‘Our guys are gritty’: After Stanford loss, UH football prepares for crucial UNLV trophy game

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The University of Hawaiʻi football team cranked up the intensity at practice Tuesday morning, working to correct critical miscues from last weekend’s loss to Stanford.

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“You have a team that’s gonna fight and I was proud about that,” head coach Timmy Chang said. “Our guys are gritty. They’re tough. They’re going to be able to handle adversity, and I love that about them, but I gotta coach better and we just gotta clean things up.”

Preparing for the Rebels

One of the bright spots offensively for the team was running back DeVon Rice, who scored twice against the Cardinal.

“I can’t really stay on it too much, you know? I gotta get ready for this next week, so everything that happened last week is over,” Rice said. “It’s already flushed and now we’re on to this week, UNLV.”

Rice took a bulk of the reps last week after Cam Barfield went down in Palo Alto.

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“It’s going to be the same every week,” Rice said of his preparation, “whether it’s… going in meeting with your coaches, just getting around the guys. Just honestly get an idea and getting a look, get a feel of what’s to come so there’s no surprises on Saturday.”

A staple rivalry game

The Rainbow Warriors face another early-season test as Mountain West rival UNLV visits Mānoa to battle for the Island Showdown trophy this Saturday.

“This game is important,” Chang said. “It’s a staple game. It’s a trophy game. It’s a rivalry game and so there’s a lot on the table, and then it’s going to have implications on who plays in the Mountain West Championship later in the season.”

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Kickoff against the Rebels is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. Hawaiʻi time.