Hawaii quarterback

Sean Schroeder

practiced Wednesday after sitting out the previous two football workouts because of back spasms.

If healthy, Schroeder will start in Saturday’s season finale against South Alabama at Aloha Stadium.

"No question about it," UH coach Norm Chow said.

Schroeder has endured a variety of ailments this season, although the back spams were painful enough to keep him from taking reps on Monday and Tuesday.

Asked if he will be ready to go, Schroeder said, "I don’t know. You have to talk to the trainers."

Chow said: "He threw today. I don’t know how ready he is. He’ll fight through it. It’s spasms. He needs time to calm them down. There’s no time to calm them down."

Schroeder has started 10 of 11 games this season.

Jeremy Higgins, who has one start, practiced as the No. 2 quarterback.

Harding catches on

A few weeks ago, the UH coaches were so concerned about Scott Harding‘s uneven play that he faced replacement as punt returner and demotion from the receiver rotation.

"The light kind of came on," Chow said.

In the past two games, Harding has averaged 20.67 yards on six punt returns, including a 69-yard touchdown. In the first eight games, he averaged 9.79 yards per return.

Harding has emerged as a dependable strongside receiver and slotback.

"In psychology, it’s called the Gestalt theory," Chow said. "It’s the aha — ‘Aha! I get it now.’ He went through that Gestalt moment. We were thinking of changing him as a punt returner. All of a sudden: Who is this guy?"

Harding’s theory is the offense is playing better, enabling the quarterback to look more to the outside receivers, and he is feeling comfortable with the schemes.

"I’ve been able to play freely now that I know how to play receiver, and I know how to attack the secondary," said Harding, a sophomore from Australia who had three receptions for 75 yards against UNLV last Saturday.

On the strong side, Harding is the motion receiver, forcing defenses to track his starting point. In four-receiver sets, he can slide into the slot.

"It’s good fun," Harding said. "I’ve learned the whole thing."

First to graduate

Defensive end Paipai Falemalu will be walking in next month’s graduation ceremony.

His mother, Robyn, will walk the same path in two years.

"My mom is in the nursing program," Falemalu said.

She decided to return to school a few years ago.

"She studies more than I do," Falemalu said. "She has better grades than me."

Falemalu said it is fun to see her on campus.

"I’m happy for her," he said. "She wants to make a better life for herself and our family."

Falemalu said he did not envision being a college graduate when he was a Kahuku High sophomore.

"I didn’t think I’d go to college until the football scholarships started coming in," Falemalu said. "Then I figured, maybe I can be the first in my immediate family to graduate from college."