Now that Cameron Higgins has officially left the building, Stewart Stadium will be a much different place for fans of the former quarterback and school legend from Honolulu.
Where one Hawaiian exits stage right, another comes in through the back door, however.
Such is the case for junior Mike Hoke, another in a long, loooong line of island transplants from Ron McBride-coached teams.
Hoke had a solid scrimmage in a tightly controlled, 90-play scrimmage Wednesday, the second of three scheduled games pitting the Wildcats' offense and defense.
He threw for 153 yards on 9-for-13 passing, while his understudy, sophomore Jordan Adamczyk showed that if Hoke doesn't air it out early and often, it may be Adamczyk who steps in and fills Higgins' big shoes.
And, Adamczyk is not even from Hawaii.
Nevertheless, McBride didn't say anything about his two quarterbacks, but he went on and on about his running game, which at the moment, looks pretty good, all things considered.
Junior Kris Parham had the run of the night, a 66-yard scamper that opened a few eyes and it shined a bright, somewhat glaring and not-too-kind spotlight on the Wildcats' defense. Parham had 84 yards on just three carries, but he wasn't the only one in purple and white who had a big night.
Barinton Collins, a freshman, got 62 more yards on eight carries and caught two passes for 37 yards, including a touchdown reception of 25 yards.
"All of our running backs made plays tonight and really stood out," said WSU head coach Ron McBride. "We also had some great plays from our receivers and I thought our defense was more efficient tonight. We worked on our tempo and gave some other players more reps. I thought our efficiency was better but we still had some mistakes and still have work to do."
All told, the running backs scored all five touchdowns in the scrimmage, three of the rushing variety. Not one touchdown was scored by a wide receiver.
However, the tight ends had a pretty good evening, despite not scoring a touchdown. Sophomore Jordan Clemente stood out, grabbing five passes for 92 yards and fellow soph Chase Nakamura hauled in 81 yards worth of real estate on just three catches.
The final scrimmage of fall camp will take place this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on the newly-refurbished FieldTurf of Stewart Stadium in Ogden. A FanFest will also take place during the event.
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