FRESNO, CALIF. >> In Friday’s symbolic show of unity, the University of Hawaii football team gathered on the red-and-white checkerboard that is the South end zone in Bulldog Stadium.

Starting on the goal line, the Rainbow Warriors — shoulder-to-shoulder from sideline-to-sideline — began the “Rock Walk” toward the opposite end zone. The first 50 yards were intended to reflect on past Warriors and their sacrifices. The final 50 yards were spent envisioning what they hope to accomplish in today’s season-opening game against Fresno State.

For the Warriors, this is a fresh start to a season that is unique in their century-plus history. Two months after Todd Graham was hired as head coach, the pandemic led to the cancellation of spring workouts, limitations on summer training, and three delays to the start of training camp as the season was put on pause for 45 days before the Mountain West hit “play.” Graham, who did not coach the past two seasons after parting ways at Arizona State, has expressed unabashed enthusiasm about a season that almost did not materialize.

“Man, and you know how much I love this,” Graham said, “I love teaching, I love coaching, I love being on the grass, I love game day. I love everything about it. I’m so excited. We come here (in January), no spring training, and we got all this stuff with COVID. Man, some days, I’m sitting there going, ‘Golly, are we ever going to get a chance?’ They canceled the season, and then it gets back on. There can’t be a person in the country more excited to coach a football game than me. I’m honored to lead these kids. And I’m proud how they’ve handled this, even though this has been one of those most challenging situations.”

After poring through video archives — some dating to a player’s high school games — and studying footage of the past two years of practices and games, the UH coaches matched players to an offense that meshed run-and-shoot concepts with the air raid’s passing schemes and power runs. The goal is to eventually push the no-huddle offense’s odometer, although that is unlikely in the first game.

“We want to play 90, 95 (offensive) plays a game,” Graham said. “And to do that, you’ve got to be real efficient with the football. You’ve got to make sure you’ve got a big-time-high completion rate. You’ve got to be able to run the ball, as well. … I’m pushing them to go faster. I’d like to go a lot faster than we’re going to go.”

Graham has stressed ball security on offense, takeaways on defense, and fewer penalties on both sides. “More than anything, I try to talk to these players and I try to pull on the strings that tug on their hearts,” Graham said. “And that’s to represent their families, represent this university, represent this state. Give everything you’ve got, and when you ain’t got nothing else, you just give it a little bit more.”

In March, Graham named Chevan Cordeiro the No. 1 quarterback. Cordeiro is 4-0 as a starter in the first two years of his UH career. With the NCAA granting each player a one-year extension on their eligibility, Cordeiro, a third-year sophomore, has a chance to play six UH seasons.

Fresno State will be going with a first-year starter at quarterback. Jake Haener, who redshirted in 2019 after transferring from Washington, has taken all the No. 1 reps the past seven practices.

At 6 feet, Haener has modeled his style after the New Orleans Saints’ starting quarterback Drew Brees.

“The obvious is, OK, you’re 6 foot — I know a lot of those Washington guys think I’m 5-9 — but Drew Brees was my guy growing up,” Haener said. “Just the way he played. I studied a ton of tape from him. And his demeanor.”

John Beck, who trains quarterbacks in Los Angeles, also noted similarities between Haener and Brees in throwing motion and pocket movement.

Haener is the first Fresno State quarterback to wear No. 9 since Kevin Sweeney in the 1980s. Haener’s father and Sweeney were high school teammates. “I wanted to accept the role of wearing Kevin’s number, and trying to be a leader for this football team,” Haener said.

The Bulldogs’ renovation goes beyond the new starting quarterback. Kalen DeBoer, who was Indiana’s offensive coordinator last season, returns to the Bulldogs as head coach. The Bulldogs won the MWC West title in 2017 and 2018 when DeBoer was the offensive coordinator.

The pandemic’s restrictions have impacted the Bulldogs. Not only were their spring workouts canceled, they did not have organized training in June and July. The Bulldogs’ first on-campus workouts were less than a month ago. DeBoer said the Bulldogs have had only five fully padded practices this fall.

The Bulldogs also will be playing today’s game without real fans. Several fans purchased cardboard cutouts of themselves that are fitted onto the seats. The Bulldogs also moved two practices to Bulldog Stadium to test out the pre-recorded “crowd noise” that will be amplified during the game.