Sold Out

The Oregon State game is a sell out!

"I'd anticipated that everyone who was at last week's game (against Purdue) would be back, and that was a loud crowd," UH coach June Jones said.


It is the first sellout since UH’s season opener against USC last season.


“We are thrilled that the seniors and the other members of our talented football team will play in front of a capacity crowd this Saturday,” UH athletic director Herman Frazier said. “It will be an incredible night for the student-athletes, the fans, and the entire state of Hawaii. The atmosphere will be electric and a national television audience will get to see what a special situation we have here in Hawai‘i.”

It's also a GREEN OUT.

The UH football team's "Senior Night" game against Oregon State on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. has been designated a "Green Out" and all fans are encouraged to wear green shirts in support of the Warriors and their talented senior class.

Don't forget!

Mark Niesse of the AP previews the game.

Brennan said he's more interested in defeating Oregon State than getting his name in the record books because he wants to show that the Warriors aren't just another flashy pass-happy team.

"Critics are just waiting for us to do something so they can take us off our pedestal," Brennan said. "It's a big statement game for us."

The Beavers, who beat in-state rival Oregon 30-28 last week, will be familiar with the Warriors' style with the help of offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh, who defected from Hawai'i after the 2004 season.

"He knows what we do better than anybody else out there," said center Samson Satele, who played under Cavanaugh's leadership. "He can bring whatever. We just gotta bring our game."

Coach June Jones rejected the idea that Cavanaugh's experience in Hawai'i will give him an advantage.

"It's not an issue. He never knew one pass route, he never knew one thing we were doing," Jones said.

Coach Jones with the dismissal!

Ka Leo O Hawaii's Keane Santos profiles Colt Brennan, and recounts a great moment in the Purdue game.

And then it happened; the moment Brennan showed something he hasn’t ever shown before. What Brennan did at that moment was small, yet incredible.

If you were watching the K5 telecast at home, you missed it. However, fans at the stadium who saw it won’t forget.

Whoever was controlling the Jumbotron camera decided to focus on Brennan, not uncommon after a Warrior touchdown. Brennan gazed up and saw himself on the 19-by-26-foot screen.

In that moment, his competitive side took over and he went wild.

He started yelling, pounding his chest, pumping his helmet, jumping up and down and lifting his arms toward the crowd, doing anything he could to keep the fans fired up.

He was making a statement: the Warriors did not come this far to earn national acclaim and lose it in one night.

After that, I knew, the fans knew, Hawai‘i knew: Purdue didn’t stand a chance.

Man, what a game that was, and what a game this one's gonna be.

And finally, Ka Leo's Rebecca Gallegos has a game preview, and also has some great quotes from a couple of outgoing seniors, Leonard Peters and Reagan Mauia.

“It feels like just yesterday I was a freshman listening to all the [older] guys saying, ‘Take it for what it’s worth, because it’s going to come around fast,’” Peters recalled. “The days are counting down. I’m not going to remember a lot of games, but I’ll definitely remember all the friendships I made here.”

The Warriors had four goals in mind when they started the 2006 season. Their only barrier en route to reaching all four is a win over OSU. UH unites as a team week in and week out, and nothing will change their philosophy this weekend. Hawai‘i is looking for success and recognition, knowing that they have a duty to each other as teammates.

“It’s going to be really emotional for a lot of us,” Mauia said of the seniors. “We’ve been playing this game for a really long time, and some of us will go on and some of us won’t. We’re all going to take different walks in life, and just finishing up here together is really special. We’ve fought through hardships and injuries, and we’re more of a family now than ever before.”

I'm really gonna miss watching them play. Time flies so fast! But the season ain't over yet. And I feel this game will be a big one for Leonard and Reagan.

GO WARRIORS!!!!

Action

Stephen Tsai writes more about future Warrior Leon "Action" Jackson.

Jeremy Crabtree, the national recruiting editor for Rivals.com, said Jackson received a 4-star rating, which is awarded to players who "have All-America and pro potential."

"He was in a rare category," Crabtree said. "Hawai'i is getting a heck of a player."

At Pasco, Jackson also was used as a defensive back. Recruiting expert Tom Lemmings rated Jackson as the nation's No. 2 safety prospect in 2005.

Jackson, who is 6 feet 2 and 210 pounds, can run 40 yards in 4.35 seconds.

"He's not a small running back," Crabtree said. "He's a legit 6-2. He does have some muscles and build to him. He can catch the ball. He'll be a complete back for Hawai'i."

Jackson is projected to compete at running back for UH.

With all the running backs UH will have next year, Jackson, David Farmer, Jazen Anderson, Khevin Peoples, Jason Laumoli, Kealoha Pilares, etc. it might give June Jones some opportunities to come up with some new formations and plays. Like he isn't constantly doing that anyways. Not sure if the Big-Boned Wishbone would be on the table with Nasti and The Juggernaut leaving, but maybe a 4-wide set that brings back the Paul Johnson triple option! Or a wishbone with Tyler Graunke as one of the backs, so you can have a double reverse flea flicker back to Graunke, who bombs it to Jason Rivers in the endzone for a touchdown!!!! Okay, I'm talking out of my arse now, but it's fun sometimes.

Further down the article, Tsai writes that safety Josh Berry has left the team for personal reasons. Good luck to him. And there's also a mini-profile on Blaze Soares.

"We consider him to be a starter in those packages," defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said.

Soares attended Hawai'i Pacific University last year to earn enough credits to gain admittance to UH. He was an inside linebacker before suffering a pulled hamstring early in the season. After returning, he was moved to outside linebacker.

"I guess Glanville wants me on the outside because of my speed," said Soares, who can run 40 yards in 4.5 seconds.

In last week's 42-35 victory over Purdue, Soares made a crucial sack in the fourth quarter.

"Blaze can run," Glanville said. "He runs very fast, and he loves to hit. If you don't like Blaze, you don't like football. He's the Blaze."

Blaze Soares has such a cool name. I'm glad he's taken care of his academics. He's gonna be a good one for years to come!

In his profile of Leon Jackson, Dave Reardon has a Nate Ilaoa injury update.

Coach June Jones said Ilaoa, who has missed this week's practices with a bruised heel, will play Saturday, when No. 24 Hawaii (10-2) hosts Oregon State (8-4) and tries to win its 10th game in a row.

"He felt 100 percent better today and he said he'll be ready for Saturday," Jones said of Ilaoa, who leads the Warriors with 845 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.

Excellent news! Reardon also gets reaction from Colt Brennan on being named one of five finalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award.

"This is another great honor," said Brennan, who is also among three finalists for the Davey O'Brien quarterback award. "I really appreciate the fact that I got recognized. It's great for the team and for me to get our names out there and receive the notoriety. As an offense, any individual recognition is a reflection of the success of the entire offense."

I'm getting confused by all these awards. Not that I'm complaining!

And I had a longer post with a bunch of other stuff, but every time I visited a certain page, it kept crashing my browser! And that was after writing a bunch of crap, so I'll just publish now before I go crazy. GO WARRIORS!!!

Leon Jackson Commits

Stephen Tsai writes that Leon Jackson, a former high school All-America running back, has committed to UH.

Asked by The Advertiser if he is a Warrior, Jackson yelled: "Yes, I am!"

Jackson, who is 6 feet 2 and 210 pounds, played for Nebraska as a freshman in 2005. He can run 40 yards in 4.35 seconds.

Saying he was seeking a "change of scenery," Jackson left the Cornhuskers. He is attending a junior college in Washington.

He will enroll at UH in August, and will be immediately eligible to play in 2007. He will have three seasons of eligibility.

Jackson said he chose UH because of the Warriors' wide-open offense.

"They spread it out, and I like that," Jackson said.

Awesome news.

ASU, OSU, Purdue, MSU

Steven Bohner of The Web Devil, an online version of an ASU campus paper, has an article about ASU playing in the Hawaii Bowl.

In its three-year existence, the Hawaii Bowl has been relatively high scoring with an average of 90.5 total points on the board per game.

This year's version promises to be no different, as No. 24 Hawaii (10-2, 7-1) brings the nation's top offense to the table.

Hawaii junior quarterback Colt Brennan leads college football's highest-scoring offense (48.6 points per game) with the league's best passer rating (186.68) and most passing yards (4589).

Brennan has also thrown for 51 touchdowns this season.

"I've seen them play a few times," Miller said. "They're gonna throw the ball a lot and they have a good quarterback, so I think its gonna be pretty high scoring. [It's our] third bowl game in a row; hopefully we'll make it three wins in a row."

After starting 1-2 this year with losses to Alabama and Boise State, Hawaii has won its last nine games, though the streak has come against Purdue, Eastern Illinois and a plethora of unranked WAC opponents.

Slight dig at Hawaii, but I find it hilarious that Purdue is lumped in with Eastern Illinois. Leroy Bridges of The Exponent, a Purdue campus paper, would probably sort of agree with that statement, as he puts down his own team in order to put down Hawaii's celebration of it's victory over Purdue.

Hawaii's fans and its football team think Purdue (8-5, 5-3 Big Ten) won the Big Ten this season. Sure, the Boilers finished tied in fourth place, but they are a middle of the road Big Ten team. Following Saturday's game the Warriors drenched coach June Jones with a bucket of water.

Now, come on. Those celebrations are typically reserved for conference championships or national titles, not non-conference wins at home.

Now, come on. It was a great come-from-behind win for UH, and June Jones tied Dick Tomey's school mark for career wins. Cannot celebrate? Anyway, on to Oregon State. Jim Beseda of The Oregonian has a good preview of Saturday's game.

Sabby Piscitelli, the Beavers' senior strong safety and co-captain, said the game in many respects revolves around pride, especially for the 11 players on Oregon State's roster from Hawaii.

"A couple of the Hawaii players have said to me, 'I don't want to go home if we don't win this game,' " Piscitelli said. "It's a business trip. We've got to go there and take care of business."

The Warriors (10-2, 7-3 Western Athletic Conference) have won nine consecutive games behind coach June Jones' run-and-shoot offense, averaging 48.6 points and 553.8 yards per game.

"It's probably one of the most efficient offenses I've seen," Piscitelli said. "They are just so technically sound. They don't do anything out of the ordinary, but everybody on the field knows exactly what they're doing . . . and they execute to a 'T.' "

Warriors quarterback Colt Brennan has completed 336 of 467 passes for 4,589 yards and 51 touchdowns -- three shy of tying the NCAA Division I record set by Houston's David Klingler in 1990.

"I'm happy that we get to pass rush the whole game," OSU defensive tackle Ben Siegert said. "If they're going to throw 90 percent of the game, maybe we can get some stats, you know."

You hear that, Samson?

Kiyomi Ueda of Ka Leo O Hawaii writes a profile of senior offensive lineman Dane Uperesa. You heard what that guy said, Dane?

Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman writes that WAC coaches are gonna have a hard time deciding between Ian Johnson and Colt Brennan in voting for the WAC Offensive Player of the Year.

"I don't know if they've ever had Co-Offensive Players of the Year, but good luck trying to choose between those two guys because they're both justfantastic," Louisiana Tech coach Jack Bicknell said. "I'm giving 'em a tie if I can."

Coaches will vote on the All-WAC teams, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year this weekend.

Winners will be announced Monday.

...

Most coaches didn't want to give a preference this week, but those who did favored Brennan.

"What Colt has done goes back in the history of college football," San Jose State coach Dick Tomey said. "Plus, what he's added to their offense is a toughness and an accuracy and an ability to run the ball that they haven't hadbefore."

Both players have generated Heisman buzz.

Johnson is fifth in the Heisman rankings at CBSSportsLine.com and 11th at ESPN.com. Brennan is second at CBS and fourth at ESPN.

Whoever wins is very deserving. Ian Johnson, coming back from that collapsed lung and having a big game against Nevada was huge. But you cannot deny Colt's awesome season!

And finally, it's good to hear that Young Cody, aka Jack Rolovich is doing well at Montana State.

On Saturday afternoon, the Bobcats take on top-ranked Appalachian State in a quarterfinal game of the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly called I-AA). While a victory would be noteworthy in a memorable campaign for MSU fans, in the mind of Rolovich it's already been a season to savor.

"It's just really rewarding for me," said Rolovich, who transferred to Montana State last spring from Hawaii. "To make a big change like I did — it was probably the biggest decision I've ever made in my life — and it's really rewarding to see how far I've come."

Rolovich passed for 272 yards and two scores last week in MSU's 31-13 victory over Furman, the Bobcats' first playoff triumph in 22 years. He will probably need to produce similar numbers Saturday in Boone, N.C., if the 18th-ranked Cats are to advance.

The Haka

Stephen Tsai writes that the UH players will stop doing their current version of the haka because:

Athletic department officials acknowledged that a UH professor voiced concerns that the Warriors might be violating a copyright by performing the haka.

Te Rauparaha, chief of the Ngati-Toa tribe, was credited with inventing the version of the haka in 1820 that is now used by the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby team.

The All Blacks received permission from Ngati-Toa to perform the haka before matches.

But in the end, this may all be for the better because:

For the bowl game, the Warriors will perform a haka "specifically made for us," Esera said.

As with the current haka, Esera said, "we can't do it ourselves. We'll go to someone with knowledge. We know people."

An original Hawaii Warriors haka should be pretty cool! And then they can copyright it and it'll end up in videogames and it'll be awesome. Come on Leonard Peters, you should incorporate a fire knife performance for your going away game. Think about it!

Further down the article, Stephen Tsai reports that Nate Ilaoa's heel injury is still bothering him.

Running back Nate Ilaoa did not practice yesterday because of a contusion in his left heel.

Because of Ilaoa's absence, UH head coach June Jones said, "he's doubtful (to play Saturday) in my mind. Hopefully, he'll be able to play."

But Ilaoa, who received several hours of treatment yesterday, said he will be ready.

"I'm going to play," Ilaoa said. "It's Senior Night. What are you talking about?"

We need Fasti Nasti. I have no doubt he'll play. But maybe we'll see more of The Juggernaut aka "Reagan Mauia" who is also a senior, and that would be awesome too.

Dave Reardon writes that the Hawaii-grown players on the Oregon State team are excited to be coming home, even if most of the fans won't be cheering for them.

Then he'll return to Aloha Stadium on Saturday, and (Tavita) Thompson knows he and his teammates -- especially the ones from Hawaii -- will be the focus of some negative attention.

"It's going to be weird," he said. "My first time in that stadium with a booing crowd."

Thompson is the cousin of former UH running back Afatia Thompson, and Afalava's uncle, Kesi, was a Hawaii defensive tackle.

Both players said their relatives didn't try to influence them to become Warriors. In fact, Kesi Afalava tried to get Al to go to BYU.

"I based my final decision on conference-wise, coaching-wise. It felt like family here," Afalava said. "And the Pac-10 conference is one of the toughest in the nation."

Afalava said he knows most of Aloha Stadium will be against him Saturday. But he estimates close to a thousand of the expected sellout crowd of 50,000 will be rooting for him and his teammates.

