The University of Hawaii football team’s depth in the secondary will be tested after it was learned free safety Kona Moore will miss the 2023 season because of a knee injury.
Moore was hurt when he made a touchdown-saving tackle in Saturday’s fully padded scrimmage at the Ching Complex.
“He came down on a hit,” head coach Timmy Chang said. “When he turned, he came down funny.”
Moore, a second-year Warrior from Saint Louis School, has been a play-making backup to Meki Pei this training camp. Moore delivered mouthpiece-loosening hits in each of the three scrimmages.
Moore had made a full recovery from a collision during spring training in February. After being treated on the field for 15 minutes, Moore was taken to a hospital and kept overnight for observation. In training camp, Moore helped ease the loss of DaMarco Moorer, a junior college All-America safety who did not meet the eligibility requirements to play this season.
Matagi Thompson and Justin Sinclair, who transferred from College of San Mateo in January, will compete with Pei at the safety position opposite Peter Manuma.
Chang also said there has been no update on defensive tackle John Tuitupou’s appeal to the NCAA to play this season. After playing his freshman season at East Los Angeles College, Tuitupou did not play the next two years because of a family situation.. The waiver is based on those years for Tuitupou, who joined the Warriors in 2020.
“That’s out of my control,” Chang said. “JT is a difference maker. We want JT. Hopefully, we get JT.”
On Monday, the Warriors switched the emphasis from development to preparing for the Aug. 26 opener against Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn. The Warriors created scout teams to simulate the Commodores’ offensive and defensive schemes.
“It was good to get the process going and get them introduced to what we expect to see in a couple weeks,” defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said. “It was a good way to get started.”
In last year’s opener, Mike Wright threw two scoring passes and rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns in Vanderbilt’s 63-10 rout of UH. But during the offseason, Wright transferred to Mississippi State. The Tennessean reported AJ Swann took the first snaps in Vanderbilt’s intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday. Swann, one of four quarterbacks used, led three of the Commodores’ five scoring drives.
“We’ll worry about ourselves right now,” Yoro said.
Chang indicated practices today and Wednesday will “taper down on contact” and focus more on strategy.
“We’re starting to move toward opponents and get a good bead on (our) guys and get ready,” Chang said. “These guys have played a lot of football. They’ve got a lot of reps. And now it’s time to focus our attention on the teams we’re about to see.”
During 7-on-7 and team drills, quarterback Brayden Schager took the bulk of the reps, with the rest split between Jake Farrell and Joey Yellen. Tylan Hines, already established as the No. 1 back, has worked on his pass-catching and returns. Landon Sims, a converted tight end/H-back, and David Cordero rotated at running back.
