Scramblin Man

Here's an article about Colt Brennan's ability to avoid the sack, which sometimes leads to him getting sacked.

And the final game of the season is this Saturday against San Diego State, from the Mountain Wanker Conference. Let's send the seniors out the right way!

Hawaii 24, Wisconsin 41

First Mr. Miyagi dies, and now this! It's a bad day for Daniel-sans everywhere.

LiveBlogging - Hawaii vs Wisconsin

All times HST!

4:06 - One of the ESPN sideline reporters brought up Colt Brennan's comments regarding Wisconsin's D. The Wisconsin defensive coordinator says they'll show Colt what Big 10 football is all about. What is that, holding?

4:08 - Dan Kelly kicks off and Wisconsin takes it to the 30.

4:09 - First play, Wisconsin RB takes it 10 yards to the 40. Uh oh.

4:10 - Two short runs brings up 3rd and 6 on the 44.

4:12 - Despite a penalty that made it 3rd and 1, the RB fell down! 4th down, gotta punt!

4:13 - Andre Taylor took the punt and almost fumbled it. Ball on the 18.

4:14 - Nate Ilaoa takes it on the first play to the 22.

4:14 - Nate Ilaoa takes it the 39!!! First down on 15 yard gain.

4:15 - Wow, Ilaoa takes in for the 3rd straight play for 6 yards. Ball on the 45.

4:16 - Damn, Davone Bess takes a pass 14 yards, but it gets called back by a block in the back.

4:18 - Colt Brennan passes to Ryan Grice-Mullen for 8 yards, but it's short of the first down. Gotta punt.

4:19 - Kurt Milne's punt is almost blocked, but it's fair caught at the Hawaii 22.

4:22 - Wisconsin's first play is a 3 yard run. Come on DEFENSE!

4:24 - Wisconsin just made a big pass play. Lamar Broadway wasn't expecting the pass, it looked like.

4:26 - Now Wisconsin is moving the ball. Ball on Hawaii's 9 yard line.

4:27 - Wisconsin scores on a 9 yard run. Hawaii 0, Wisconsin 7.

4:30 - Kickoff goes into the endzone. Hawaii has the ball on their own 20.

4:31 - Play action rollout, but the pass is incomplete. That's a new wrinkle.

4:32 - Brennan completes a pass to Jordan Slye on the 43! 23 yard gain for the first down.

4:34 - WHOA!!! Nate Ilaoa breaks like 3 tackles for a 20 yard gain!!! Ball on the Wisconsin 38.

4:35 - HOLY CRAP!!! Colt Brennan scrambles for 20 seconds and completes a pass to Ryan Grice-Mullen for 12 yards for the first down!!!

4:35 - ILAOA takes the shovel pass from the 26 to the 3 yard line! 1st and goal.

4:36 - Brennan lobs it to Davone Bess for the TOUCHDOWN!!!!!! Hawaii 7, Wisconsin 7. As Jim Leahey would say, that was DELICIOUS!

4:40 - Ummmmmmm, Dan Kelly did a pooch onside kick or something. Wisconsin recovers at their own 42.

4:41 - The wisconsin RB takes it into UH territory for something like 20 yards.

4:41 - Another Wisconsin run for 13 yards. Same ole same ole for the UH defense...

4:43 - Two short runs lead to 3rd down and 6 on the Hawaii 23.

4:43 - Damn, Kenny Patton got beat in the end zone, but there's a flag....on Kenny Patton. Hawaii 7, Wisconsin 14.

4:46 - Wisconsin kicks off to Hawaii for a touchback.

4:47 - Brennan to Ross Dickerson for 9 yards. 2nd and 1 on the Hawaii 29.

4:48 - Ilaoa takes the ball 5 yards for the first down! Ball on the Hawaii 34.

4:48 - Ilaoa falls down while making a catch on a screen. Ball still on the Hawaii 34.

4:49 - Dickerson catches a pass on the Wisconsin 41. 3rd and 3.

4:50 - Brennan floats a pass over Bess. Damn. 4th and 3, gotta punt.

4:52 - Milne punts and Wisconsin fair catches on their own 18. DEFENSE!!!

4:57 - Goddammit. On 3rd and 1, Brian Calhoun ran for 37 yards to the Hawaii 35.

5:03 - On third and 6, Wisconsin runs the ball and gets stopped!!! They're gonna try for the field goal...and they make it. Hawaii 7, Wisconsin 17.

5:06 - Andre Taylor takes the kickoff to the 19.

5:08 - Ooooo, pass interference called on a pass thrown to Grice-Mullen. First down on Hawaii's 34.

5:09 - Brennan gets sacked for a 6 yard loss. 2nd and 16.

