Boise State RB Holani developed his ‘uncanny’ vision before stepping on a football field
Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier uses terms like “innate” and “uncanny” when describing running back George Holani’s ability to make tacklers miss and find open space.
“He just has incredible vision,” Bachmeier told reporters on Oct. 3. “When you do hand the ball off and just kind of watch from behind, you see the hole, he makes his first move, then he makes his next move and it’s predetermined off of what (the defense) is doing.”
Holani showed off his vision late in the first half of Saturday’s season-opening win against Utah State.
He caught a short pass inside the Aggies’ 20 yard line and made two cuts, freezing four defenders in their tracks, and trotted into the end zone to send the Broncos into halftime with a 28-0 lead. They went on to win 42-13.
Holani credits his feel for the game to time spent on a rugby pitch.
“Being a rugby player, you’ve got to be able to see the whole field,” he told reporters on Oct. 4. “You’ve got to hit it downfield, but also learn the angles of the game.”
Holani’s father, Saia, was a rugby player himself in Australia and New Zealand. He has coached for the Los Angeles Rugby Club for about 12 years, and he introduced his son to the game when he was 5 years old.
“I started him in it so he could get used to the physicality,” Saia Holani said by phone on Tuesday. “It took him a while to get used to it, especially with no pads.”
The experience paid off for Holani last season on the football field as he racked up 1,014 rushing yards — marking the 11th straight season that the Broncos have produced a 1,000-yard rusher.
The 5-foot-11, 205-pound sophomore from Bellflower, California, relied heavily on the instincts that served him well in rugby while racking up 100 rushing yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns on Saturday against the Aggies.
“In football, there’s blockers. In Rugby, you have to find your own way,” Saia Holani said. “That forces players to understand angles and read the space.”
Pickup games with his cousins after church were the norm for Holani when he was young, and he played rugby throughout his high school career at St. John Bosco.
Many football players used rugby as a way to stay in shape in the offseason, but for Holani, it was a family tradition that grew into a passion.
He grew up idolizing international rugby star Jonah Lomu, who he happens to be related to.
“He’s a legend,” Holani said. “He was a 4.4 (second 40-yard dash) guy, even at 240 or 250 pounds. He was really fast and physical.”
Saia Holani and Lomu were cousins and grew up in the same village in Tonga. Lomu rose to prominence in 1994 when he became the youngest member of the New Zealand All Blacks to compete on the national level at the age of 19.
After a long battle with a kidney disorder known as nephrotic syndrome, Lomu died in 2015. He was 40 years old.
“We didn’t realize the skill he had and how he would go on to represent rugby on an international level,” Saia Holani said. “It was a blessing to be around a young man like him.”
Holani played just about every position on the rugby pitch, but his favorite was fly half, which he described as “the quarterback of the skill players.”
“It’s really a team game, and chemistry is important,” Holani said. “It’s exciting to see everyone get the ball, and I can play offense or defense. I can kick the ball and do whatever I want.”
Holani did pretty much whatever he wanted on Saturday, including kick the ball.
When a Boise State drive stalled on the Broncos’ 45 early in the second quarter, he stepped in for punter Joel Velazquez, rolled right and sent a rugby-style punt 29 yards to the Aggies’ 26.
It wasn’t the prettiest punt, but having an athlete like Holani taking snaps as the punter gives defenses plenty to worry about.
“George is a very good punter, and he’s got the ability that if they give him the edge he can take it, and that option is available,” Boise State football coach Bryan Harsin said after the game. “I think now everybody knows that we will actually run it in a game, and I just hope we execute better on it and it becomes more of a weapon for us.”
Harsin said the Broncos practiced that play all last year but never called it. Expecting to face Utah State’s special teams ace Savon Scarver on Saturday, the coaches thought a rugby punt would help keep the ball out of his hands.
Scarver missed the game for undisclosed reasons, but the Broncos reached into their bag of tricks anyway.
It wasn’t Holani’s first time punting in a football game. He began his career at St. John Bosco as an outside linebacker and punter and continued punting even when he moved to running back, according to his father.
“George has been blessed with a lot of natural ability, and he works hard,” said Saia Holani, who didn’t get to see his son’s first collegiate punt on Saturday because he was working, but vowed to go back and watch it. “It’s a blessing to see him playing the game that he loves.”
NO. 25 BOISE STATE AT AIR FORCE
When: 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Falcon Stadium, Colorado Springs, Colorado
TV: CBS Sports Network (Carter Blackburn, Aaron Taylor, Jenny Dell). That’s channel 139 on Sparklight, 221 on DirecTV and 158 on Dish Network.
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 1-0; Air Force 1-1
Series: Boise State leads 5-3 (last meeting: Boise State won 30-19 in 2019 in Albertsons Stadium)
Vegas line: Boise State by 14
Weather: High of 62 degrees, clear skies, 8 mph wind at kickoff
Tickets: Fans aren’t allowed because of COVID-19.
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