"Family, friends, Oregon State fans," Afalava said. "And a lot of Kahuku fans. I call them my family, too."

Dave also notes that there will be a Hawaii Warriors feature on ESPN's College Gameday.

UH players and coaches are being interviewed this week for Saturday morning's ESPN's College Gameday program.

"I think a pretty significant feature is in the works," said Neil Everett, ESPN SportsCenter anchor, who is the former KGMB sports director. "I lent them some Hawaiian music (by former UH player Henry Kapono Kaaihue) to use with the piece."

Thanks once again to Neil Everett!

Ferd Lewis marvels that Oregon State head coach Mike Riley is excited to play Hawaii.

I mean, not so much as a lament about humidity, the travel, the demands of a 13-game schedule, playing a week after beating the in-state rival or the athletic department's budget. No bones to pick with the athletic director about scheduling the game. No setting up excuses in case of a loss. Riley even owned up to approving the game when it was made and expressed an interest in extending the series beyond 2008.

"Fact of the matter is, right now I'm excited about it," Riley said of the opportunity to play a 13th game here. He said the opportunity to play the 24th-ranked Warriors was "invigorating" for the Beavers after their Civil War triumph over Oregon.

And, get this, not a peep about Western Athletic Conference officials, who will work the game. Unlike half the Big Ten, OSU didn't jump up and down and demand their own officials. Of course, he's seen Pac-10 officials on a regular basis.

"I've said before that I think the reasons we wanted to play this game are still good reasons and we are looking forward to playing a very good football team," Riley said, positive to the end.

What a refreshing breath of fresh air. But of course OSU recruits in Hawaii a lot. And there may even be more games set up between OSU and UH in the future.

Dave Reardon writes a profile of Hawaii Bowl opponent Arizona State and fired head coach Dirk Koetter.

"I know Coach Dirk Koetter will have his team ready to play and they will be exciting to watch," UH athletic director Herman Frazier said. "I personally spoke to Dirk today and he told me he was looking forward to bringing his team to Honolulu."

Ferd Lewis also writes about ASU.

"We are extremely excited to accept this invitation to participate in the 2006 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl," said Lisa Love, ASU's vice president for university athletics. "Our (players) have played their hearts out all year and this is a great reward for their season of hard work."

Should be a great game.

Mousefather

Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune has a nice profile of Warriors assistant coach Mouse Davis, the godfather of the run-and-shoot.

“June is doing a really good job with this group,” Davis says. “We rip people. It was like when we were at Portland State ripping people. We’re moving up and down the field. My punter (Kurt Milne) hasn’t punted in two games. I told him, ‘How in the hell are you going to earn your letter?’ ”

With their no-tight end, double slotback system, the Warriors lead the nation in passing offense (434.8 yards per game), total offense (553.8 yards) and scoring offense (48.6 points). They have scored 40 points or more in nine of their last 10 games and have totaled 583 points, breaking the school record of 502 set in 2002.

Mouse also more nice things to say about June and the offense.

“I’d say my impact is, oh, probably about a half of 1 percent,” he says, cackling. “I tell the people, the reason our offense goes is Colt, but our offensive MVP is June. He does a hell of a job with these kids. Me? I just take any spot no one else on the staff wants. I might not do anything on any given day (at practice).”

Davis is taking this coaching thing year by year. But what else is he going to do? He’s only 74.

“You can only play so much golf,” he says. “Maybe if I were to get the right deal, I might continue coaching. I’d like to be a little more in the action part of it. I don’t feel much different than I did when I was 35. I don’t want to turn into an old man, even though I am an old man.

“If I didn’t have fun, I’d say, ‘Adios, amigo.’ But this is fun. And it’s more fun watching people say, ‘What the hell are they doing with that offense?’ (Idaho coach) Dennis Erickson came over after our game and said, ‘If I knew what the hell you were doing, I’d run it myself.’ ”

This Warriors coaching staff is unbelievable. Can't take it for granted!

And I guess it's official:

Arizona State this afternoon accepted a bid to play the University of Hawai'i in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl on Christmas Eve at Aloha Stadium.

ASU athletic director Lisa Love received the offer from Jim Donovan, the game's executive director.

The Hawai'i Bowl made the offer after the Emerald Bowl, which had the fifth pick of Pac-10 teams, filled its slot with UCLA.

"Two and a half weeks ago we weren't sure we would even get (a Pac-10 representative) based upon the way they kept beating each other in conference, so we're very happy we have a Pac-10 team," Donovan said. "We met our goal of bringing a Pac-10 team to the bowl."

The Warriors are 10-2. ASU is 7-5.

The Star-Bulletin has more from Jim "Beuwmm!" Donovan:

“We are excited to have a team from a BSC conference in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl,” executive director Jim Donovan said. “Arizona State had a winning record and a nice win over a hot Arizona Wildcat team to wrap-up their regular season. I think it will be a great match up with the Warriors playing a talented Sun Devil team from the Pac-10 conference.”

Those punks at the Emerald Bowl wielded their power and deprived us of UCLA. But like I mentioned before, look on the bright side. At least UH will play a team with a winning record. Thanks to Charles for the heads up.

Looking to this week's game, C0hiba points out in the comments that Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel does not rank Hawaii in his "Power Rankings." Instead he ranks Oregon State at #24. Here's what he has to say about that:

I'm either going to look like a genius or an idiot for replacing Hawaii with Oregon State a week before the two play each other. The Beavers proved their worth by beating USC and winning six of their last seven; the Warriors needed a dramatic rally to beat a mediocre Purdue team at home.

I choose "idiot". Thanks for the tip C0hiba!

Glendalyn Junio of Ka Leo O Hawaii recaps the Purdue game. The article ends with this great quote by senior Leonard Peters.

"For some reason, we didn’t feel like [Purdue] had any respect for us this week; they talked about not coming down because they weren’t making any money and that it was too far. But you know, our closest [road] game is like five hours away and we don’t complain. It’s just what we have to do because we live on an island ... A lot of their players and coaches were taunting us before the game. So we took it upon ourselves and we came in to tell everybody ‘Let’s do it.’ In the first quarter, we shut them up, and it shows how much heart our team has to fight through adversity – you know, being down for the first time at home, to fight through it. It’s a feeling we’re not used to and our guys battled through it.”

I'm gonna miss him! Hopefully we get to see him play on Sundays.

And finally, thanks once again to Stephen Tsai, Princess Leila and the rest of the Advertiser crew for putting on another great live chat on The Warrior Beat, this time with Adam Leonard. Lot of good questions and a lot of great answers by "The Manimal". Glad he'll be here for another couple years.

Big Boned Wishbone

Stephen Tsai has June Jones' reaction to being named a finalist for Coach of the Year.

"Oh," Jones said when told of the nomination. "Awards come from winning. We won a lot of games, so we're getting a lot of recognition."

Gotta love him.

In the same article, Tsai writes that Nate Ilaoa suffered a heel injury in the Purdue game, but should be good to go against the Beavers.

Yesterday, Ilaoa wore a medical boot on his left foot. He was limping.

He was diagnosed with a "heel contusion," and was placed on the "no practice" list.

But Ilaoa dismissed it as a "bruised heel," and said it would not prevent him from playing.

"It's nothing bad," Ilaoa said. "I should be good by Saturday."

Against Purdue, Ilaoa rushed 12 times for a career-high 159 yards and two touchdowns. He caught seven passes for 52 yards.

Glad to hear it's not too serious. I hope he has an amazing game on national TV!

In his weekly press conference, which you can view here, courtesy of the Advertiser, June Jones' addressed Joe Tiller's comments leading up to the game.

Jones said he wouldn't have made the comments Tiller made last week.

"I didn't think it helped his team try to win," Jones said.

He added: "I was more resentful (of the criticism) because it went national, and it downplays the state and Hawai'i more than the program. It's a lot of negative stuff that happens a lot in the newspaper that doesn't have to happen. This time, I don't blame (reporters) for writing it. It was said, and it really was a bad deal for Hawai'i, not just the school. It made it seem like we were cheaters."

Pac-10 officials were used for the game.

As for Smith, Jones said, "what I said about John L. on ESPN radio, I felt all along. He's a crybaby, and we beat him, just like we beat Purdue."

And if you want to hear what June Jones said on ESPN, here's a video, courtesy of YouTube and UHGPY72.



Dave Reardon writes that June Jones is confident about playing anybody in Aloha Stadium.

"I feel like right now, you bring anybody in here, no matter who it is, we're gonna have a chance to outscore 'em," Jones said. "Our defense is playing well enough. There's some areas we obviously have to get better in, both offensively and defensively. But we can compete with anybody at home."

Hawaii (10-2) leads the nation in scoring, total offense and passing offense. UH quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison -- not known for hyperbole -- said the Warriors offense "might be the best ever in college football."

Most of UH's offensive fireworks have been against Western Athletic Conference teams with poor defenses. But the Warriors piled up a season-high 653 yards and pulled out a 42-35 win in the fourth quarter against Purdue (8-5) of the Big Ten on Saturday. Jones said Boilermakers coach Joe Tiller -- whose team played against Notre Dame's Brady Quinn -- told him UH quarterback Colt Brennan is the best quarterback he's seen.

Well crap, let's nail down some teams for next year before they get too scared and back out! You know, like how the wusses at Michigan State are doing!

June also talks about how he'll deal with having five coaches for Oregon State who either coached or played for UH.

"I know that they'll have all the information they need to beat us," Jones said. "We're going to have to change some things. We're going to have to do some things differently. Which we will do, which we've had to do before, with coaches leaving and different things."

So watch out for the wishbone! Wouldn't it be nuts to have Nasti Nate, The Juggernaut and Jason Laumoli run it? Would have to call it the Big Boned Wishbone!

Ferd Lewis recounts some of the biggest wins in the June Jones era. Here's #2 on the list:

2. UH 72, BRIGHAM YOUNG 45, 2001

As sports writer Bill Kwon preaches, "any victory over BYU is a big win."

Well, this one was bigger than most. For not only did it put an exclamation point on a 9-3 season, the triumph before a sellout crowd and national cable audience ended the then-ninth-ranked Cougars' unbeaten (12-0) season and dashed any claims to a Bowl Championship Series berth.

Unfortunately, even the victory, stunning for its lopsidedness, couldn't get the Warriors into a bowl. There was no Hawai'i Bowl at the time and everybody else passed on the Warriors.

What a game that was!

Ferd Lewis writes that the Emerald Bowl might snatch a 6-6 UCLA team away from the Hawaii Bowl instead of taking a 7-5 Arizona State.

But Jim Muldoon, associate Pac-10 commissioner, said the conference asked the NCAA to clarify the policy and was told since the Hawai'i Bowl would have to take ASU if the Emerald Bowl passed on the Sun Devils, then the policy would still be met.

"We have to wait until the (Emerald Bowl) makes its pick," said Jim Donovan, executive director of the Hawai'i Bowl. "That's the way it was explained to us after the NCAA ruled."

Emerald Bowl spokesman Doug Kelly said the game hasn't decided whom it would take in the event USC wins and brings about a five-way tie of teams with 4-5 conference records. He said UCLA and Arizona State remain under consideration and a decision might not be made until after the USC-UCLA game.

But according to The Long Beach Press-Telegram, the bowl spokesman may say one thing, but the bowl director already has his heart set.

The San Francisco-based bowl is preparing to pit UCLA and Florida State in the Dec. 27 matchup at AT&T Park. The bowl s executive director, Gary Cavalli, said Monday the wheels are in motion to finalize the game.

I think it would be tremendous to have that type of matchup, Cavalli said. You have two of the best brands in college football. You have (Florida State coach) Bobby Bowden, who has the most wins in Division I, and UCLA with their following and the Los Angeles (television) market.

The matchup apparently has very little to do with the outcome of Saturday s contest between UCLA and USC. Although a win by the Bruins would leave them in fourth place in the Pacific-10 Conference, sources said the Las Vegas Bowl will take Oregon to face BYU, since UCLA played in Las Vegas in 2002 and 2004.

Oh well, I really want Hawaii to play UCLA, but if things play out the other way, at least Hawaii will play a team with a winning record.

Cliff Kirkpatrick of The Corvallis Gazette-Times has a preview of this Saturday's game.

“We are going to take our regular travel squad because it’s not a bowl game, so we can’t take everyone,” Riley said. “We’ll just play the game. We’ll play it to win.”

The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN, which gives both programs extra cash and TV time.

While the team would be resting and healing for the bowl game without this contest, Riley and the players would rather be on the field anyway. It’s what they do.

There’s an added bonus for some. Five members of the travel squad are from Hawaii, and there are 11 Hawaiians on the roster. The other six are redshirting.

For those going on the road, this is the biggest game of the year.

“It’s huge,” said defensive end Naymon Frank, who is from Honolulu. “We get to see family and friends.

“And I grew up watching games in Aloha Stadium.”

The stadium should be rocking!

And finally, rounding out this extremely long post, Adam Leonard will be the guest live-chatter at Stephen Tsai's Warrior Beat blog at 10:30am HST today. Be there!

June Jones is Coach of the Year Finalist

June Jones has been named one of nine finalists for the 2006 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award by The Football Writers Association of America. Here's the release:

DALLAS (FWAA) – The Football Writers Association of America has announced nine finalists for the 2006 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award to be voted upon by the entire membership.

With the regular season heading into the final week, the FWAA, in conjunction with the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, has tabbed the following finalists: Houston's Art Briles, Michigan's Lloyd Carr, Wake Forest's Jim Grobe, Hawaii's June Jones, BYU's Bronco Mendenhall, Arkansas' Houston Nutt, Boise State's Chris Petersen Rutgers' Greg Schiano, and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops.

The finalists will be placed on a ballot which will be sent out to the entire FWAA membership. FWAA members will be asked to vote for their top three choices in the order they are deserving.

The FWAA coaching award is named after Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 years. He has more Division I victories (408) than any other coach. The winner of the FWAA/Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award will be announced and honored at a reception on Jan. 5 in Glendale, Ariz., in conjunction with the BCS 1-2 game.

It is a particularly competitive year in the coaching profession. As a result, the FWAA All-America Committee, which selects the finalists, believed it was up to the membership to decide among an array of candidates.

Surprising years by Arkansas, Wake Forest, Michigan and Rutgers were reasons for the competitive balance.

Nutt's Razorbacks came out of nowhere after losing their opener badly to USC, won 10 straight games, and secured a place in the SEC title game opposite Florida. Wake Forest, under Grobe, likewise rather stunningly made the ACC title game with the first 10-win season in school history.

Rutgers may be the Cinderella story with Schiano, after taking East Coast football by storm and contending for the Big East title. Michigan, after a sub-par 2005 season, stormed back to win its first 11 games before falling to top-ranked Ohio State. The Wolverines have virtually secured a spot in a BCS bowl game.

Meanwhile, strong seasons by BYU, Houston and Hawaii all qualified those coaches as Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year candidates.