5:10 - Brennan to Grice-Mullen for 11 yards to the 39. 3rd and 5.

5:11 - Brennan to Chad Mock for the FIRST DOWN!

5:13 - Another pass interference call leads to another Hawaii first down!!! The ESPN announcers are saying the Wiscy corners are looking tired. Ball on Wisconsin's 34.

5:14 - 3rd and 10 after two incompletions. Come on OFFENSE!

5:15 - HOLY CRAP!!! Another Colt Brennan 20 second scramble, avoiding 5 tacklers and completing it to Bess for the FIRST DOWN on the 18!!!

5:18 - What a bunch of BULLSHIT. After Brennan gets sacked for an 11 yard loss, the refs missed a total pass interference call in the end zone.

5:19 - Dan Kelly misses the field goal. Wisconsin ball.

5:23 - Man, Wisconsin's running the ball again. Wisconsin's got it on the Hawaii 46, and then on the Hawaii 33...

5:26 - Right on. 3rd and 12 after stuff and a near sack. Let's get a punt or a long field goal attempt!

5:26 - Forget what I said. They just completed a pass to the 14.

5:29 - Did you hear? Mr. Miyagi died! Frickin cruel world!

5:30 - Yet more tragedy. Wisconsin scored on Kenny Patton again. Hawaii 7, Wisconsin 24.

5:33 - Andre Taylor brings the ball out the Hawaii 30, but there's a personal foul penalty after the play. Ball on the Hawaii 15.

5:34 - A quick 36 yard pass to Ryan Grice Mullen!!! Ball on Wisconsin's 49.

5:35 - Brennan to Ross Dickerson for 11 yards for a quick first down. Ball on the Wisconsin 38.

5:36 - Pass interference on Wisconsin. First down on Wisconsin's 30.

5:38 - Brennan to Grice-Mullen to the 18 for a first down!

5:40 - Brennan gets sacked on 3rd and long, bringing up a field goal attempt.

5:41 - Dan Kelly hits the 42 yard field goal! Cold comfort! Hawaii 10, Wisconsin 24.

5:45 - So UH is down 14 at the half. MINOR. Momentum's on our side. I predict a 3rd quarter explosion by the Hawaii offense. See you in 20 minutes.

6:07 - Andre Taylor takes it out to the 14 to open up the 2nd half, but there's a penalty flag...holding. So UH will get it on the 7.5 yard line.

6:11 - Damn. Brennan fumbles the ball on the 7 yard line. Wisconsin has it.

6:14 - Well at least Wisconsin doesn't score a touchdown. Field goal attempt...is good. Hawaii 10, Wisconsin 27.

6:16 - Hawaii gets a touchback on the kickoff.

6:17 - Nate Ilaoa with a 17 yard gain to the 37!

6:17 - Chad Mock with a 17 yard gain on the bubble screen to the Wisconsin 46 yard line.

6:21 - 4 yard loss on a screen to Grice-Mullen. 2nd and 14 on the 50.

6:21 - Another screen to Mock for 13 yards to the Wisconsin 37. 3rd and 1.

6:22 - Bullet to Grice-Mullen for the first down to the 22!

6:23 - Brennan gets sacked back at the 27. 2nd and 15.

6:24 - Quick pass to Slye to the 15. 3rd and 3.

6:24 - Brennan to Bess to the 8 for the first down!

6:25 - Brennan to BESS for the TOUCHDOWN!!!!!! Hawaii 17, Wisconsin 27.

6:30 - Wisconsin's first play is a pass to their own 44.

6:31 - Man, Wisconsin's QB got ALLLLLL day to pass. Another long gain. Those Badger offensive linemen are not fair being that huge.

6:32 - Two short runs by Wisconsin. 3rd and 3. Are they gonna run or pass? Come on Kila with the sack...

6:33 - I should stop predicting good things for Hawaii. Bad luck! Calhoun with a 4 yard run for the first down on Hawaii's 23.

6:35 - Wisconsin's QB with a scramble to the Hawaii 9 yard line.

6:37 - 4th and goal on the Hawaii 1. Nice stop, but they're going for it...

6:38 - OH MY GOD. Wisconsin with the play fake and the QB waltzes into the endzone. Hawaii 17, Wisconsin 33.

6:41 - Another touchback. Hawaii has it on their own 20.

6:42 - Brennan to Slye for a 16 yard gain for the first down. Ball on the 36.

6:43 - Brennan with a 30 second scramble to Bess for the first down. But Bess gets hurt on the play, and OFFENSIVE pass interference?!?!?! Geez. That negates that.

6:45 - Brennan to Dickerson to the 33.

