“You’re kind of giving up our secret weapon, man,” sophomore quarterback Ross Bowers joked. “… He’s fearless. He doesn’t care if it’s over the middle or if there are three guys around him. He’s not going to change, and that makes it really easy for me to trust him and throw him a ball that maybe I wouldn’t throw just because of what the look is telling me. He’s one of our great ones.”
Noa is among the youngest of nine siblings, so he grew up allowing his older brothers and sisters to talk for him. In seventh grade, he’d quietly eat lunch alone in the school’s cafeteria.
When he made the culture-shocking trip from Hawaii to Berkeley with Uluave, Noa allowed the 6-5, 345-pound offensive guard to speak for the both of them. Unless Noa is playing video games or talking on the phone with his parents, Uluave said he sometimes has to knock on his bedroom door to make sure the tranquil roommate is home.
Though offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin said he has heard Noa say only three words since the coaching staff arrived in late January, the receiver does talk quite a bit with Bowers. A cerebral player who has a knack for finding openings in coverages, Noa likes to compare what he sees on plays with what his quarterback sees.
“He’s not like the typical receiver, saying ‘I’m always open.’ Then, you go back on film, and there are three guys around him,” Bowers said. “He’ll be honest. He says what he sees. He’s got a really good feel for the game.”
He’s at his best when defenders are draped all over him and when time seems to slow down on key third- and fourth-down plays.