Boise State's Petersen has directed the Broncos to the only other unbeaten regular season in major college football besides Ohio State and a virtually assured spot in the BCS. Stoops' Sooners will be playing in the Big 12 title game against Nebraska after losing their starting quarterback and top running back.

Of the nine candidates, only Stoops is a previous winner. He won the Eddie in 2000, the same season his Sooners won the FWAA's Grantland Rice Trophy, symbolic of the national championship.

The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 900 men and women across North America who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game day operations, major awards, a national poll and its annual All-America team.

For more information on the Eddie Robinson Award, contact FWAA executive director Steve Richardson (972-713-6198 or tigerfwaa@aol.com).

Congratulations to Coach Jones and the Warriors football team!

Return of the Cav

Dave Reardon writes a great article about former UH and current Oregon State coach Mike Cavanaugh and his relationship with UH center Samson Satele.

Hawaii tri-captain and starting center Samson Satele took it hard when Cavanaugh left for Oregon State two years ago, and he hasn't completely forgiven him. He said at one level he understands why the hugely popular Cavanaugh left UH after six years in Hawaii. But he still feels abandoned by his former position coach and mentor.

"I thought he'd stay until (fellow current seniors) Dane (Uperesa) and Tala (Esera) and I left, so I was surprised," Satele said. "But I know he had to take care of his family."

Still, Satele said he plans to take out the loss of his "grandfather" on the Oregon State players.

"Their whole defense is gonna get it," said Satele, a day after UH added a season-high 653 yards to its nation's-best total offense in beating Purdue 42-35. "From the beginning of the season we've been looking toward Dec. 2. This is going to be, I think, the best game our offensive line will ever play. It's for revenge. Hopefully Cav will be wearing a helmet and shoulder pads too."

It's great motivation, and it might sound like hate, but Satele said it isn't quite that way. He said he still talks to Cavanaugh -- but on his own terms.

"Sometimes I talk to him, sometimes I don't answer. He'll call this week, but I probably won't answer," Satele said. "He watches our games and tells us what we did right and wrong, he still coaches us. We talk mostly about football."

That's the stuff great stories are made of. Can't wait to see the Warriors O-line go off!

Stephen Tsai talks to coach June Jones, who is full of praise for Colt Brennan. Jones and Brennan talk about how Colt adjusted to the Purdue defense.

Jones said Brennan's skill was evident in the way he adjusted to Purdue's defensive scheme. In the second half, the Boilermakers switched to a four-man front, with the defensive ends stepping into the passing lanes to the flats.

"They did a great job of getting their hands up and jumping," Brennan said. "We get the ball out very quick (to the flats), and they did a great job of trying to defend it."

After three passes were knocked down, Brennan adjusted by throwing wide of the defensive ends. On the winning screen pass to Ian Sample, Brennan said, "I had to double-clutch it because (defensive end Cliff Avril) had his hands up."

Brennan said the knockdowns had little to do with his motion, which sometimes appears to be side-armed. He said, in fact, he is throwing with a three-quarter motion favored by most quarterbacks.

"There would have been way more batted balls throughout the year if there were any issues with my throwing (motion)," Brennan said.

The article concludes with the players talking about getting national respect, which they deserve!

Ferd Lewis writes about the difference between Purdue and Oregon State in their willingness to play in Hawaii.

The 24th-ranked University of Hawai'i football team plays another non-conference game against a team from a Bowl Championship Series Conference this week, but unlike recent victim Purdue, chances are you will hear little of the bleating.

Yes, like Purdue, Oregon State is coming off an emotional win over the in-state rival. And, yes, what happens in Halawa will not change the postseason for the likely Sun Bowl-bound Beavers (8-4).

But unlike Purdue, these are eager Beavers, glad to be coming. They are visitors with a purpose. And, not just for a football game or the mounds of kimchee fried rice at Big City Diner that their offensive line coach, Mike Cavanaugh, a former UH assistant, has been telling people he's looking forward to.

Oregon State has been building quite a recruiting pipeline here and Saturday's game, the first of a home-and-home series with UH, affords the opportunity to do more work on it after signing six prospects in February. Yesterday signalled the shotgun start to the NCAA's football contact period, the point when coaches can begin going into homes. Bet that the Beavers won't be shy about knocking on doors.

Man, there are quite a few really bad jokes I could make, but I'll just be quiet about it. Haha! But I agree, that BCD kimchee fried rice is ono!

And finally, Dave Reardon has his Warrior Replay, which highlights five key plays from the game. Here's one of them:

4. Game winner

The Setup: Hawaii 35, Purdue 35; 1:34 remaining, fourth quarter, Hawaii ball, second and 6 at Purdue 23.

The Play: Brennan -- given time by a key block by right tackle Dane Uperesa -- double pumps and throws a screen pass to right wide receiver Ian Sample, who cuts left and follows a wall of blockers into the end zone. The wall includes the other wideout, Jason Rivers, who knocks defensive back David Pender off his feet to enable the score.

The Impact: Brennan's 51st touchdown pass of the season puts him within three of David Klingler's single-season record, but more importantly accounts for the final points in the most exciting finish of Hawaii's season.

Sample: "Colt threw me a good ball. I followed the linemen. They blocked so far out in front and to the right (that the left) was the best route."

What an exciting play that was. Can't wait for this Saturday's game.

GO WARRIORS!!!!

Rankings Update

Hawaii is:

• Ranked 23rd in the USA Today Coaches Poll


• Ranked 24th in the AP Poll.


• Ranked 23rd in the Harris Interactive Poll (PDF).


• Ranked 22nd in the CBS Sportsline Poll.

BCS Poll gets released later today.

UPDATE: Hawaii is ranked 25th in the BCS Poll. Oregon State is actually ranked 24th in the BCS because of the computers.

Stats After Week 13

From the NCAA and ESPN

Hawaii is:

• 1st in the nation in scoring offense with 48.58 points per game.
• 1st in the nation in passing offense with 434.8 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in total offense with 553.75 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in third down efficiency with a conversion percentage of 58.2%
• 1st in the nation in tackles for loss allowed with 3.00 allowed per game.
  
• 65th in the nation in scoring defense with 23.2 points allowed per game. UH is outscoring their opponents by an average of 25.38 points per game.
  
• 95th in the nation in total defense with 381.83 yards allowed per game.
• 111th in the nation in time of possession with 27:52 minutes per game.
  
• T-44th in the nation in turnover margin with + 0.25 per game.
• T-30th in the nation in interceptions with 14.
  

Colt Brennan is:

• 1st in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 186.7
• 1st in the nation in passing yards per game with 382.42 yards per game
• 1st in the nation in total offense with 410.8 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in points responsible for with 28.33 points per game.
• 1st in the nation in touchdown passes with 51.
  

Nate Ilaoa is:

• T-7th in the nation in scoring with 9.27 points per game.
• 13th in the nation in all-purpose yards with 141.73 yards per game.

Davone Bess is:

• 8th in the nation in receptions with 6.75 per game.
• 13th in the nation in receiving yards with 86.58 per game.

Ross Dickerson is:

• 14th in the nation in kickoff returns with 26.59 yards per return.
• 55th in the nation in all-purpose yards with 106.50 yards per game.

Melila Purcell is:

• T-9th in the nation in forced fumbles with 0.33 per game, or 4 total.
• T-48th in the nation in tackles for loss with 1.13 per game, or 13.5 total.
• T-43rd in the nation in sacks with 0.63 per game, or 7.5 total.

NOTE: These aren't permalinks, so as the week changes, so will the stats.

Hawaii vs Purdue Newspaper Wrap-Ups

Stephen Tsai's wrap-up captures the celebratory mood.

In a finish that will eventually be retold as a sweet-dreams bedtime story, the 25th-ranked University of Hawai'i football team willed a 42-35 victory from Purdue last night at Aloha Stadium.

Before 44,298 — the largest home crowd since the 2005 season opener — the Warriors surged from an eight-point deficit with six minutes remaining to win their ninth in a row.

Even the Mayor was celebrating.

"What an absolutely fabulous victory," Mayor Mufi Hannemann gushed in the post-game celebration. "I'm so proud of them. They're Hawai'i's team. They're Polynesia's team."

The article closes with a great quote from coach Jeff Reinebold, as well as Hannemann again.

"I'm so proud of these kids," said defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold, who was raised in Indiana. Two of his children attend Purdue.

"People have no idea about the differences between that place and this place in terms of facilities, and money, and athletes, even," Reinebold added. "But they don't have what we have: as great a love for each other."

After the game, the Mayor agreed it was fortunate he wasn't running against Brennan.

"That's for sure," Hannemann said. "Or Nasti (Ilaoa) or anyone else on this team."

Dave Reardon's wrap-up has some quotes from Leonard Peters and June Jones regarding the big crowd last night.

"The crowd won it for us," safety Leonard Peters said, citing several situations where the Boilermakers weren't on the same page because of the noise.

"I'm sure the crowd got their money's worth," Jones said. "They were a huge difference in the game."

Kalani Takase and Ferd Lewis talk to Purdue QB Curtis Painter about the crowd.

"It was a loud crowd," said Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter. "I think it was a little louder than we expected. We came in and we were going on a snap count. We had to change that up, it was getting pretty loud and the line was having trouble hearing me on the snap count."

Davone Bess felt the crowd played a big factor.

"That 12th man, they play such a huge role in games like this. they're so loud, the environment is real hostile and I believe that had a lot to do with Purdue being shaken up," said Bess.

Painter said he didn't feel it was a factor in his turnovers. "Bad throws, bad reads," he said.

UH defensive linemen Ikaika Alama-Francis said otherwise.

"Without these fans, I don't think we could have pulled this off."

Takase and Lewis also write that the UH O-line did a great job in containing Purdue DE Anthony Spencer.

Purdue defensive end Anthony Spencer came into the game leading the country in tackles for losses with 26.5, including 10.5 sacks. Last night he got zero.

"They played a really good game," he said. "They had a good game plan coming in. They had little combination blocks, one-on-one blocks every once in a while, but they did a really good job."

...

"Well, he's a great player," offensive line coach Dennis McKnight said of Spencer.

Warriors' left tackle Tala Esera was matched up with Spencer most of the night.

Esera, who is 6-foot-4 and 308 pounds, echoed McKnight's thoughts.

"He was, by far, the toughest guy to block this year," he said. "He has an extremely good pass rush; he's really strong, he's a real good playmaker and I was trying my hardest to block him."

Tala probably upped his draft status a couple more notches!

Tom Kubat of BoilerStation.com talks to Spencer, who had more nice things to say about the Warriors.

"We played pretty well until the end of the game, when it mattered the most," Purdue defensive end Anthony Spencer said. "When the game was on the line we really didn't get the job done.

"They're a good offense. They have really good, aggressive wide receivers, they're quarterback is really good and their running back had a good game tonight. But we could have played better."

Other Purdue players weren't so willingly generous, but some were.

While some Boilermakers grudgingly gave the Warriors credit, linebacker Dan Bick said the Hawaii offense was as good as advertised.

"Yes it is," he said. "It's defendable but it's a good offense, very well run and coordinated. They run that shovel pass very well. They'd get us to drop into coverage and throw it to a big back who could take on a lot of tacklers. That hurt us tonight.

"The game was back and forth. We wanted this game. We fought hard but we didn't end up on top. Congratulations to them."

Kudos to Bick and Spencer.

Going back to Reardon's wrap-up, Colt Brennan, who broke a couple of school records last night, praised his teammates.

In the first quarter, Brennan broke the school records for single-season total offense and passing yards set by Tim Chang in 2002. But he was more interested in talking about how the team came back from adversity in the fourth quarter.

"Camaraderie, character," Brennan said. "And no negativity. Guys were stepping up to make plays and not worrying about the bad things. It shows what type of team we have."

Stacy Kaneshiro talks to Ryan Grice-Mullins and Nate Ilaoa about getting the win.

"This one showed our heart and the kind of ball we play on this island," Grice-Mullins said. "Last couple years, when we got down, it was over. It ain't like that this year. We know we're going to win. We deserve to win."

"You never want a game where you'll be tested, but it's good to know that you can look back on the film and that you can be in dog fights, fight through adversity," Ilaoa added. "Unfortunately, I'm the one fumbling, but we were able to step up as a unit."

Ferd Lewis has quotes from Leonard Peters and Davone Bess on pulling out a close one.

"You couldn't have it any better than this," said sixth-year senior defensive back Leonard Peters. "I mean, I'd rather have it this way, where we proved what we were all about than another blowout."

...

"This is a lot sweeter than just another blowout because it tests you," Bess said. "It tests your character, your maturity and your leadership. That's what this one did."

Leila Wai writes about Blaze Soares' pivotal sack to set up Gerard Lewis' pivotal interception.

But with the game tied at 35 and the Boilermakers driving down the field, linebacker Blaze Soares sacked Painter at the Purdue 27-yard line.

"I came off the end and Solomon (Elimimian) got the back to chase him, so it opened the window for me," said Soares, who recorded his second sack of the season. "It was all Solomon."

On the next play, Lewis picked off Painter's pass, giving Hawai'i's offense a chance to take the lead back, which it did on a Colt Brennan touchdown pass to Ian Sample.

"We needed a big play. We knew we needed a turnover to win the game," Lewis said. "I was back in coverage and he tried to throw it to another dude and I ran over there and picked the ball off."

Jason Kaneshiro writes about Ian Sample's game-winning touchdown catch.

"I owe it to the linemen and Colt, he saw the window, double-clutched it then threw it," Sample said. "The linemen blocked and Rivers had the best block of the year. For me it was, 'catch the ball, see the end zone and get to it.'

"It's designed to go up the middle, but the linemen were all just pushing (the Purdue defenders) so far to the right that I kept it going. It was a piece of cake after that."

It was just Sample's third catch of the game and he finished with 43 yards for the night. But with the game tied at 35 and the clock winding down, Hawaii head coach June Jones called for the screen --normally a staple of the UH attack -- and it popped open for the Warriors.

"We hadn't run it all game so it was a great play-call by Coach Jones," Brennan said. "A huge play-call.

Nick Abramo talks to Purdue coach Joe Tiller.

"We forced the ball early in the game and we forced it at the end and I thought that was the difference," Tiller said. "This team (Hawaii) isn't leading the nation in scoring by accident. The problem with playing a team that is so explosive is that you have to match them and sometimes you have to press and when you do that, invariably things go wrong.

...

"They have that type of offense where we're looking for guys to make the big plays. We would be stupid to think they're not going to throw the ball all the way up the field. After all, they run that run-and-shoot, something, something, something."

Huh?

The Star-Bulletin's Notebook has the story on how Dan Kelly's 52-yard field goal came to be.

Officials checked the video replay to see if a Brennan incomplete pass was a fumble instead, which gave June Jones time to change his mind after having sent out his punt team on fourth and 8 from the Purdue 35.

Instead, Jones called back the punt team, and Dan Kelly hit a field goal to make it 20-14 with 4:48 left in the third quarter.

