In preparing his football team for today’s game against Rice, Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich provided food for thought.

He eliminated white rice from the Rainbow Warriors’ training table this week.

The intent, Rolovich shared, was to have his players “hungry for Rice.”

In winning their first two games, the Warriors’ motivation came from scoring on 77.3 percent of their drives and making stops when needed. The Warriors have committed only one turnover, relinquished three sacks — one by the offensive line — and not been flagged for holding in 87 pass plays.

“At the end of the day, this is nothing new to us,” said quarterback Cole McDonald, who has completed 71.8 percent of his passes and amassed 846 passing yards and nine touchdowns. “We expected this to happen. We’re not going to let it get to us, let it get our heads big. We’re going to keep grinding. Two games is nothing. We’re going to continue being underdogs in life.”

The Warriors also won their first two games last year before losing the next four and finishing 3-9. But this year’s start was constructed on the road against Colorado State, where the Warriors had not won since 1988, and against well-coached Navy.

“We don’t look back at the past,” left guard J.R. Hensley said. “We’re only moving forward. We don’t care we’re 2-0, either. We’re going to continue to do the right things.”

Rolovich said his players don’t pore over statistics, news articles or TV reports.

“I don’t think it matters to these guys,” Rolovich said. “I think they’re excited to play the next game with each other.”

During Thursday’s practice, Zombie Nation’s “Kernkraft 400” blared from the portable speakers.

“Everybody is just dancing around, having fun,” Rolovich said. “They like being around each other. They just like being together. You see guys that have such a different energy about them this year. We’ve got a squad of really good leaders. The position coaches have taken their groups in their nests and really tried to push them forward in the right direction.”

The cohesiveness apparently grew organically.

“In training camp,” Rolovich said, “nobody’s fighting. Nobody’s punching people. That happens all the time when people get fed up with banging on each other. From the day we went to Schofield, we really emphasized putting the mission first.”

Rolovich was referring to a team outing in which they underwent leadership and team-building training at Schofield Barracks. Trey Johnson, an Army specialist, made the arrangements.

“Placing the mission first is our Warrior ethos,” Rolovich said. “That comes from Trey Johnson. That’s the first thing they say every team meeting we have. That first line up there is: ‘Together — always place the mission first.’ Maybe it’s some kind of mind control or psychological or embedding in their brain. But that’s the first thing they see, and it’s a constant reminder. If we’re going to do something, we have to do it together.”

Rolovich said he expects a strong challenge from Rice, which is rebuilding under Mike Bloomgren. Bloomgren spent five seasons running Stanford’s offense before becoming the Owls’ head coach.

“They are physical and they have good schemes,” Rolovich said of the Owls. “I think (Bloomgren is) doing a great job there. I think he’s really surprised people by the way they played Houston (last week). I’m sure they have confidence. They should feel good. They’re playing well and they’re playing with a lot of energy.”

Rolovich cautioned: “This is football. It’s a weird-shaped ball. You don’t know which way it will bounce.”