Hawaii at Fresno State Newspaper Wrap-Ups

It is good to wake up in the morning and look once again at that basketball score UH threw down against the Bulldogs on their homefield! 68 to 37? Way to go Riley Wallace!

Jason Kaneshiro's wrap-up discusses the recent history that makes this victory all the more sweeter, as well as a quote from Samson.

The last time the Warriors (4-2, 2-1) visited California's Central Valley, Fresno State delivered a 70-14 thrashing. Yesterday, they took the bark out of a reeling Bulldog team and their homecoming crowd to win their third straight and first on the road this season.

"I think we're just a different breed this year," Hawaii senior center Samson Satele said.

The article also has a couple good quotes from Pat Hill:

"We ran into a buzz saw tonight," Fresno State head coach Pat Hill said. "Their quarterback was really on. I don't remember playing against a quarterback as hot as that.

"We were outmatched tonight. Hawaii was the better team, I give them a lot of credit. They're an outstanding football team."

An article from The Fresno Bee has this:

The 68 points were the most allowed in coach Pat Hill's 10 seasons, the most allowed in Bulldog Stadium history, and extended Fresno State's losing streak to five. The Bulldogs have lost nine of their past 10 games dating to last season.

"Personally, to me it's by far No.1," safety Josh Sherley said when asked where Saturday's loss ranked. "I mean at home, to give up that many yards, to perform the way we did, that was a very heart-wrenching loss to take. I swore this wouldn't happen my senior year. It's like it's out of control."

He shouldn't feel so bad because I don't think any defense could've stopped the Warriors yesterday. As amazing as it sounds, at least Hawaii didn't try to run up the score. Like Fresno did two years ago. The Warriors could've scored in the 80s if they wanted to!

Stephen Tsai's wrap-up describes the exuberant players and a very happy June Jones. Here's what the receivers had to say about the game:

"All you had to do was go past the linebackers and it was pretty much one-on-one with the safeties," left wideout Jason Rivers said. "We forced the safeties to make choices. If they pick one, we pick the other. We have so many weapons."

Sample, UH's right wideout, said: "It's really hard to play us one-on-one. All you need is half an inch on somebody, and Colt will find you. Colt is so perfect at placing the ball. His accuracy is crazy. When you're open, you know the ball is coming to you, and it's always on the money. We really don't have to make plays. Colt makes plays for us."

Jason Kaneshiro's article highlighting Colt Brennan has some amazing stats.

Brennan's percentage (82 percent) fell just short of the school record of 83.3 (with a minimum of 20 attempts) set by Tim Carey in 1997 when he went 25-for-30 against Cal State Northridge.

His accuracy yesterday increased his season mark to 73 percent with 23 touchdowns against just five interceptions. He already owns the UH season record, hitting 68 percent of his throws last year.

"He's just getting better," Hawaii quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison said. "It's so hard to tell where he's going to go because the expectations are rising so rapidly. His accuracy and his understanding of things and how quick he gets the ball out is growing by leaps and bounds.

Man, if he keeps going like this, he's gonna end up this season with a mid to high 70s completion percentage with over 5000 yards passing and over 50 touchdown passes. WOW. Just so you know, the NCAA single-season records are 5188 yards by Ty Detmer in 1990, and 54 touchdown passes by David Klingler in the same year. Just so you know.

UPDATE: That was an out of date and/or bad link. Here are the records from the NCAA (PDF).

Most Passing Yards in a Season:

(11 games) 5,140—David Klingler, Houston, 1990
(completed 374 of 643)
(12 games) 5,336—B.J. Symons, Texas Tech, 2003
(completed 429 of 666)
(13 games) 5,833—B.J. Symons, Texas Tech, 2003
(completed 470 of 719)

Most Touchdown Passes in a Season:

54—David Klingler, Houston, 1990 (11 games)

Sorry about that!

And speaking stats, check out this great Sportshawaii.com thread started by "Buger" analyzing this years Warrior offense.

Here's what Michael Lafaele and coach Reinebold said about the Warriors on defense:

The key to UH's defense was Lafaele, who moved from center to nose tackle two years ago. Lafaele was able to control Fresno State's Kyle Young, regarded as one of the nation's best centers. In the Bulldogs' offensive scheme, when the center can't move the nose tackle, the running game dies.

"I just wanted to use my technique and hands," Lafaele said. That wasn't so easy because he suffered a broken middle finger in his right hand during the game.

"The reason we played well is because Mike Lafaele took what was supposed to be one of the best centers in the nation and physically abused him," said Jeff Reinebold, who coaches the defensive line.

Lafaele said: "(Young is) a good player, but I think our center (Samson Satele) is 10 times better, and I face our center every day in practice."

I don't think that's a dig at Young, but just more high praise for The Emperor!

Ferd Lewis has a quote from Fresno coach Pat Hill in his article about the UH defense.

"Hawai'i made the big hits," FSU coach Pat Hill said. "I thought they were very physical, the most physical Hawai'i team we've played (in 10 years). I thought they really rallied up to play."

Way to go Glanville!

Ferd also has a quote from Leonard Peters, referring to the NFL scouts that attended the game.

"Coach (Jerry) Glanville told us some of the scouts said we were the hardest hitting team on the West Coast," Peters said. "We want to take the 'West Coast' part of it off."

Way to go Glanville!

In all this jubilation, there's bad news.

Kenny Patton, the University of Hawai'i's most experienced cornerback, could be lost to the Warriors from four to six games because of a broken collarbone suffered in yesterday's 68-37 victory over Fresno State.

...

The injury comes as Patton has emerged as a more aggressive leader and big-play performer. He was fifth on the team in tackles with 18, and had one interception and three pass breakups entering the game.

That really sucks for Kenny. I hope that it turns out to be not as bad as expected. It's gonna hurt to lose him, especially against New Mexico State, which passes more than Hawaii. At least he still had his spirits up after the game.

"I'm just so happy we won," Patton said, standing outside a festive Warrior locker room. "It hurts, but it just feels so good to leave here with a win. I wish I could have had more of a part in it, but it was a great win."

Patton, who has battled through injuries throughout his Hawaii career, suffered the latest setback less than 3 minutes into the game on Fresno State's opening touchdown, a 75-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bear Pascoe.

"Geez, it's terrible," Hawaii defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said softly when asked about Patton's plight.

Patton said he hopes to be back earlier than the initial prognosis.

"I'll just let the doctors work their magic," he said.

Good luck to Kenny.

And good luck to Fresno against LSU next week. As sweet as this victory was, I hope they pull off a gigantic upset with Sean Norton behind center. Gotta root for the WAC to "Play UP" whatever that means. So go Fresno State! But more importantly:

GO WARRIORS!!!!!