"Coach (Jerry) Glanville kind of coerced Coach Jones to kick a field goal," Kelly said. "I looked at Coach Glanville, Glanville looked at me and I told him I could hit it. And he said, 'I know.'

"And then he went to Coach Jones and said 'kick a field goal.' "

The 52-yarder was Kelly's career high.

That was a great kick. Dan Kelly needed that kick. And UH needed this win. Bring on the Beavers!

GO WARRIORS!!!!

Hawaii Ranked 23rd

Hawaii has moved up two spots and is now ranked 23rd in the USA Today Coaches Poll! Congratulations to the Warriors!

UPDATE: Hawaii is ranked 24th in the AP Poll.

Hawaii vs Purdue Same Night Wrap-Ups

Here's the Advertiser's wrap-up.

Quarterback Colt Brennan completed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Ian Sample with 1:27 remaining to lead No. 25 Hawai'i to a 42-35 victory over Purdue Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

Purdue's Curtis Painter was intercepted by UH's Adam Leonard at the PU 46 with 53 seconds remaining to preserve the victory.

Hawai'i, which has won nine in a row, is 10-2. Purdue is 8-5.

Brennan completed 33 of 48 passes for 434 yards and three touchdowns, bringing his season total to 51. Davone Bess had six catches for 117 yards. Nate Ilaoa rushed 12 times for 159 yards and two scores.

Here's the Star-Bulletin's wrap-up.

Here's a wrap-up from KITV.

Hawaii 42, Purdue 35

What a crazy crazy game! UH really needed a come-from-behind win like this. Those last two touchdowns were nuts! Wooooo hooooo!!!! Definitely the most exciting game of the year. I hope the Purdue coaches are gracious enough not to whine, but we'll see. I don't see what they can whine about anyway. In any case, hopefully this pushes UH further up the rankings, and I'm sure this experience will help them against the Beavers next week, and whoever they face in the Hawaii Bowl.

GO WARRIORS!!!!

UPDATE: Here are some unofficial stats.

Colt Brennan was 33 of 48 for 434 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also rushed 6 times for 59 yards.

Nate Ilaoa rushed 12 times for 159 yards with 2 touchdowns. He also caught 7 passes for 52 yards for a total of 211 all-purpose yards.

Davone Bess had 6 catches for 117 yards.

Jason Rivers had 6 catches for 103 yards.

Solomon Elimimian had 14 tackles.

LiveBlogging: Hawaii vs Purdue

All Times Game Clock!

Final Score: Hawaii 42, Purdue 35

1st Quarter:

15:00 - Game starts in a few minutes!

15:00 - UH will kick off.

15:00 - Dan Kelly kicks off into the back of the end zone where it is downed.

14:52 - On 1st down from the Purdue 20, Curtis Painter completes a pass to Selwyn Lyman to the 25.

13:58 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 25, hand off to Kory Sheets out to the 29. 3rd down.

13:22 - On 3rd and 1 from the 29, Sheets takes it for a really short gain, but enough for the first down.

12:55 - On 1st down from the Purdue 30, Sheets takes it to the 32 yard line for a short gain.

12:20 - On 2nd and 8, Painter throws to his tight end, but it's dropped. 3rd down!

12:13 - On 3rd and 8 from the Purdue 32, Painter throws to nobody over the middle. Gotta punt!

12:09 - Purdue punts and Davone Bess takes it at the 16 to the 28 yard line! Timeout!

12:00 - On 1st down from the Hawaii 28, Colt Brennan throws a short pass to Chad Mock, who dives to the 36. 2nd down.

11:04 - On 2nd down, shovel to Nate Ilaoa who takes it to the UH 44 for a first down!

10:40 - On 1st down from the UH 44, Colt Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it to the 47 or 48 for a short gain.

10:00 - On 2nd down from the UH 47, Brennan hits Chad Mock on the right sideline for a first down!

9:50 - On 1st down from the Purdue 41, Brennan hands off to Ilaoa, who takes it to the Purdue 27 for another first down!

9:45 - On 1st down from the Purdue 27, Brennan scrambles and finds Ryan Grice-Mullins in the end zone for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!! But there's flag on Hawaii. CRAP.

9:39 - Play is coming back. Illegal man downfield.

9:33 - On 1st and 15 from the Purdue 32, Brennan shovels to Mauia, but it's dropped. 2nd down.

9:30 - On 2nd and 15 from the Purdue 32, Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa who takes it all the way to the 17 yard line for a FIRST DOWN!!!!

9:00 - On 1st down from the Purdue 16, Brennan overthrows Ian Sample, just barely. 2nd down.

8:55 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 16, Brennan hits Jason Rivers, who bowls over a couple of defenders to take it to the 4 yard line!

8:35 - On 1st down from the Purdue 4, hand off to Ilaoa, who TAKES IT IN FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!

8:24 - Briton Forester kicks the PAT and it's GOOD! Hawaii 7, Purdue 0

8:24 - Looks like Purdue is unprepared to handle Nasti Nate. Should be a big night for him!

8:20 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it's taken out past the 25. Nice tackle by Dan Kelly!

8:00 - On 1st down from the Purdue 28, Curtis Painter hands off to Kory Sheets, who takes it for about 7 yards.

7:20 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 34, Painter's pass is dropped! 3rd down!

7:10 - On 3rd down and 3 from the Purdue 34, Painter's pass is INCOMPLETE! Gotta punt!

7:02 - Purdue punts and Davone Bess takes it from the 15 to the 25! Timeout!

6:55 - On 1st down from the Hawaii 25, Colt Brennan hits Davone Bess on the left sideline at the UH 46 yard line for a quick first down!

6:30 - On 1st down from the UH 47, Brennan hits Jason Rivers who takes it to the 17 yard line for another first down!!!!

6:02 - On 1st down from the Purdue 17, short pass to Nate Ilaoa who takes it inside the 15 for a short gain.

5:20 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 13, Brennan hits Ryan Grice-Mullins, who is stopped immediately at the 10 yard line.

4:40 - On 3rd and 3 from the Purdue 10, Brennan shovels to Ilaoa, who is stopped immediately at the line of scrimmage. 4th down.

4:15 - Hawaii takes a time out.

4:12 - On 4th and 3, they're going for it! Colt Brennan's pass to Davone Bess is dropped. Turnover on downs. CRAP!

3:55 - On 1st down from the Purdue 10, Curtis Painter hands off to Sheets, who takes it to the 13. 2nd down.

3:18 - On 2nd and 7 from the Purdue 13, Painter hits Greg Orton out at the 22 for a first down.

2:50 - On 1st down from the Purdue 22, the play is whistled dead.

2:49 - False start on Purdue.

2:38 - On 1st down and 15 from the Purdue 17, the play is whistled dead again.

2:28 - Another false start on Purdue.

2:18 - On 1st down from the Purdue 13, really short gain by Sheets. 2nd down.

1:38 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 15, Purdue completes a pass out to the 19. 3rd down and about 12.

0:55 - On 3rd down from the Purdue 20, Painter completes a great pass over the middle to the 43 for a first down.

0:30 - On 1st down from the Purdue 42, Dorien Bryant takes a hand off into UH territory.

0:00 - End of 1st Quarter. Time out!


2nd Quarter:


15:00 - On 1st down from the UH 47, Curtis Painter throws long, but the pass is incomplete.

14:50 - On 2nd down from the UH 47, Painter hands off to Sheets, who takes it to the 30, but there's a flag....

14:48 - Holding on Purdue. Play comes back!

14:44 - On 2nd and 20, Dorien Bryant takes the short pass for a long gain for a first down.

14:33 - On 1st down from the UH 34, Painter completes a pass to Orton out to the UH 22.

14:25 - On 1st down from the UH 22, Painter completes a quick pass for about a 5 yard gain.

13:55 - On 2nd down from the UH 17, Painter is ALMOST intercepted by Leonard Peters! Doh! 3rd down!

13:46 - Hawaii takes a time out.

13:44 - On 3rd and 5 from the UH 17, Painter completes a quick pass over the middle to Bryant, who is tackled at the 4.

13:27 - Illegal substitution on Hawaii. Purdue will have it on the 2.

13:15 - On 1st and goal from the 2, Painter FUMBLES!!!!! And MYRON NEWBERRY RECOVERS!!!!!

12:50 - On 1st down from the UH 9 yard line, Colt Brennan hits Davone Bess over the middle who runs it all the way to the 42 YARD LINE!!!!!

12:10 - On 1st down from the Purdue 42, Brennan hits Ryan Grice-Mullins at the 30 yard line for another quick first down!

11:40 - On 1st down from the Purdue 30, Brennan to Mock on the left sideline to the 16 yard line for ANOTHER first down!

11:20 - On 1st down from the Purdue 16, Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa who takes it ALL THE WAY IN FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!

11:06 - Chad Mock is injured on the play. Looks like Nate landed on him. Looks like the wind was just knocked out of him. Thank goodness.

11:06 - Briton Forester's PAT is GOOD! Hawaii 14, Purdue 0

11:03 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it is downed in the end zone for a touchback.

10:56 - On 1st down from the Purdue 20, Curtis Painter completes a pass out to the 31 for a first down.

10:22 - On 1st down from the Purdue 31, Painter hands off to Sheets, who is stuffed for little or no gain.

9:42 - On 2nd and 9 form the Purdue 32, Sheets is dropped by Adam Leonard. But there's a personal foul on Hawaii. Automatic first down.

9:33 - On 1st down from the Purdue 48, Dorien Taylor takes it into UH territory.

8:55 - On 2nd down from the UH 45, short 1 yard gain to the UH 44. 3rd down.

8:43 - A Purdue player is down on the play. Time out.

8:40 - On 3rd down and 1 from the UH 44, Painter tries to sneak it. They're probably gonna have to measure. Nope, 4th down!

7:32 - Purdue punts into the end zone. Touchback.

7:15 - On 1st down from the UH 20, Colt Brennan passes incomplete. 2nd down.

7:03 - On 2nd down from the UH 20, Colt Brennan hits Ian Sample at the 31 yard line. 1st down!

6:53 - On 1st down from the UH 31, Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it all the way to the Purdue 45 yard line!!! 1st down!

6:14 - On 1st down from the Purdue 45, Brennan gets sacked back at the 47 or 48. 2nd down.

5:30 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 48, Brennan hits Davone Bess, who takes it to the 38. 3rd down.

4:50 - On 3rd and 2 from the Purdue 37, Brennan's pass is batted down. 4th down.

4:35 - Kurt Milne punts and it is downed inside the 20.

4:20 - On 1st down from the Purdue 20, Painter completes a pass to Orton out to the 40.

4:10 - On 1st down from the Purdue 40, Painter's pass is broken up by Solomon Elimimian!

4:05 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 40, Painter's pass is broken up by Michael Malala! But there are flags.

4:01 - Holding on Purdue, interference on UH. Offsetting penalties.

3:58 - On 2nd down and 10 from the Purdue 40, the play is whistled dead.

3:58 - False start on Purdue.

3:56 - On 2nd and 15 from the Purdue 35, Painter completes a pass to the 41. 3rd down.

3:20 - On 3rd and 9 from the Purdue 41, Painter throws to nobody on the sideline! Gotta punt!

3:10 - Purdue punts, but there's a penalty flag on the play.

3:06 - Offsides on Hawaii.

3:06 - Penalty declined, so UH will have the ball on their own 6.

2:44 - On 1st down from the UH 6, Colt Brennan is nearly sacked, but he scrambles out to the 13 yard line.

2:00 - On 2nd and 4, Nate Ilaoa takes it for a really show gain out to the 14.

1:33 - On 3rd and 2 from the UH 15, Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa, who busts it out to the UH 31 for a first down!!!!

1:00 - On 1st down, Brennan to Ross Dickerson out to the UH 48 yard line for a quick first down!.

0:50 - On 1st down from the 48, Brennan scrambles to the 33 yard line for a 1st down!!!!

0:33 - On 1st down from the 33, Nate Ilaoa takes it to the 20 yard line for another first down!

0:15 - On 1st down from the Purdue 20, Brennan scrambles and runs out of bounds at the 6 for a first down!!!

0:06 - Purdue calls a time out.

0:06 - Dan Kelly's field goal attempt is GOOD! Hawaii 17, Purdue 0

0:00 - Dan Kelly kicks a squib, where it's downed at the 33. Time runs out. End of half.

HALFTIME - Here are some stats at the half:

Colt Brennan is 15 of 20 for 211 yards. He also has 4 rushes for 44 yards.

Nate Ilaoa has 9 rushes for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns!

Davone Bess has 3 receptions for 81 yards.

See you in about 15 minutes!


2nd Half:

3rd Quarter:

15:00 - Purdue kicks off and Malcolm Lane takes it out to the UH 31 yard line.

14:38 - On 1st down from the 31, Colt Brennan's pass is deflected and then taken in for a touchdown by a Purdue player, but it's ruled an incomplete pass.

14:24 - On 2nd and 10 from the UH 31, Brennan completes a pass to Jason Rivers out to the 38. 3rd down.

13:50 - On 3rd down from the UH 38, Brennan completes a quick pass to Chad Mock over the middle for a first down!

13:20 - On 1st down from the 50, Brennan dumps it to Nate Ilaoa, who fumbles! And it's recovered by Purdue. Dammit.

13:00 - On 1st down from the UH 49, Curtis Painter completes a pass to the UH 43.

12:24 - On 2nd down from the UH 42, Kory Sheets takes it just short of the UH 40. 3rd down.

11:44 - On 3rd and 1 from the UH 40, Painter completes a pass out to the 29 for a first down.

11:15 - On 1st down from the UH 29, Dorien Bryant takes it to the 24 for a 5 yard gain.

10:35 - On 2nd down and 5 from the UH 24, Painter overthrows his receiver. 3rd and 5.

10:28 - On 3rd and 5 from the UH 24, Painter completes a pass to Kory Sheets, who takes it to the UH 11 for a first down.

10:05 - On 1st down from the UH 11, Sheets takes it to the 10.

9:35 - On 2nd down from the UH 10, Painter throws a touchdown pass. He just lobbed it up there.

9:23 - PAT is good. Hawaii 17, Purdue 7

9:20 - Purdue kicks off and out of the end zone. Touchback.

9:05 - On 1st down from the UH 20, Colt Brennan is hit as he throws and the pass is nearly intercepted. 2nd down.

8:50 - On 2nd down from the UH 20, Brennan passes over the middle and it is intercepted! Sheesh.

8:35 - On 1st down from the UH 48, Purdue runs it out to the 40, and then there's a personal foul on Gerard Lewis.

8:30 - On 1st down from the UH 25, Curtis Painter swings it out to the running back, who passes it for a touchdown! Wow, Steelers gadget play on that one.

8:20 - PAT is good. Hawaii 17, Purdue 14

8:16 - Purdue kicks off and it is taken out by Ross Dickerson to the 21.

8:00 - On 1st down from the UH 21, Colt Brennan hits Nate Ilaoa on the screen, and he takes it out to the 35 yard line for a first down!

