Hawaii’s Clarke looks forward to shot at CU

In his own way, Ben Clarke on occasion can fit right into his new home and its custom of special greetings for visitors.

But Thursday night, when Colorado comes calling at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Clarke won’t be handing out any flowers. Being from Chatfield High School in Littleton, Clarke looks at CU as a distant, aloof relative.

“CU overlooked me when I came out of high school,” said Clarke, a 6-foot-4, 295pound senior offensive tackle. “I look forward to playing against them, especially when the game is here.”

Clarke has been a standout for the Rainbow Warriors. He’ll be making his 38th consecutive start on the offensive line, but his first at tackle after playing most of his career at center.

“Ben’s our best offensive lineman,” said assistant head coach and offensive line boss Chris Naeole, a former CU All-America guard. “He’s our smartest lineman. Coaching a player like Ben makes this job so much easier.”

In Norm Chow’s three years as a head coach, Hawaii is 8-29, including a 21-12 loss at CU last year.

But a new year has brought new hope, and new coaches. Chow hired Don Bailey as his offensive coordinator from Idaho State, where Bailey helped lead the top passing attack in FCS a season ago. On defense, Chow brought in Tom Mason as his coordinator. Mason held that same job at Southern Methodist the past seven years.

The offense should be helped by the addition of quarterback Max Wittek, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound senior who sat out last season after transferring from USC.

With all the new parts, is it good to open the season against a Pac-12 team?

“It only gets worse,” Naeole said. “We go to Ohio State the next week.”

While he still wishes he had been offered a scholarship at Colorado, Clarke has become an islander.

“I miss the four seasons we have at home,” he said. “But there’s never a dull moment here for me.”