6:46 - Brennan to Mock. 3rd and 5. End of the 3rd quarter.

6:49 - Bess doesn't seem to be hurt badly. And then Brennan throws an interception. Wisconsin has it on Hawaii's 40.

6:51 - Wiscy QB runs for 6 yards to the 34.

6:53 - A holding penalty on Wisconsin brings back 10 yards. 3rd and 11 on the 42. Come on with the STOP!

6:54 - And of course, long pass play for the first down. Wisconsin QB has ALL DAY.

6:56 - UH finally gets pressure on the QB, but he avoids 2 sack attempts and completes a pass!!! But it's 4th down and 1 on the 13 and they're going for it.

6:57 - And they get it...

7:00 - And then they get a rushing touchdown. Hawaii 17, Wisconsin 41.

7:04 - Davone Bess won't come back in the game due to an injured left buttock.

7:10 - Brennan completes a 20 yard pass to Aaron Bain. 5:30 left in the game and I think UH gotta score 4 times. Let's do it!

7:13 - Incomplete on 4th and 3. Wisconsin ball with 3:40 left.

7:23 - Wisconsin's running out the clock. Oh well. UH might get it back one more time, but alas, for what? Wisconsin's going for it on 4th and 1.

7:25 - Wow, a stop!!! Hawaii gets the ball with 1:19 left.

7:26 - Brennan hands off the ball to Reagan Mauia for a 1 yard gain.

7:27 - Yikes. Screen pass to Mauia, and he drops it!!!

7:27 - Pass to Grice-Mullen to the 8 yard line. 37 seconds left.

7:28 - Is Mauia supposed to be "nimble-footed?" Errrr.

7:29 - Brennan spikes the ball with 16 seconds left, down 24 points.

7:29 - Brennan to Bain for a touchdown!!! Hawaii 24, Wisconsin 41.

7:33 - Wisconsin takes a knee. FINAL SCORE - Hawaii 24, Wisconsin 41.

Wisconsin at Hawaii Today!

Should be a good one. I have a good feeling about this game. I'll be liveblogging it, for those of you stuck at work. See you in 3 1/2 hours!

Wisconsin's Defense...

Full of holes, like their cheese! Ahahahaha!!! Don't get mad, Colt Brennan's been pretty much been saying the same thing. I wonder if they'll put these quotes up in the Wisconsin locker room.

"You can definitely see they have some issues they need to deal with playing us," Brennan said after yesterday morning's practice. "The things they've been doing lately, they're going to have to make some adjustments and some changes. You can't run a defense the way they do against an offense like ours."

Or how about this one:

"They have DBs who are used to coming up and filling holes and making plays on running backs and kind of ignoring the receivers," Brennan said.

"They're going to have to sit back now and play zone and see a lot of different things that they're not as much used to. That's a huge advantage playing off that. But we have to do the right things and make the right reads to break down the defenses they play."

I can't wait to see Brennan light it up on Friday. He better!

And I fear Jerry Glanville might be leaving UH in the near future. All these colleges trying to come after him. Please stay Jerry!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bye Week

Not much UH football news during the bye week, except the Scout Bowl.

But there is news regarding the UH basketball team as they handily beat the 4th ranked Michigan State team yesterday. Man, MSU athletics ain't doing so good this year.

In WAC football news, Fresno State nearly beat USC last night. What a game that was. I was rooting for FSU all the way, and they nearly pulled it off. Gotta have pride in your conference, not matter how bad it is!

And this coming Saturday Friday, Hawaii takes on Wisconsin, from the Big Ten. I fearlessly predict UH will beat them. Wiscy's lost two in a row and they'll probably be here more for vacation than a football game. Hawaii's offense and defense will be playing at the top of their games and I think the Badgers will go down big time on ESPN2!

Back Back Back

I've been gone but now I'm back and a lot has happened regarding the UH football team in the past 10 days or so. I apologize for being gone, but in that time UH chumped it at Nevada! What the hell happened? Glad I missed it. But can't dwell on the bad stuff. UH creamed Utah State and that was quite nice.

Rumours are/were swirling that Jerry Glanville was leaving to be a head coach at Temple. But Glanville says that he'll stay as Hawaii's defensive coordinator as long as June Jones is here. That's good. I think the defense will improve greatly next year because of Glanville. He just needs some time and hopefully we'll get some good recruits.

Hawaii kicker Dan Kelly is the WAC special teams player of the week, apparently for not getting any of his kicks blocked.

But it looks like Turmarian Moreland is out for the rest of the season due to a torn MCL. And he's a senior too, which sucks even worse.

