Hawaii’s loss to Oregon State Saturday night proved to be very costly personnel-wise for the Rainbow Warriors.
The school announced in a press release earlier this week that linebacker Jerrol Garcia-Williams suffered a torn ACL against the Beavers and, as a result, will miss the remainder of the 2014 season. Additionally, running back Joey Iosefa fractured his right ankle late in the same game.
Iosefa is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks. That means the back will certainly miss games against Northern Iowa, Colorado and Rice, and could be sidelined for contests against Wyoming (Oct. 12) and San Diego State (Oct. 18).
“It’s very unfortunate that we’ve lost two extremely talented young men and terrific leaders on this team,” head coach Norm Chow said in a statement. “However, we are fully confident that others will step up and contribute in their absence.”
The senior Iosefa, who missed eight games last season with a foot injury, leads the Rainbow Warriors in rushing this season with 197 yards, and had a career-high three rushing touchdowns in the Week 2 loss to OSU. Despite missing two-thirds of the 2013 season, Iosefa still led the team in rushing.
Garcia-Williams has started 14 games for Hawaii, including both games this season. He was fifth on the team in tackles in 2013.
It wasn’t all negative news on the personnel front as the release stated that three starters who missed the OSU game – center Kody Afusia, defensive lineman Marcus Malepeai, and tight end Jordan Pu‘u-Robinson – are expected to return for this Saturday’s game against Northern Iowa.
Hawaii has started the season 0-2 for the second consecutive year under Chow, who may not make it a fourth season patrolling the island school’s sidelines.