C.B. for Heisman

Dave Reardon got lots of news in his article today. He writes about UH's just-getting-started Heisman campaign with some reaction from Colt.

"I'm not going to run out and buy a suit right now, but I'll gladly deal with that if it gets to the point I need to," Brennan said. "That kind of attention just helps the (UH) program, can make the program better for years to come. It would be an unbelievable experience just to be a finalist."

UH expects to unveil a Web site this week dedicated to promoting Brennan as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Also, Brennan updates will be e-mailed to college football media around the country.

The Heisman Trophy winner is determined by nearly 1,000 media members who cover college football who vote first-through-third for the game's most outstanding player.

An ESPN.com panel of 15 Heisman watchers, including former players and coaches, has Brennan ranked fifth this week. Ohio State's Troy Smith remains the unanimous No. 1 choice.

Brennan said he's flattered by the attention, but doesn't think he'll be considered seriously by many voters because he doesn't play in a BCS conference.

"I've never seen small-school kids get into the race," he said.

No one expects him to win this year because of this, but like he says, it's great publicity for the UH program. I hope he does get to travel to New York, which would not only highlight the program, but would go a long way to putting him in a great, albeit still long-shot position for next year's Heisman race, which could also be setting up to be a battle of dueling Colts, Brennan and McCoy. Ooooh, on the inevitable C.B. for Heisman DVD, after vanquishing foes with his breakdancing skills, C.B. can dress up as a Hatfield and have a hillbilly moonshine battle with Colt McCoy. And then Nasti Nate can rap over the proceedings to a beat from Vili. I know what you're saying: how stupid! But tell me you wouldn't want to see that.

In any case I think both Colts will help each other in the Heisman race just because it's a great story. The national media will eat up the question of "Who's the better Colt?". It's a neat little package to go wild over. The Two Colts! WAC vs BCS! Senior vs Sophomore! Hawaii vs Texas! And on and on. In fact, it's probably already happening. I can picture the inevitable Sports Illustrated cover next year, McCoy and Brennan back to back with Colt 45s (the gun) in their respective hands. You heard it here first!

Anyways, back to Dave Reardon's article, he has an update on his breaking news from yesterday, including the return of Fale Laeli and more good news.

The good news is end Fale Laeli returned to practice after missing six games with a partially-torn ACL.

"I thought it was going to be bad today, that I was going to be out of shape. But it was good. I ran mostly everything," Laeli said. "The past two days I had to go on a major diet to get from 305 (pounds) to 288 (close to his playing-weight of 285)."

Two other injured ends might be back sooner than expected. Renolds Fruean (ankle) might be back in time for the Nov. 18 San Jose State game and Keala Watson (knee) for the Nov. 25 Purdue game, Jones said.

Nose tackle Kahai LaCount missed yesterday's workout for another commitment, but will likely be able to play Saturday despite a chest injury that took him out of last week's game.

Glad to hear Fruean and Watson will be back for the regular season. Let's hope the others can heal quickly as well.

And one last excerpt from Dave's article gives one hope for next year:

Athletic director Herman Frazier has the four unannounced opponents on next year's schedule arranged, (June) Jones said.

"About two and a half weeks ago and he assured me that he's about got things pretty much lined up," said Jones, who added that all the opponents will be Division I-A teams.

He declined to name the schools.

"I'll let him break it to you," Jones said. "I think that a couple of them might be on the road."

The excellent news is no I-AA teams next year. I can't wait to hear who UH is playing. If the Warriors are playing some road games at some big time schools next year, there's even more opportunity for exposure. Apologies to Dave Reardon for basically reprinting his article, but there is more to read, so here's the link again.

Stephen Tsai has some good/bad news regarding Leonard Peters.

Peters, who is one of three team captains, yesterday underwent a magnetic resonance imaging after experiencing "tightness" and discomfort in his right knee. There was concern after Peters missed all but one game of the 2005 season because of a torn medial collateral ligament in the same knee.

This time, the MRI did not show any apparent tearing.

"The doctor thinks I just tweaked it," Peters said. "No matter what he said, I was going to play, anyway. Nothing was going to stop me from playing."

Peters said he suffered the injury during Saturday's 63-10 road victory over Utah State. He said a teammate inadvertently "rolled" into his right knee.

"If the game (were) today, I would not be able to go," Peters said. "I can't hardly jog. ... I tried to jog, and I couldn't."

He said he probably will rest "for a couple of days, and we'll see. But if it's up to me, I'm going to play."

I'm glad his injury isn't as serious as it could've been. I wish he would sit out the La Tech game, but if he feels fine, I guess you can't hold him out. Stephen also writes that Ryan Keomaka may get the start at corner because A.J. Martinez is also injured with a possible sprained knee. Let's hope his MRI comes back clean. The article also has news about the possible replacements along the defensive line.

Ferd Lewis talks to former Houston QB David Klingler about the possibilty of Colt Brennan breaking his season TD record. Klingler is cool about it.

With UH's final regular-season game (Oregon State) on ESPN2 and the Hawai'i Bowl on ESPN, chances are Klingler will be able to watch the passing of his record from one UH to another in his Texas living room.

"I'll look forward to watching it," Klingler said. "Any time one of your records falls, it makes you think back and remember the games and the season."

...

"You've got to have receivers who make plays and linemen that are blocking well for you, so it is a team accomplishment, really," he said. "That he (Brennan) is putting up those kind of numbers means they must be having success as a team."

Still, from one quarterback to another and a record holder to heir apparent, there is respect for the chase and admiration of an impending accomplishment.

"If you talk to (Brennan)," Klingler said, "wish him luck."

Klingler's a really classy guy. I hope Colt can break the record on national TV as well. More ESPN clips!

Kalani Simpson writes a strange column about Colt and the "system QB" label that's tagged to any QB in an offense that likes to pass the ball. Hidden in the weirdness is a very complimentary quote from June Jones.

OK, I can see the hands are still up, so let's ask Uncle June: "Like I get this question all the time," June Jones said. " 'Is it the offense?' I was just (talking) with a Sports Illustrated guy. I said, 'Yeah. The offense makes average quarterbacks a lot better than they would be in another scheme.' I said, 'But when we have a great one, they're better in what we do.' And that's proven with Jim Kelly, and Warren Moon. And all the quarterbacks I've had have had their best seasons in our offense. Jeff George, Chris Miller, Bobby Hebert, all of them have had their best years in our offense. If you really have what Joe Montana has, if you have what John Elway has -- guess what -- it makes you better. And Colt has right inside of him, what the great ones have. And that's a lot of pressure I know to say, to put that on him, but he's got it. And he just has to understand it, be humble and keep doing what he's doing. And he'll get better and better."

I probably shouldn't tease Kalani about writing strange things.

And finally, don't forget the Coach Jeff Reinebold will be the guest at the Warrior Beat blog in less than an hour. He'll be answering your questions live on Stephen Tsai's blog, so be sure you have a question ready.