But Davone Bess is doing great when it comes to personal stats:

UH freshman receiver Davone Bess is playing himself into All-America consideration. He caught five passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns in around three quarters of play Saturday.

Bess leads the Warriors with 81 receptions, 1,048 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Nationally, he ranks third in receptions per game with 8.1 and sixth in receiving yards per game with 104.8. Bess is tied for fifth in total receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

Out of Town

I'll be out of town for the next few days.

You can listen to the game at http://www.sportsradio1420.com. You have to register to hear the webcast.

Go Warriors!

Chilly

An Advertiser article and a Star-Bulletin article regarding the cold weather in Reno, along with two separate quotes. One from Colt Brennan:

"I played football in Boston and Colorado, cold weather, high altitude. If anything, I'm excited to get back into that weather and play," said Brennan, who is from Southern California, but played at Worcester Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts three years ago, and redshirted at Colorado in 2003.

And one from Nate Ilaoa:

"I love cold weather," said UH running back Nate Ilaoa, who was raised in the Washington, D.C., metro area, "for sleeping in."

Nate's only joking cuz! Relax!

Rumours

Eh cuz, like go dancing? With my office co-workers? Rumours cuz!

Is that club still around? Anyway, looks like the news that Nate Ilaoa already got another year was just a rumour.

Ilaoa, who first enrolled at UH in August 2001, missed all but one game because of injuries during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. He said he was told he is a candidate for a medical hardship that will allow him to play next season as a sixth-year senior. Former UH defensive tackle Lui Fuga received an extension under similar circumstances.

Ilaoa said the school will apply on his behalf. An applicant must wait until the end of the season to seek a medical hardship.

Oh well, I really hope he gets it. He'll be awesome next year if he's eligible and reports in shape.

In the same article, we learn that Tyler Graunke probably won't try out for another position next year.

In the first two games, UH designed several special plays using Graunke as a run-option quarterback. That role, Jones acknowledged, inaccurately depicted Graunke as a "running quarterback."

"I look at him as a passer," Jones said. "He does a good job when he's in there. He just needs experience to get better. ... He's accurate. In the game, he's a better passer than he is in practice. That's what you're looking for. You're looking for a guy who elevates his play in the game."

During a school fair on Sunday, Graunke said he would consider a position change during the offseason. But told of Jones' plans to expand his role, Graunke said, "That what I needed to hear to stay at quarterback. ... I'll probably stay now."

You are in no position to negotiate, Tyler Graunke! That sounds like a line from a suspense thriller, coming soon to a theater near you. But I'm glad he's staying at quarterback. He was my choice to start the rest of the season after watching the USC game. Thank goodness I was wrong, but I still think he'd make a good quarterback for Hawaii.

And finally, here's a profile on Davone Bess, who might try out for the UH baseball team.

Good Articles

Here's a really good article by Stephen Tsai about Colt Brennan still trying to master the run and shoot.

"Sometimes I'll get flustered when I don't see an opening, and I'll run," Brennan added. "(June) says, 'If you'll stay with it, you can still hit it.' It's a matter of working with him, and getting on the same thinking level."

After reviewing videotapes of the Fresno State game, Brennan realized, "I was close to having the best game of my career. If I eliminated four or five plays — if I run for the first down instead of throwing it (on third-and-1) on the first drive, if I throw it away instead of throwing an interception — I walk away with one of the best games of my career.

"It's those little things. It's fine-tuning the little things. When you play Fresno State, it's the little things that matter, little things that stop you from beating a Top 25 team."

Also, backup QB Tyler Graunke was supposed to play a few downs on Saturday, but didn't, which June regrets.

"I have to do that because he's one play away from being the guy and he ain't ready to play either. I've got to get him ready," Jones said. "And it might have helped us. That moment might have settled (Brennan) down, let Colt watch it from the sideline a little bit. But I don't have any disbelief that Colt Brennan is going to be a great quarterback."

Graunke said he might request a position change for next season.

"I have thought about that a lot. I haven't made any decision on that. I feel like I could play receiver or defensive back," said Graunke, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds. "But I came here to play quarterback, and I'll do what the coaches think is best for the team. I'm hoping for anything as long as I can get on the field. If they let me do special teams next year .... see where it takes me."

I hope Graunke doesn't end up changing positions because I think he could be a great QB as well. But we do have Young Cody Rolovich waiting in the wings, so who knows.

And rounding out the good articles for today, here's a column by Kalani Simpson that talks about a coach's frustration. It's a tough job when the fans think they could've called a better game.

Of course, to get more info and analysis, visit the sportshawaii.com football forum. Sure, there's some fans who think they could've done better than June Jones, but there's some great insight as well. Be there!