weaver’s lone pass being deflected, Chang said, “the thing about it is he saw where the ball was supposed to go. To me, that was like, ‘good (read).’ And the guy was wide open. I have all the confidence in Luke.”
Davis, who transferred from UCLA in June, “got in here a little late and so he’s still learning the offense,”
Chang said. “But there are opportunities for him to go in there.”
Chang said right guard Kuao Peihopa, who did not play while recovering from an ailment, is expected to play against Arizona.
Chang also praised Jamar Sekona, who started at defensive tackle against Stanford.
Against Washington State last year, Sekona was caught in a pile-up, in which he was struck on the left knee. He was diagnosed with three fractures, with a long recovery projected. But Sekona was able run on the sidelines during UH’s spring training.
“He worked so hard,” Chang said of Sekona’s recovery and return to the starting lineup. “Jamar is the leader in that (D-line) room. He’s the glue.”
Chang also marveled at the Warriors’ poise after falling behind 10-0 in the game’s first seven minutes.
“To see the staff, to see the players, in that moment stay calm and just put that aside, and then take the lead 14-13 (with 42 seconds left in the first half),” Chang said, “it was, ‘OK, here we go.’ This is what we’ve been talking about. This is what we’ve been building to. We faced adversity in that third quarter. But we found a way to make plays and play really good situational football when we needed to down the stretch.”
Chang also said it was significant for the program to win in front of a capacity crowd and on national television.
“People always say, ‘you don’t have this’ and ‘you don’t have that,’” Chang said. “But when you look at the atmosphere (Saturday at the Ching Complex), how cool was that? … And people across the country got to see Hawaii’s brand of football. They got to see how great environment that game was played in. That, to me, is more important than anything.”