7:28 - On 1st down from the UH 34, Nate Ilaoa takes it to the 37 for a short gain.

6:50 - On 2nd down from the UH 37, Brennan shovels to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it to the Purdue 49 for a first down!!!

6:20 - On 1st down from the Purdue 49, Brennan hits Chad Mock on the left sideline who takes it for another first down!

5:55 - On 1st down from the Purdue 37, Reagan Mauia takes it to the 35 for a 2 yard gain.

5:15 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 35, Brennan throws too high. Incomplete. 3rd down.

5:00 - On 3rd down and 8 from the Purdue 35, Brennan is hit as he throws. 4th down.

4:54 - Kurt Milne is set to punt, but the play is being reviewed to see if it was an incomplete pass or a fumble.

4:54 - Dan Kelly's gonna try a 52 yard field goal!

4:48 - Dan Kelly HITS THE 52 YARD FIELD GOAL! Hawaii 20, Purdue 14

4:44 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it's taken out to the 14, where Guyton Galdeira makes the stop!

4:30 - On 1st down from the Purdue 14, Jason Taylor takes it out 25 for a quick first down.

4:00 - On 1st down from the Purdue 25, Taylor takes it to the 29. 2nd down.

3:22 - On 2nd and 5 from the Purdue 30, Painter's pass is bobbled and is incomplete! 3rd down.

3:12 - On 3rd and 5 from the Purdue 30, Painter completes a pass out to the 37 for a first down.

2:55 - On 1st down from the Purdue 37, Taylor takes it out the UH 49 for a first down.

2:45 - On 1st down from the UH 49, Painter throws incomplete.

2:30 - On 2nd down from the UH 49, Kory Sheets is stuffed at the line of scrimmage! 3rd down!

1:50 - On 3rd and 10 from the UH 49, Painter's pass is caught at the 39 for a first down.

1:41 - Actually, they had to measure for it. 1st down anyway.

1:30 - On 1st down from the UH 40, false start on Purdue.

1:15 - On 1st and 15 from the UH 44, Painter passes to Taylor out to the UH 37.

0:30 - On 2nd and 8 from the UH 37, Tyson Kafentzis trips up Curtis Painter, who stumbles out to the UH 35.

0:00 - End of 3rd Quarter. Time out.


4th Quarter:

15:00 - On 3rd and 6 from the UH 35, Curtis Painter completes a pass to the 27 for a first down.

14:50 - On 1st down from the UH 28, Painter throws a touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone. Nice catch.

14:49 - Purdue takes the lead with the PAT. Hawaii 20, Purdue 21

14:49 - Moment of truth time for the Warriors!

14:45 - Purdue kicks off and Ross Dickerson takes it on a bounce and is stopped immediately at the 10.

14:15 - On 1st down from the UH 12, Colt Brennan's out pass is deflected.

14:10 - On 2nd and 10 from the UH 12, Brennan is almost sacked, but shovels to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it out to the 24 for a first down!

13:50 - On 1st down from the UH 24, Brennan scrambles out to the 35. 1st down!

13:20 - On 1st down from the UH 35, Nate Ilaoa takes the hand off, who takes it all the way to the PURDUE 27 YARD LINE!!!!

12:40 - On 1st down from the Purdue 27, Brennan hits Ian Sample on the 18 yard line.

12:10 - On 2nd and 1 from the Purdue 18, Brennan hits Davone Bess, who takes it to the 14 for a first down!

11:38 - On 1st and 10 from the Purdue 14, Brennan hits Ross Dickerson WHO LEAPS INTO THE ENDZONE FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!

11:28 - Briton Forester's PAT is GOOD! Hawaii 27, Purdue 21

11:24 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it is caught out of bounds. Touchback.

11:14 - On 1st down from the Purdue 20, Curtis Painter hands off to Sheets, who takes it out to the 25.

10:38 - On 2nd and 5 from the 25, Painter to Bryant, who takes it to the line of scrimmage. 3rd down!

9:55 - On 3rd and 5 from the Purdue 25, Painter completes a pass to the 33 for a first down.

9:40 - On 1st down from the Purdue 33, hand off to Sheets, who takes it to the 39.

9:00 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 39, Painter completes a pass to the Purdue 49. 1st down.

8:30 - On 1st down from the Purdue 49, Painter completes a pass to Sheets, who takes it out to the UH 19.

8:15 - On 1st down from the UH 19, Sheets gets stopped at the line of scrimmage.

7:38 - On 2nd down from the UH 19, Painter throws a touchdown pass. Sheesh!

7:29 - PAT is good. Hawaii 27, Purdue 28

7:25 - Ross Dickerson takes the Purdue kick off out to the 24.

7:14 - On 1st down from the UH 24, Colt Brennan's pass to Jason Rivers is dropped.

7:02 - On 2nd down from the UH 24, Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa who takes it out to the 32, but it's a fumble and Purdue gets it back.

6:55 - Hawaii is challenging the ruling.

6:55 - Purdue retains possession after review.

6:50 - On 1st down from the UH 32, Curtis Painter completes a touchdown pass.

6:50 - PAT is good. Hawaii 27, Purdue 35

6:48 - Purdue kicks off out of the end zone. Touchback.

6:35 - On 1st down from the UH 20, Colt Brennan's pass is batted at the line of scrimmage.

6:20 - On 2nd and 10 from the UH 20, Brennan scrambles and completes a pass to Davone Bess to the 24. 3rd down.

6:10 - On 3rd and 6 from the UH 24, Brennan shovels to Reagan Mauia, who takes it to the 40 yard line for a first down!!!!

5:50 - On 1st down from the UH 40, Brennan passes high. 2nd down.

5:42 - On 2nd and 10 from the UH 40, Brennan over the middle to Davone Bess to the Purdue 33 yard line!!!

5:22 - On 1st down from the Purdue 32, Brennan hits Jason Rivers on the left sideline and he takes it all the way to the Purdue 10 yard line!!!!

5:08 - On 1st and goal from the 10. Penalty on Purdue. Illegal substitution. Ball will be on the 5.

4:55 - On 1st and goal from the 5, Brennan to Ryan Grice-Mullins for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!

4:48 - UH is going for 2.

4:48 - On the 2 point attempt, Brennan hits RGM again!!! Hawaii 35, Purdue 35

4:44 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it is downed in the end zone for a touchback.

4:30 - On 1st down from the Purdue 20, Painter completes a pass to the 30. 1st down.

4:12 - On 1st down from the Purdue 30, Painter pitches to Sheets, who takes it to the 33. 2nd down.

3:28 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 33, Painter is SACKED BY BLAZE SOARES!!!!

2:40 - On 3rd and 14 from the Purdue 27, Painter is INTERCEPTED BY GERARD LEWIS!!!!!!

2:23 - On 1st down from the UH 46, Brennan hits Jason Rivers, who takes it into Purdue territory for a first down!

2:05 - On 1st down from the Purdue 41, Brennan throws deep and just missed Jason Rivers in the end zone! Yikes.

2:00 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 41, Brennan hits Jason Rivers on the left sideline to the 27 for a first down!!!!

1:40 - On 1st down from the Purdue 27, Brennan has to scramble and takes it to the 23.

1:30 - On 2nd down from the Purdue 23, Brennan hits Ian Sample on the BUBBLE SCREEN AND HE TAKES IT IN FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!

1:27 - Briton Forester's PAT IS GOOD!!! Hawaii 42, Purdue 35

1:22 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it is downed in the end zone for a touchback.

1:18 - On 1st down from the Purdue 20, Curtis Painter completes a pass, and Brad Kalilimoku with the quick stop at the 21!!!

1:05 - Purdue takes a time out.

1:00 - On 2nd down from the 20, Painter completes a pass to the 33. 1st down.

0:55 - On 1st down from the Purdue 33, Painter throws an INTERCEPTION TO ADAM LEONARD!!!! GAME OVER!!!!!

0:39 - On 1st down from the Purdue 41, Colt Brennan takes a knee.

0:00 - Clock runs down! GAME OVER!!! FINAL SCORE - Hawaii 42, Purdue 35

Ways to Follow the Hawaii vs Purdue Game

In Hawaii:

GO TO ALOHA STADIUM!

Watch it on Oceanic PPV

Listen to it on 1420 AM


Outside Hawaii:

Watch it on ESPN Gameplan


Everywhere:

Streaming video from Hawaiian Tel Media

Streaming audio from Sports Radio 1420

Live stats via CSTV GameTracker

And I should be liveblogging it.

The game starts at 6:05pm Hawaiian, 8:05pm Pacific, 9:05pm Mountain, 10:05pm Central, 11:05pm Eastern, 5:05pm Samoan, 5:05AM Nov. 19th Central European (Denmark and Germany), 3:05pm Nov. 19th Eastern Summer (New South Wales, Australia).

GO WARRIORS!!!!

BTW, looks like Boise State just beat Nevada and is going to a BCS bowl. So no WAC co-championship for UH. Congratulations to Boise, and let's hope they represent the WAC well.

GameDay: Hawaii vs Purdue

Today's game should be a good one. I'm excited to see how this year's Warriors line up against a Big Ten team. I think UH needs to win by at least 28 points so there will be NO EXCUSES. I guess Hawaii will have to spot Joe Tiller 7 points for the distance, 7 points for the humidity, 7 points for the 13th game, 7 points for Waikiki. Do we need to spot him more? Anything less than a 28 point victory and almost guarans you're gonna hear the excuses. Nah, even if it's a 50 point victory, there's gonna be excuses. Well Joe Tiller, no matter how hard you try, you can't diminish a Warriors' victory!

Dave Reardon writes a great article about the importance of this game for the Warriors.

"That's what's been holding us back, people saying we're playing lesser opponents in the WAC," Brennan said. "Here comes two teams at the higher end of their conferences, the Big Ten and the Pac-10. So, for us to win these two games would make a huge statement. If we do it in the manner we've been lately, it makes a gigantic statement. There's a lot riding on these next two games for us."

Defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said the players know the credibility they've built up in two months can vanish in 3 hours tonight.

"In our meeting room we talk about how this can all disappear in one bad outing. Everything you've built so far, the level of play, the ranking. They're all tenuous at best. You need to play well against elite level teams," Reinebold said. "The great thing about our schedule, the next three games, Purdue, Oregon State and hopefully UCLA or whoever the Pac-10 sends, is going to give these guys a chance to make a statement about who they are."

Dave Reardon's gameday preview highlights this key match-up:

UH left tackle Tala Esera vs. Purdue DE Anthony Spencer

Of all the tremendous numbers the Hawaii offense has put up this year, this might be the most impressive: 3.18 tackles-for-loss allowed per game, No. 1 in the nation.

In previous years, the UH attack was considered a high-risk, high-yield proposition. The risk was lessened this year, with the incredible level of protection the offensive line of Tala Esera, Hercules Satele, Samson Satele, John Estes and Dane Uperesa -- plus backs Nate Ilaoa and Reagan Mauia -- has provided. Colt Brennan's ability to smell out a potential sack and scramble for a gain helps, too.

But Purdue defensive end Anthony Spencer is a serious threat to that sense of security.

The probable All-American leads the nation with 26.5 tackles-for-loss, and he averages a little less than a sack a game.

"He looks like a very good player," Esera said.

"He's a speed rusher."

Indiana slowed him down last week with a tackle-guard double team. The Warriors will probably use a combination of Esera and Ilaoa or Mauia to slow Spencer. Because Ilaoa is such a force as a playmaker, it will be Spencer and Esera, mano a mano, on at least some downs.

"He's got really good feet. He's aggressive and strong. A well-rounded player," Spencer said of Esera.

Though as Reardon wrote earlier, Spencer could also line up on Dane Uperesa's side, so that should be something to watch out for.

Stephen Tsai's gameday preview also discusses the match-up between the Warrios' O-line vs the Purdue D-line.

The Boilermakers have the sort of scheme — an athletic four-man front — that has given the Warriors fits in the past (see Alabama, 2002). "They're the best one-on-one rushers we've seen," UH offensive line coach Dennis McKnight said. "They've got good depth. They play seven guys who are better than anybody we've faced this year. It's going to be a great challenge."

...

After dismissing the defense, the Warriors spent an extra hour of yesterday's practice working on running routes and blocking defensive stunts and loops. The Warriors are concerned about the Boilermakers' athletic pass rush, which will require three offensive linemen to solo block. Purdue's defensive push might be disruptive to the Warriors' most effective pass play, the shovel. Brennan and Ilaoa are a combined 28 of 28 on shovel passes this season; on shovels, Ilaoa's yards-after-catch average is 19.18.

Stacy Clardie of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has a hint of what else the Boilermakers might do on defense.

Hawaii has had success running a run-and-shoot offense, a style that makes it difficult to pressure Brennan because he typically takes a three-step drop and releases the ball in a hurry.

Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack will have a challenge trying to slow Brennan.

Bick wouldn’t divulge just what Spack’s plan may be.

“If Coach Spack and Coach (Mark) Hagen feel there’s a spot on their offense we can attack with the blitz, we’re going to do it,” Bick said.

“I like to blitz. It’s a lot of fun. But it all depends on what happens in the game. If they have trouble handling pressure, we’ll keep doing it. If they’re protecting well and taking advantage of the secondary, we’ll drop another back in coverage.”

Stephen Tsai has a great quote from Colt Brennan praising his teammates.

"If anything, our offensive line needs to be praised," Brennan said. "I can't believe people can recognize me and not recognize the guys around me in the same way. Our o-line is the best in the nation. If you look at how many times we pass and how few sacks we've given up, and then you look at how our running backs are averaging 8 yards per carry, I don't understand how (center) Samson (Satele) and these guys are not getting national notoriety. It's kind of ridiculous, really. This will be a great test for our o-line. This will be a great way for them to get that notoriety."

And just a reminder, if you haven't already, you must read Stephen Tsai's in-depth profile of Colt Brennan.

GO WARRIORS!!!!

UPDATE: Here's another article from a Purdue site, this one from BoilerStation.com.

There's only one word to describe the numbers being put up by the Hawaii offense.

Obscene.

OK, maybe there are others.

Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack seems to prefer the word ridiculous.

"They're ridiculous. This is a well-oiled machine. They're really good. They're scary good, as a passing team," Spack said. "Notre Dame, all around, is excellent with Brady Quinn at quarterback. But this crew here, it's ridiculous."

Great article with a lot of interviews with Purdue coaches and players.

Colt Brennan

Stephen Tsai writes the best profile of Colt Brennan I've ever read. I don't have an excerpt because it is an absolute must-read. So many national profiles of Colt Brennan gloss over or only briefly mentions his arrest in Colorado, discussing what he was accused of with what he was actually convicted of, and intentionally or not, muddling the two together, leaving the reader unclear as to what actually happened. This article does not shy away from the incident and really goes in-depth in getting to the truth. The article also discusses how June Jones vetted Brennan before inviting him to UH, how Brennan was the quiet new kid when he first arrived, and what Brennan has become to his teammates and Hawaii -- a really great guy, active in the community, and one of the leaders of this Warrior football team, even as he deflects the praise to his teammates. Excellent article.

