Despite a left calf marked with cuts and a heavily wrapped left knee, Hawai'i quarterback Greg Alexander yesterday walked without a trace of a limp.

"I can't talk about it," he said, smiling.

But the wrap served as a bandage of honor — physical evidence as to why, according to quarterback coach Nick Rolovich, Alexander is becoming the People's Quarterback.

"Out here," Rolovich said of Warrior football fans, "they don't want any sissy boys. You've got the pads on for a reason. I think people get fired up when (Alexander) runs for 11 yards and runs somebody over, or throws a 44-yard touchdown (pass)."

Alexander's powerful and accurate right arm is credited with leading the Warriors to four victories in the past five games. But his tough running ability has drawn respect from teammates and fans.

"He has a little resemblance — and some people brought this up — to Ben Roethlisberger when he was here (as a Warrior opponent)," Rolovich said. "He can run for first downs, and he has good awareness of the pocket."

In the past five games, when he was the Warriors' primary quarterback, Alexander has scrambled 31 times for 230 yards, an average of 7.42 yards per carry.

Alexander has excelled when the Warriors needed 10 or fewer yards for a first down. He has scrambled for first downs in 63.6 percent (21 of 33) of those situations.

"If stuff breaks down or if guys aren't open, I have to make stuff happen," Alexander said. "I work on my footwork for drops, but never for scrambles."

Alexander, who is 6 feet 3 and 230 pounds, prefers not to use the sideline exits.

"If you go out of bounds, you're not going to get as many yards as you can," Alexander said.

Rolovich said: "He's a tough guy — or he's too big to get down and slide."

Indeed, it is apparent that Alexander, despite being a shortstop in high school, has spent little time working on his slides. Strands of his calf skin were scraped off on the Aloha Stadium FieldTurf.

"He was a baseball player," Rolovich said. "He should be able to slide."

At the least, Alexander has been warned not to be up-ended by tacklers. Twice this season he was induced into inadvertent somersaults.

"That last one wasn't too bad," Alexander said. "Coaches are telling me to slide now. I'll probably be doing that a lot more."

Rolovich said Alexander is tough to defend because of his size and lone juke move.

"You've seen it over and over," Rolovich said. "He'll go one way, then go the other way. He has a little style to his running. I didn't teach him that."

"He has a good forward lean," Rolovich added. "He's got that one move. He'll make that one guy miss and fall forward. Before you know it, it's an 8-yard run. He has a good feel for when to make the first move and get straight. He's not a downhill Denver Bronco-zone runner. But he can set people up. And he's so big, he's falling forward and carrying people. They turn out to be fairly good gains."

Inoke Funaki, who is considered to be UH's "running" quarterback, marveled at Alexander's elusiveness.

"It just came out," Funaki said. "I'm sure he had it in him. I think he gets his tips from (running back) Daniel (Libre)."

Rolovich said Alexander's confidence in deciding to run coincides with his comfort in directing the run-and-shoot offense.

Right tackle Keoni Steinhoff said Alexander has emerged as a "great quarterback and a great leader."

Alexander has followed a similar path set by Rolovich, UH's quarterback in 2000 and 2001. Both transferred to UH after playing at Northern California junior colleges. Both embrace Hawai'i's lifestyle.

"People keep telling us we look alike," said Rolovich, who, like Alexander, sports a beard. "I don't know whose (beard) is thicker. I guess times are tough. Razors are expensive."

Rolovich noted that Alexander "acts like how a quarterback is supposed to act. He's not cocky. He's confident in himself, but he's humble. He respects people. He doesn't expect special treatment. He doesn't take advantage of his new-found stardom. He's very intelligent. He wanted to learn the offense, and he's pretty much got it. I think he's having a great ending to the season."

Alexander, who transferred to UH in May, said he has adjusted to Hawai'i.

"I like it out here," he said. "I'm having a lot of fun. I'm glad I'll be out here another year."