Thursday, October 2, 2008

QUARTERBACK QUANDARY AT UH

(Oct. 2): One of several things that puzzle me about the UH football team his season is how decisions have been arrived regarding the quarterback position.

The part about Tyler Graunke being suspended, I understood. The kid wasn't taking care of business in the classroom, and needed a kick in the pants to get him back on track academically.

But how things have played out since then are befuddling, to say the least.

JC transfer Brent Rausch was named the starter two weeks before the season-opener at Florida, but was scratched because of an injury. Another JC transfer, Greg Alexander, got the start and predictably struggled. So did Rausch in a relief role, with returning junior Inoki Funaki finishing out with an adequate showing against the Gators' reserves.

On that basis, Funaki started against Division-I-AA Weber State, but it was Gruanke who rallied UH to its only win of the season. Graunke then started, but left early with a hand injury, in a lopsided road loss against Oregon State.

With Graunke still not fully recovered, Funaki started and played well early in last week's loss to San Jose State. But Funaki tossed three second-half picks and suffered a fumble before being pulled for Gruanke, who couldn't deliver a victory this time.

UH plays this Saturday at 22nd-ranked Fresno State, and Funaki again is the scheduled starter with, I imagine, Graunke the likely backup.

But if Rausch and Alexander were at one time deemed to be the top two quarterbacks in the program, why have they become forgotten men? Just wondering?

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I wonder the same where are the other two qb's. They would seem better fitted in an offense that needs arms versus legs. They don't have a great running game. So I would assume that
passing would be a premium for Hawaii. Funaki would be great running the old hawaii spread aka michael carter. But this offense needs Rauch or Alexander when they can't use Graunke. This staff seems slow to pull the trigger, which can be good or bad. Looking at the schedule, it could get real dark real fast if things don't perk up on offense.

Steve