What the Blogs are Saying

Found a few blogs previewing the Hawaii-Purdue game. Here's an entry from Sportable.com:

Purdue +18 over Hawaii: I’m sick and tired of hearing Purdue coach Joe Tiller bitch about this game. But I also think the Boilermakers will have some pride and actually try. They’re already locked into the Champs Sports Bowl and Hawaii has already confirmed their intention to play in the Hawaii Bowl. This is a nice opportunity for Purdue, despite what Joe Tiller may complain about. Hawaii is a ranked team so a road win for the Boilermakers would be a nice end to the regular season. I don’t see why Purdue wouldn’t be motivated here. They’ve won three in a row and are looking to go 9-4. They might lose but it should be close.

Rockin' the Comet talks about Joe Tiller's comments and offers up a prediction.

It's funny Joe Tiller has publicly stated numerous times now he has never wanted to play this game. He said he wanted this game cancelled, and talked about how we lose money playing this game. He went on to say other big ten coaches who have played there warned him about bad officiating, and how the big ten should stop going over there. Will that happen who knows. I only hope this negative attitude doesn't rub off on the Boilers. I don't see us winning this game for many reasons, however we do play better away from Ross Ade. This is just a chance to get to 9 wins, and beat a team who has yet to play anyone, no offense gary and cheryl. Alright onto the prediction.

...

Purdue vs Hawaii- This is not a fun game, and could get ugly either way. They are a high octane offense, but don't seem to have much defense. If our offense which has played better away from Ross Ade can click we have a shot. We have way too many hurdles to overcome in this one, a long flight, tons of distractions, already have the bowl bid. That being said somehow, someway Tiller fires them up enough to get victory #9.

PURDUE 63 hawaii 62

The Warriors defense has been on a roll recently, so I don't think we'll give up that many points. That would be a crazy game though!

The writer of the Boilermaker Football Blog is in Hawaii for the game and it sounds like he's having a good time. Here's an excerpt from his latest entry:

I must say that I am highly disappointed with the amount of whining coming from Coach Tiller. He knew this game was coming for years, and it didn't get rescheduled as he asked. We get it that he doesn't want to be over here. It's time to be quiet and prepare to play. Let's get the team down to business and get a win since that is what we came over here to do. This is an excellent opportunity for us to have a dry run at bowl preparation with all the extracurriculars that come with it. Since our last few bowl trips have yielded slow starts maybe it is a good thing to have another game between the end of the season and the bowl game. Now we only get about five weeks off instead of the usual six, and that can only help when getting ready for the Champs Bowl.

I'd be disappointed too if I paid to fly all the way to Hawaii to support the team only to hear your coach pretty much saying the game is meaningless and offering up all kinds of excuses. But the blogger has a great attitude about it and offers some keys to the game along with a prediction.

As for the game itself, offense is going to be the key. It is time to use our running game at least as much as we did against Illinois, if not more so. Hawaii's weakness is against the run and we need to have a big day from our backs. We need to have a big day from Painter with his legs. Painter needs to keep them guessing with option runs and keep the ball moving on the ground. They are a good team, but it is still a WAC defense we are moving the ball against. This is not Wisconsin, or Penn State, or even Indiana in terms of overall depth and talent. Hawaii gets to keep a lot of good in state talent at home, but it is still a small pool from which to draw recruits. The Warriors' defensive weakness is against the run, and we need to exploit it so we can set up our passing game. Of course, I recognize that this is what every football team wants to do in any game.

...

PREDICTION: Hawaii 45, Purdue 35 – We'll score with them early and hang around for awhile, but there is simply too much firepower there for us to overcome. We need the offense of the Indiana State game and the defense of the Northwestern game in order to have even a chance.

There's a lot more to read, so go check it out. The Warriors defense has definitely done a great job in recent weeks, so I hope UH can continue to be aggressive and stuff the run and pressure the quarterback. Anyway, since I'm taking predictions from other blogs, I might as well offer my own prediction, for real this time.

Tombo's Prediction: Hawaii 56, Purdue 23

As much as I'd like UH to drop 80 points on Joe Tiller, I don't think it'll happen. But who knows, if the UH players and coaches are as pissed about Tiller's comments as some of the UH fans are, then records may be broken! Game is tomorrow!

GO WARRIORS!!!!

#1 vs #1

Dave Reardon profiles Purdue defensive lineman Anthony Spencer

The Warriors are aware that Spencer is probably the best defensive lineman they'll face this season. His linemates aren't bad either, UH coach June Jones said.

"They're very athletic and they have some very good individual pass rushers," he said. "They do a lot of different looks. A lot of zone blitzing, a lot of different things. We've seen a lot of that stuff all (season). This is just better athletes doing it."

Hawaii tackles Tala Esera on the left and Dane Uperesa on the right will likely both be tested by Spencer, since the Purdue coaches will shift him if they think they can find a weak spot in the blocking.

"Throughout the year I moved around a lot, but it just depends on the game plan," he said.

Spencer also has 10.5 sacks among his 85 total tackles, plus four forced fumbles and five pass breakups.

Spencer leads the nation in tackles for loss with 26.5. He'll be going up against a Warrior offensive line that leads the nation in fewest tackles for loss allowed. Should be a great matchup.

Stephen Tsai writes that some Warriors are suffering from the flu. Somehow Joe Tiller's gonna spin that into another excuse for Purdue, I just know it. And Dan Kelly says he's corrected a flaw in his kicking motion.

Earlier in the year, Kelly had thought he figured out his accuracy problems, using a new approach before making contact. But then the Warriors went four games in a row without attempting a field goal, and Kelly's accuracy went on hiatus.

"I thought I had it figured out, but the way I had it figured out wasn't very consistent," he said.

During Wednesday's practice, Kelly noticed his aim improved when he kept his shoulder and hips square to the goal posts.

"I wasn't pulling (the right leg) across (the body)," Kelly said. "All I had to do was to go straight through the ball. I seemed to get a lot better height (on the kicks)."

He'll be a great one by the time he finishes his career at UH.

Today's edition of Dave Reardon's "Colt Following" has three excerpts from Heisman pundits around the land. Here's an excerpt from those excerpts.

BOB MATTHEWS

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

"The No. 2 and No. 3 spots on my Heisman Trophy ballot are up for grabs, but Ohio State QB Troy Smith has clinched the No. 1 spot. Hawaii probably never will have a Heisman Trophy-winning QB, but Colt Brennan's 2006 passing line is fun to look at: 303 of 419 (.723) for 4,155 yards, with 48 TD passes, 8 INTs and a best-in-the-nation 189.6 passer rating in 11 games. Ohio State's Smith has a fifth-best 167.9 passer rating."

USA Today has a mini-preview of the UH-Purdue game at the tail end of their Weekend Preview.

Closing out the weekend will be No. 25 Hawaii, with its WAC campaign concluded, hoping to earn some stripes against some BCS conference visitors. First to venture to the islands is Purdue, the last Big Ten team to wrap up its regular season. Warriors QB Colt Brennan has thrown at least four TD passes in nine games this season. WR Davone Bess is his favorite aerial weapon, and RB Nate Ilaoa is a dual threat with 1,348 all-purpose yards and 15 TDs. The Boilermakers have firepower themselves, with WR Dorien Bryant 109 receiving yards from the 1,000 mark. But QB Curtis Painter can't afford to add to his 16 interceptions. He'll try to control the pace of the game with TE Dustin Keller and RB Kory Sheets.

And finally, if you couldn't read enough praise for Colt Brennan, and I'm sure even he's probably sick of it by now, here's yet another pundit's opinion.

While nobody is more qualified than my man Nobody, shouldn't Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan deserve some consideration? All he's done to this point is chuck the pineapple for 4,155 yards and 48 touchdowns, against only eight interceptions. Even more impressive, he's completing more than 72 percent of his passes in coach June Jones' run-and-shoot offense.

The problem with Brennan is purely geographical. He plays out there in the middle of the Pacific Ocean while most of the nation is asleep. The Heisman Trophy is first and foremost a popularity contest and voters are not going to vote for what they can't see. 'Tis a pity.

Could do without the "chuck the pineapple" line. Oh well, some mainland writers think pineapple references are clever. Besides that, pretty good analysis. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

GO WARRIORS!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Stephen Tsai writes that Davone Bess will be returning punts for the Purdue game.

"I'm excited for the opportunity," said Bess, who has been named the Warriors' punt returner for tomorrow's game against Purdue.

UH coach June Jones had hesitated because he did not want to tax Bess, a sophomore slotback who leads the Warriors in receptions (6.82 per game) and receiving yards (84.8 per game).

But after Monday's conditioning drills, Jones walked up to Bess and said: "You're returning punts."

"That's all he said," Bess said.

Maybe he'll end up taking one to the house! Can't wait! And I'm pretty sure "tomorrow's game" is a typo, unless I'm totally missing something.

Tsai also writes about a great match-up for the UH O-line.

Saturday's game will feature a compelling matchup between Purdue defensive end Anthony Spencer and the UH offensive tackles.

Spencer leads Division I-A in tackles-for-losses, with 2.21 per game, and has 10.5 sacks in 12 games. Spencer can align on either side, meaning he will face either left tackle Tala Esera or right tackle Dane Uperesa.

"He's a great player," Uperesa said. "I've been hearing about him since early in the season. Every time I could catch a (Purdue) game on ESPN, I would watch. The announcers would talk a lot about him."

While the Warriors were watching Spencer, he was watching them.

"I've been watching quite a bit of film," said Spencer, who has focused primarily on Esera. "He's a really good offensive tackle. He's got really good balance. He sets up pretty well."

Esera said: "It should be a good challenge. He's quick. He's very good."

Hawaii leads the nation in fewest tackles for loss allowed. Let's hope it stays that way!

Dave Reardon talks to Amani Purcell about facing Purdue when he was at Penn State.

Amani Purcell has missed the last three games with a knee injury, but looks like he might be able to return to action Saturday, adding depth to the Warriors' defensive line.

"It's still a little sore, but I guess there's only one way to find out," Purcell said, when asked if he's game-ready.

The 6-foot-3, 257-pound Purcell has 11 tackles, including a sack for 12 yards, and three quarterback hurries.

"I'm hopeful (Purcell can play)," defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said. "He came out and pass-rushed a little bit. He can help us. He's played in the Big Ten, so he's not going to be intimidated by the size of these guys."

Today's edition of Dave Reardon's Colt Following has a couple quotes regarding Colt's chances for being Heisman runner-up to Troy Smith. Here's one:

ANDY BAGGOT

Wisconsin State Journal

"Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith is the only guy on my Heisman Trophy ballot whose name is in ink. As for the guys who will be invited to New York City to sit there quietly and applaud when Smith is introduced as the winner? Right now, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn are running neck-and-neck. ..."

I will be away from the computer allllll day today. Hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving!

Top Ten Joe Tiller Excuses

If you thought you heard all of Joe Tiller's excuses about why Purdue will lose to Hawaii, you haven't heard the half of it. In honor of Dave Letterman, a native of Indiana and the best late night talk show host on the air, here's a top ten list of Joe Tiller excuses if Purdue happens to lose to Hawaii:

10. Hawaii's black uniforms give them an unfair advantage at night.

9. The Old Oaken Bucket gave him a splinter.

8. Found out Magnum P.I. is a fictional character, which demoralized his mustache.

7. Couldn't find turducken on Thanksgiving, had to settle for Spamducken.

6. Hawaii fans are biased towards Hawaii.

5. The haka is too intimidating. Just ask Louisiana Tech.

4. Hawaii's receivers don't have pre-determined routes, which is completely unfair on the defense.

3. The beautiful weather in Hawaii demoralized the Purdue players and coaches, because they know they have to leave after the game.

2. Hawaii tackles too hard.

And the number one Joe Tiller excuse....

1. Couldn't fire up the team because he was too busy whining to the media.

Thanks Paul. Sorry if I offended any Purdue fans. I'm just looking forward to a great game, and hopefully your coach will too.

GO WARRIORS!!!!

Colt, Manning Award Finalist

Colt Brennan has been named one of 11 finalists for The Manning Award.

The Manning Award was created in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning and will be presented to the recipient following the holiday bowl season. It is the only quarterback award which takes into consideration the candidates bowl performances.

The winner will be determined by a select panel of national media covering college football, as well as each of the Mannings.

“Each of these student - athletes also provide today’s aspiring youth with a roadmap for their own success,” said Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan. “The Sugar Bowl is most grateful to the Manning family for helping pay tribute to these young men.”

“We are proud of the accomplishments all of these outstanding quarterbacks,” said Archie Manning. “We are especially proud of how they each led their respective teams to success and an outstanding season.”

This link is from LSUsports.net. I'll try to post an official release if I can find it.

UPDATE: Here's the official release.

SUGAR BOWL ANNOUNCES
MANNING AWARD FINALISTS

For Immediate Release
November 22, 2006

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Sugar Bowl Committee announced today the names of the eleven finalists for the Manning Award to be presented to the nation’s best college quarterback. Those finalists include: Erik Ainge (Tennessee), John David Booty (USC), Colt Brennan (Hawaii), Brian Brohm (Louisville), Chad Henne (Michigan), Chris Leak (Florida), Nate Longshore (California), Brady Quinn (Notre Dame), JaMarcus Russell (LSU), Troy Smith (Ohio State) and Patrick White (West Virginia).

The Manning Award was created in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning and will be presented to the recipient following the holiday bowl season. It is the only quarterback award which takes into consideration the candidates bowl performances.

The winner will be determined by a select panel of national media covering college football, as well as each of the Mannings.

“Each of these student - athletes also provide today’s aspiring youth with a roadmap for their own success,” said Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan. “The Sugar Bowl is most grateful to the Manning family for helping pay tribute to these young men.”

“We are proud of the accomplishments all of these outstanding quarterbacks,” said Archie Manning. “We are especially proud of how they each led their respective teams to success and an outstanding season.”

Last year’s winner of the Manning Award was Vince Young. Now in his rookie season with the Tennessee Titans, Young led his undefeated Texas team to a national championship. He completed 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards and gained 200 yards rushing against defending national champion USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl. He finished the season completing 212 of 325 passes for 3,036 yards and 26 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,050 yards. The 2004 winner was USC’s Matt Leinart.

Way to go, Colt!

UPDATE 2: Stephen Tsai gets Colt's reaction.

"That's cool," said Brennan, who leads the nation in passing and total offense. "It's nice to be nominated for another award. It's an honor, as it is an honor to be considered for the Davey O'Brien (award). I'm excited that the team and I were able to get some recognition for our program. Now it's time to get back to work."

Great attitude. I hope he's working hard to drop 80 on Joe Tiller. Not that he would be thinking of such a thing with such a great attitude. Just my dastardly wish!

Previews

Rebecca Gallegos of Ka Leo O Hawaii has a preview of the Purdue game.

While UH is a member of the Western Athletic Conference and rarely gets the opportunity to meet nationally ranked teams, Purdue, a member of the Big Ten Conference, has already faced Notre Dame (sixth), a 35-21 loss, along with other nationally respected teams such as Penn State University. There isn't a better time for the Warriors to make a solid statement.

"Purdue is a really good team," said strong safety Jacob Patek. "They have a lot of good opponents in their conference ... We have to come out, try to make a statement that we can play at that level, even though we are in the WAC and our conference isn't really a strong [one]."

The Sports Network has a really in-depth preview, this excerpt taken from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Opponents of the Warriors typically put up some decent passing numbers if for no other reason than they are trying to catch up to the fast-scoring squad from Honolulu. But in the case of the Spartans, who have had a huge turnaround this season, they posted a mere 110 yards through the air and only 82 yards on the ground, which means they averaged barely three and a half yards per play while converting 3-of-13 on third down. Placing second on the Warriors in tackles with eight, four behind Solomon Elimimian, Melila Purcell tallied 3.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks, not to mention a forced fumble, in being named the WAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. Heading into the game last weekend SJSU had the 10th-best rushing squad in the nation, but the Warriors took that all away somehow. While there have been a few games this year in which the Warriors have given up quite a number of points, that has not been the case in the last month. Over the course of the last four games no opponent has produced more than 17 points, which means the scoring defense for the Warriors is now ranked third in the WAC at 22.1 ppg allowed. Purcell now has 13.5 TFLs and 7.5 sacks to lead the program, while Adam Leonard checks in with a team-high 89 tackles and four fumble recoveries for a unit that is slowly getting the respect it deserves.

Every week people expect the Warriors to hit a wall on offense and every week the squad goes out and tears up opponents. Don't bet against Hawaii this weekend because non-conference visitors to the island generally have a hard time adjusting to the big change and the offensive attack.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Hawaii 49, Purdue 31

I predict it'll be more like 76 to 13. Nah, I'm only kidding. Only a little though. GO WARRIORS!!!!

Whine-O

Purdue head coach Joe Tiller does his best John L. Smith impersonation. Actually, in some ways, he OUTDOES John L, if you can believe that, with all his bitching and moaning BEFORE the game is even played! #@%! From Stephen Tsai's Ferd Lewis' article:

Asked on a media conference call yesterday what the pluses of playing the game might be, Tiller said, "I'm still looking for 'em. If you know of any, let me know, will ya?"

Tiller said, "I don't know the motivation for it. The game, in my opinion, would have been more palatable if we had an 11-game season instead of a 12-game season. It would have been more palatable if we would have been like Notre Dame and had a bye in the fifth week of the season. It would have been more palatable if there was a big pay day at the end of the rainbow, so to speak. This may end up being a net-dollar loss, because I don't know if all the expenses are covered."

Athletic director Morgan Burke said there would be a $40,000 loss.

After Northwestern and Michigan State lost games to UH at Aloha Stadium in 2004, Tiller said their coaches, "talked about it to all the other coaches (in the Big Ten) and their advice to every coach in that room was, 'Do not go there and play.' Michigan State's game was unbelievable. They had two touchdowns called back. They would have won the game going away. And they needed that game to become bowl eligible."

Since then, the Big Ten has requested and gotten Pac-10 officials.

And he just goes on and on and on! Just play the f%@#ing game! Geez, the Big Ten sure got some whiny ass coaches. Dave Reardon has Herman Frazier's response.

Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier issued the following statement after hearing of Tiller's comments:

"I am somewhat baffled by the comments made by the coach at Purdue University, because all of our contract negotiations, the present and future, have taken place with administrators. On that note, we look forward to hosting the Boilermakers at Aloha Stadium Saturday night. It should be an exciting game for everyone."

Ferd Lewis has another quote from Herman regarding the travel deficit.

UH athletic director Herman Frazier said through a spokeswoman, "I don't think (finances) is becoming a hurdle (in scheduling). I think we have a problem with a couple of coaches. That is very obvious. But, for the most part, it has not become a hurdle."

Frazier said, "The guarantees that we are offering have been sufficient for everyone we've talked to thus far."

EXACTLY. And Ferd writes a column that sets Joe Tiller straight on the rest of it. The column is appropriately titled "Excuses, excuses, excuses"

The trip is too arduous.

The weather is too hot.

The season is too long.

They never wanted to come anyway.

To hear Purdue football coach Joe Tiller tell it yesterday in a plaintive media conference call lacking only violins, it sure sounded like the Boilermakers had all the familiar excuses set up, in case they lose to the University of Hawai'i Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

Now, if only the offense, defense and special teams were as well aligned and ready, the Boilermakers might not need any of them.

Too bad the old standby, Western Athletic Conference officiating, was rendered moot when UH caved in last year to the Big Ten and began bringing in Pac-10 crews.

Of course, Tiller also alluded to the real reason, one of them certainly, for the woe-is-us chorus when he said, "... and we're going to play against a team that we won't see the likes of offensively maybe ever again as long as you are playing football. And this happens to be one of the great Hawai'i teams. You don't know that when you're scheduling them."

Indeed, if the Boilermakers had played this game when it was originally scheduled (2002), they would have found a good UH team, but not one of this potency. Not one on this much of a roll. "We should have gone ahead and played it three years ago if we knew then they were going to have this good of a team," Tiller lamented.

Funny how that works.

What a great example to set for your players, your coaches, your school, your fans. I really hope UH drops 80 points on you to justify all this whining!

Breathe. Just breathe.

To end on a happier note, today's installment of "Colt Following" is about Colt Brennan getting a chance to go Orlando as one of three Davey O'Brien Awards finalists.

Troy Smith of Ohio State and Brady Quinn of Notre Dame are the other finalists.

"Those are two of the most talked-about guys in college football right now. To be put up next to them is obviously a great honor," Brennan said after practice yesterday. "It's fun to be recognized and to know that our school is going to be up there with them. It's cool. But we just got to make sure we take care of these next two (regular-season) games. A lot of teams are done for the year, but we gotta make sure we go out and take care of these next two games."

Stephen Tsai has more happy news.

Next year, Brennan expects to remain in Manoa.

"Those are my full intentions," said Brennan, a fourth-year junior who is eligible to apply for the National Football League draft.

Brennan said it would take an "extraordinary situation" to make him forgo his senior season.

But after the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, Brennan will seek an evaluation from NFL scouts.

"There are things you can do," Brennan said of finding his rating. "There are ways to go about it."

If he were to project as a first-round selection in April, Brennan said, "you'd have to consider (applying for the draft). That doesn't mean I'd go, but you'd have to consider it."

But Brennan insisted: "My full intentions are to come back. I have no problem with coming back next year. I would love it."

I have more and more confidence Brennan will be back to compete for a WAC title and the mythical undefeated season. But if he does leave, and I couldn't blame him, we'll still have The Graunke and The Funaki and The Brogan to step it up. Glad to end it on good news, though I'm still PISSED! Well, let's just turn these lemons into lemonade and hope the Warriors take it to the Boilermakers.

GO WARRIORS!!!!

Colt News

The Star-Bulletin with the news.

Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan was named today as one of three finalists for the Davey O’Brien award, which goes annually to the best quarterback in the nation.

The other finalist are Troy Smith of Ohio State and Brady Quinn of Notre Dame.

Brennan leads the nation in several categories including touch down passes, passing efficiency, completion percentage and total passing yards.

The winner of the award will be announced Dec. 6.

Pretty cool! The UH Athletics website has more details.

Brennan currently leads the nation in passing efficiency (189.6), total offense (403.3), points responsible for (28.91), passing yards (4,155) and touchdown passes (48). The junior from Irvine, Calif., is also second in passing yards per game (377.73) and tied the NCAA record for most passing touchdowns in two seasons in last week's game against San Jose State. He now has 83 touchdown passes in two seasons and needs one more to surpass the mark set by Houston's David Klingler.

"I'm very happy for Colt that he is being recognized among the elite group of quarterbacks," Hawai'i head coach June Jones said. "Part of it is a result of playing on a winning team, but I can't imagine another quarterback has played better than Colt has this season."

C.B. for the O.B.!

Davone Bess to Chat

Don't forget, Davone Bess will be the guest for a live chat on Stephen Tsai's Warrior Beat blog at 1:00pm HST today. That's 3:00pm Pacific, 4:00pm Mountain, 5:00pm Central, 6:00pm Eastern, 12:00 noon Samoan, 12:00 midnight Central European and 10:00am Nov. 22nd Eastern Summer (New South Wales, Australia).

Be there!

Good Answer

Jamie Newberg of Superprep.com ranks Boise State 14th and Hawaii 18th in his Football Blitz Power Rankings. Jamie has a great answer for an ignorant fan who doesn't think Hawaii and BSU deserve to be ranked.

How can you rank Boise State and Hawaii in the top 20, when there are at least 40 schools that would be favored over them on a neutral field. Is it all on their record? The talent certainly isn't there.
Steve (Salem, Virginia)

Boise State and Hawaii are two good programs worthy of their ranking. Boise State is unbeaten and is in everyone’s top 20. On the other hand, I have Hawaii a little higher than most polls. Right now the Warriors are sitting at No. 25 and could work their way in the top 20 with wins in their final two regular season games.

Both Boise State and Hawaii play in the WAC and they are the two dominant teams. Earlier this season the Broncos held off the Warriors and won by a touchdown. Both teams have high octane offenses that could certainly put up some big numbers against teams you would see ranked anywhere between 21-40. Hawaii’s other loss was an opening day defeat on the road to Alabama 23-15. In that game they held the Crimson Tide to two offensive touchdowns and only 21 rushing yards in the second half. In that game Hawaii also committed five turnovers. If that game were played today, on a neutral field as you say, the outcome could be different. They are playing good football right now.

Hawaii has always been good on the offensive side of the ball. It took a few weeks this season but that offense has taken off and put up some unbelievable numbers. Quarterback Colt Brennan is on pace to throw for over 50 touchdown passes and 5,000 yards. The offense has scored 49 points or more in six straight games. They have scored 34 points or more in all but one game and that was their opener. Now obviously those numbers are against the conference foes that don’t exactly play great defense and they certainly wouldn’t put up those kinds of gaudy stats against top 40 type of opponents. But what makes this Hawaii team different is their defense. They are not exactly LSU or Michigan defensively but they are vastly improved and playing light years better then they have under Defensive Coordinator Jerry Glanville. It’s even more impressive considering Glanville and Hawaii don’t have near the talent you see in Tuscaloosa or Columbus.

We will all get a real sense of how good this Hawaii team is over the course of the next two weeks when they play Purdue and Oregon State. They get the Beavers to end the regular season and this Oregon State team that knocked off USC a few weeks ago.

Boise State on the other hand has been good for a while now. They will finish the regular season unbeaten and perhaps get a BCS bowl berth. They have a great offense and a great running game with sophomore running back Ian Johnson. He has rushed for 1,466 yards and scored 21 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Jared Zabransky has had a good season, completing 65% of his passes for 2,026 yards, 19 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

Hawaii leads the NCAA in scoring with 49.2 points per game while Boise State checks in at No. 4 overall with 39.5 points per game. Defensively the Broncos are 22nd in scoring defense (16.4 points allowed per game).

So can both Hawaii and Boise State compete and beat such top 40 teams like Houston, Maryland, TCU, Texas A&M, Penn State, Ohio, Navy, Kentucky, Purdue, Georgia, Nevada, Oregon State, etc? Well, we will all know more on Hawaii as they get the Boilermakers and Beavers over the next two weeks and whoever they play in their Bowl game.

The bottom line is that there are very few great teams in college football. There is a lot of parity between teams 20 and 40 and I really believe that these two teams are two of the better teams in that category.

The whole Q&A column is pretty good, so go check it out! Jamie also ranks Colt Brennan 3rd in his picks for the Heisman race.

Melila

Stephen Tsai profiles Melila Purcell.

"We don't want him engaged in a block too long," Reinebold said. "We ask him to be a movement guy, which means to move all over the field and make plays. That's not easy when the other team sends two blockers after you."

Purcell uses his speed (now 4.7 seconds over 40 yards) and strength (benches more than 400 pounds) to break free from blockers.

"What's fun about watching Mel play is his total command of his responsibilities," defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said. "He totally knows on every call where he's supposed to be and what he's supposed to do. It's a great teaching tool for the people who are playing on the defensive line. You can say, 'Look at this, look at how he's doing.' "

Big praise from the coaches! Congratulations to Mel and I hope he dominates on national TV in the coming weeks!

Nate Ilaoa In Motion

Kalani Simpson has a great column about how Nate Ilaoa does great things for the Warrior offense, even when he doesn't have the ball.

There it was, Saturday night. Ilaoa going, going -- where is he going? Still going. Jogging until he's the widest guy, the San Jose State cornerback nervously shuffling after him, following, looking back at the quarterback, looking at the rest of his guys. What do I do now?

You can't just let him go. You can't move the spy linebacker out there. The corner has to take him, everybody moves over a step. And there Ilaoa goes, wider and wider, in motion, toward the sideline. And then the shotgun snap.

And then Ian Sample, all alone in the zone, catching the ball where the corner had been a few seconds ago. Before he'd gone out after the man in motion, before he'd followed Nate. It was a vacated area. And Sample filled it. Hawaii first down.

You want to know what Nate Ilaoa means to this offense? Send him in motion, and see the reaction. Watch what the defense does.

Nate the Great! The column gives insight into one aspect of the Warrior offense, so go read it!

Big Ten, Back Again

Dave Reardon writes about the Big Ten requiring PAC-10 officials for this Saturday's game.

"The Big Ten is requiring neutral officials," Benson said.
When asked if this is a policy for all nonconference games involving WAC teams, Benson said, "No, just games involving the University of Hawaii."

...

Michigan State complained about WAC officials when the Warriors beat the Spartans 41-38, Dec. 4, 2004 at Aloha Stadium. Michigan State was flagged 16 times for 119 yards.

Also, Michigan State is trying to get out of a contracted game at Hawaii next season. MSU officials said they don't want to play a 13th game at Hawaii next year because it would interfere too much with academics.

Michigan State is disputing a $250,000 buyout clause in the contract for the game. The issue is being handled by lawyers from UH and MSU. Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier said he cannot announce the Warriors' 2007 football schedule until it is resolved. At this point, that schedule has just one nonconference game other than the disputed one with Michigan State, leaving either three or four openings.

Hawaii does not have a great history with Pac-10 officials. In 2003, the conference's supervisor of officials admitted to two blown calls against the Warriors in key situations with the score tied in the first half of a game that USC eventually won 61-32.

John L. Smith is gonna haunt us for years to come. Regardless, it's just one less excuse off the table when UH wins!

Towards the end of the article, Reardon gives an injury update and writes that Davone Bess may be back to receive some punts in the final games of the season. Right on!

Press Conferences

Here's a quote from June Jones' monday press conference.

On the play of the defense...
"I thought the defense had its best game last week against San Jose State. They were very efficient. (Defensive Coordinator) Jerry (Glanville) has done that everywhere he has been. He gets the most out of his players. We have a lot of talented players, but Jerry gets some of those guys to play better than they are."

And Dick Tomey has even nicer things to say about the Warrior defense in his press conference.

“I don’t think we physically competed with them nearly the way I hoped we would. They have a heck of a football team. They were a much better team than we were Saturday night. I’m very hopeful we can put that game behind us and look forward to what is the most important game in our season now against the University of Idaho.

"If we stopped them there and they kick a field goal, we’re less than two scores behind. I think that puts the game within reach. After that, it made it very difficult and we turned the ball over. When we turned it over, we were in tough shape. The game was really more about their superiority physically. They were stronger. They were tougher. They were better coached.

"That’s the best Hawaii defense I’ve seen in many years. They have two pro prospects playing defensive end. They have a free safety (Leonard Peters) that is in his sixth year. He’s a player who I watched play in high school. They’re very well schooled in what they are doing. It’s simple. They execute very well and they play their butts off. They really play hard. The biggest change in their team is the way their defense is playing and their turnover margin has changed dramatically since the first four games of the season. They were last in the conference early in the year. Now, they’re in ‘plus’ territory. So, they’ve done a great job in that category.

Very nice.

Defense, Defense

Dave Reardon highlights the awesome performance of the Warrior defense, especially in the last 4 games, with much of the credit going to the D-line.

Purcell, in particular, has played incredibly well in recent games. The 6-foot-5, 276-pound senior has thrived in the 3-4 alignment this fall after learning its nuances while dealing with nagging injuries last year.

"We just wanted to come out here and dominate the line and take the momentum away and put it on our side."

Purcell matched his season high with eight tackles. He was involved in three sacks, four quarterback hurries and he forced a fumble.

"The last half of the season, (Purcell) has really taken a step," defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said. "He's become an outstanding leader, in practice on the field, in meetings. And I think he's starting to play at a level that we all hoped he would get to. And Ikaika, the same thing. And Mike Lafaele, you tell me who's got a nose tackle who makes more plays than that guy does.

Speaking of Mel Purcell, he won the WAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. Way to go!

UPDATE: The Warrior Beat has reaction from Mel as well as praise from Coach Reinebold.

"After the game (against San Jose State), I felt he played as good a game as he's played since I've been around here," said Reinebold, who joined the team in the summer of 2005. "Then I look at the tape, and he's doing some things that you very rarely see somebody do at the college level. I'm really proud of him. He's playing better down the stretch. I think he's elevated his (NFL) draft status. He's shown great leadership on the field, and in the locker room, and in the meeting room. He's doing everything you can ask of a senior."

Stephen Tsai writes about the reaction of the players and coaches to being ranked 25th in the nation.

"Being way out here, and not getting much TV pub, it's really sweet to be ranked," Grice-Mullins said. "It's a nice reward. I'm happy for the seniors. They've been giving so much to the program. They've made so many sacrifices. I'm happy for a guy like Sam."

Center Samson Satele declined an opportunity to apply for the National Football League draft to return for his senior season.

"I'm glad we could have a good season for Sam," Grice-Mullins said. "He really deserved it."

Jerry Glanville, in his second season as UH's defensive coordinator, said the Warriors should be ranked in the top 10. But he said the early losses made for a steep ascent to national respect.

"The players really earned it," Glanville said. "Really, I know how important it is to them. They wanted to do something special, and this is something special. The players deserve it, and June deserves it. He put a lot of work into this. I get to see what the public doesn't, and I see how much effort he gives."

Congratulations to the team and the coaches!

Tsai's article also has a follow-up to the Yonus Davis-Davone Bess incident. It turns out UH receiver Michael Washington had a hand in it.

On Friday night, Leonard received several text messages in which Davis said the inside linebackers "were trash."

"He had no respect for us," UH inside linebacker Solomon Elimimian said. "He kept text messaging Adam."

As it turned out, it was UH slotback Michael Washington, pretending to be Davis, who sent the text messages.

"It was Mike playing around," Leonard said, laughing. "He got us going. Mike made us almost want to kill the man."

What a rascal!

Dave Reardon once again has his Warrior Replay, breaking down 5 key plays in the game. Here's an excerpt, but it's all good so go read it:

3. Stringing him out

The Setup: Hawaii 20, San Jose State 7; less than 3:00 remaining, second quarter, San Jose State ball, first and 10 at own 36.

The Play: A play after Hawaii safety Leonard Peters is called for a 15-yard personal foul for hitting a "defenseless receiver," Peters creeps up to the line of scrimmage, on the left. Yonus Davis gets a handoff, and runs right, looking for a hole to cut up into. There is none. Peters meets Davis 6 yards behind the line of scrimmage and dumps him for a loss.

The Impact: Davis came into the game ranked 16th in the nation with 912 yards in nine games, averaging 7.2 yards per carry. Hawaii held him to 29 yards on 14 carries. San Jose State managed just 192 total yards.

Peters: "He told Davone that I was head heavy and if we met in the open field he'd shake me."

Haha, I wonder if it was actually Mike Washington who said that?

Looking ahead to Purdue, Stacy Clardie of the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Indiana has a preview of this Saturday's game.

The Boilermakers (8-4) are coming off a victory over Indiana to retain the Old Oaken Bucket and already have clinched a bowl game. They haven’t beaten a team of Hawaii’s quality yet this season, and playing on the road surely won’t help.

The No. 25 Warriors (9-2) have one of the most explosive quarterbacks in the country in Colt Brennan. Brennan threw for 402 yards and five touchdowns in a victory over San Jose State Saturday.

“We’re going to play a heck of a team,” Tiller said. “When you schedule Hawaii this far in advance, you never know what team you’re going to get. Just so happens this year, we’re probably going to get a top-20 team. “

At least Tiller’s group will get some sight-seeing in.

That’s one way Tiller is hoping to keep his group focused on the game: rewarding them.

Tiller said he won’t give players a curfew Saturday night after the game, instead telling them “I’ll see you on the plane Sunday.”

His group also has a trip planned to visit Pearl Harbor.

Tiller has some experience with this trip, which may help. While Tiller was coaching at Wyoming, he coached six games at Hawaii.

So he understands he will have to count on his older players to keep guys in line, too.

“It might be a little difficult, but my job as a senior and as a captain is to keep the guys focused,” Mike Otto said. “Some of the older guys are going to have to try to do that maybe more so than other games.”

Man, they're gonna be in for some dirty lickins, and I'm not talking about what happens in Waikiki.

Speaking of inappropriate double entendres, the Star-Bulletin's article recapping the UH basketball team's 85-41 whipping of Oregon State has the unfortunate title of 'Bows bag Beavers. Come on guys! That's just wrong!

Stats After Week 12

From the NCAA and ESPN

Hawaii is:

• 1st in the nation in scoring offense with 49.18 points per game.
• 1st in the nation in passing offense with 434.9 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in total offense with 544.73 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in third down efficiency with a conversion percentage of 58.7%
• 1st in the nation in tackles for loss allowed with 3.18 allowed per game.
  
• 58th in the nation in scoring defense with 22.1 points allowed per game. UH is outscoring their opponents by an average of 27.08 points per game.
  
• 91st in the nation in total defense with 373.64 yards allowed per game.
• 110th in the nation in time of possession with 27:51 minutes per game.
  
• T-42nd in the nation in turnover margin with + 0.27 per game.
  

Colt Brennan is:

• 1st in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 189.6
  
• 1st in the nation in total offense with 403.3 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in points responsible for with 28.91 points per game.
• 1st in the nation in touchdown passes with 48.
• 2nd in the nation in passing yards per game with 377.73 yards per game
  

Nate Ilaoa is:

• 11th in the nation in scoring with 9.00 points per game.
• 19th in the nation in all-purpose yards with 134.80 yards per game.

Davone Bess is:

• 8th in the nation in receptions with 6.82 per game.
• 15th in the nation in receiving yards with 83.82 per game.

Ross Dickerson is:

• 9th in the nation in kickoff returns with 28.79 yards per return.
• 44th in the nation in all-purpose yards with 110.36 yards per game.

Melila Purcell is:

• T-9th in the nation in forced fumbles with 0.36 per game, or 4 total.
• T-30th in the nation in tackles for loss with 1.23 per game, or 13.5 total.
• 34th in the nation in sacks with 0.68 per game, or 7.5 total.

NOTE: These aren't permalinks, so as the week changes, so will the stats.

Hawaii Ranked 25th UPDATE

Updating this morning's post, Hawaii is ranked:

• 25th in the USA Today Coaches Poll.


• 25th in the AP Poll.


• 25th in the Harris Interactive Poll.
  

• 22nd in the CBS Sportsline Poll.


• 26th in the BCS Rankings.


• 26th in the CFN Rankings.
  

UPDATE: Stephen Tsai has some player reactions to the rankings on his Warrior Beat blog. He also says Davone Bess will be the live chat guest this Tuesday. Be there!

Hawaii vs San Jose State Newspaper Wrap-Ups

Stephen Tsai's wrap-up has the story of how the UH defense was riled up by what Yonus Davis told his friend Davone Bess.

Davis and UH's Bess are childhood friends, and they talked Friday night. UH stays in Waikiki the night before games, and the Spartans were at the nearby Hyatt Regency. Apparently, what happens in Waikiki doesn't stay in Waikiki.

Passed through the coconut wireless, the conversation between the two players ended up being a taunt to UH defenders' ears.

"Through the grapevine, I heard he said he would rush for 200 yards," UH inside linebacker Adam Leonard said. "He thought we were basically trash. We had to show him tonight we could play."

Led by an overpowering defensive line — ends Ikaika Alama-Francis and Melila Purcell III and nose tackle Michael Lafaele — the Warriors smothered the Spartans' power running game. First, Davis was limited to running between the tackles and, after a while, he was running in place.

Davis finished with 29 yards on 14 carries, an average of 2.1 yards per rush. The Spartans gained a total of 82 rushing yards on 38 carries.

"We heard he was going to get 200 yards rushing," free safety Leonard Peters said. "He might have got that side to side, but the last time I checked, they don't record the side to side."

"Nope," Leonard said, "I don't think they count that nowadays. Give credit to our defensive line. They did a great job. They dominated the whole game."

Hahaha, that's so cold! Yonus sounds a little bitter about being stuffed.

"Their defense today, what they did to me was used a 3-4 with two outside linebackers containing me and the inside linebackers just waiting to see what I would do," Davis said. "I'm not disappointed in our O-line or in myself or in anybody. It just lets us know what we need to do from here on out."

Asked if UH hit harder than other teams, Davis said, "They're not hard hitters at all."

Ho brah, why you so salty!?

Dave Reardon's wrap-up has more regarding that Bess-Davis story as well as June Jones and Dick Tomey's evaluation of the game.

Compared to the recent early-round knockouts this was more like a late-round TKO. UH coach June Jones said his team was not as sharp as usual.

"It was not our best game," Jones said. "We overcame a lot. The positive was there was a lot of good hitting going on."

A five-touchdown spurt by the Warriors after halftime -- enabled by UH's crushing defense -- finally locked it up as Hawaii matched the school record for consecutive victories in one season.

UH led just 27-17 midway through the third quarter, but three San Jose State turnovers in the fourth quarter and the Warriors' offense turned it into a rout.

"It's not very complex," Tomey said. "They were just more physical than we were."

Nick Abramo has more from Dick Tomey and SJSU's Marcel Burrough.

Tomey blamed the loss on getting manhandled at the line of scrimmage.

"Their guys (on the line) whipped our guys and that's what wins," he said. "They kicked our butts up front. And three turnovers on three straight possessions (two fumbles and an interception in the second half), that'll kill ya. They outcoached us and outplayed us."

SJSU senior left guard Marcel Burrough was in the firing line of Hawaii's hungry defense that held the Spartans to 192 scrimmage yards.

"They out-physicaled us," he said. "It wasn't that close. When it was 20-10, we were lucky to be in the game. We didn't move the ball like we should have. They (the UH defenders) were doing some really loud talking after they made plays and maybe we let it rattle us. We weren't doing the right things. We just handed it to them. It was like we said to them, 'Here's the ball, you want it?' "

Ferd Lewis writes about the great defensive performance and has this quote from Ikaika Alama-Francis:

All we heard all night was the sound of 'ughhhh' when he was hitting the ground," said defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis who, along with fellow defensive end Melila Purcell, was a regular visitor to the Spartans' backfield. "It was a very good sound, believe me. As a lineman you like hearing it."

Jason Kaneshiro talks to coach Jeff Reinebold, who has praise for his players:

"These kids have an awful lot of pride and they're starting to develop an identity," defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said. "For years they've been pushed around, people have run the ball on them at will almost. Now they've developed an attitude that nobody's going to run the ball on them.

"We challenged them during the week that this is going to be as good a running team as we've seen since Nevada and they rose to the challenge."

...

"I had to take their helmets away to keep them from going with no time in the fourth quarter," Reinebold said. "They're in great shape, they work hard. They're a credit to this program and I'm awful proud of them."

Way to go D. And big props to Reinebold for helping them get there!

But we can't finish all these stories about the UH defense without some quotes from Jerry Glanville, which Kalani Takase provides.

"As usual," said UH defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville, "we didn't do anything (different), the difference was the players."

and

"If Jake Patek isn't All-WAC, everybody at this university should be fired," Glanville said.

Right on.

Colt Brennan threw for 402 yards and 5 touchdowns last night. Ho hum! Par for the course! Just kidding. But let's focus on Nate Ilaoa, who rushed for 100 yards and had 66 receiving yards with two touchdowns and as Stacy Kaneshiro writes, broke a school record in the process:

On the Warriors' first play from scrimmage last night, the 5-foot-9, 254-pound senior stomped his way for a 26-yard gain off a shovel pass from quarterback Colt Brennan. The play not only paved the way to UH's first score, a 39-yard field goal by Dan Kelly, in a 54-17 win against San Jose State, it made Ilaoa UH's career leader in receiving yards by a running back.

Ilaoa entered the game with 870 career receiving yards. The old record of 895 was set by Gary Allen (1978 to 1981), who ironically played under then-UH coach Dick Tomey, who stood on the opposite sideline as SJSU's coach.

"It's good, but it's not only me," Ilaoa said. "It's my linemen, my quarterback, coaches and everything. It's something that comes along with teamwork."

Everybody on this team seems so selfless. Way to go.

This story by Kalani Takase and Ferd Lewis highlights the fact that this is the highest scoring Warrior team in school history. And if you thought Yonus Davis was salty, read what Louisiana Tech is complaining about.

(WAC commissioner Karl) Benson reviewed the Warriors' pregame haka performance last night in the wake of a complaint by Louisiana Tech, Benson said.

Tech was UH's opponent last week and apparently felt UH performed its version of the battle dance too close to the Bulldogs' team.

Benson declined comment other than to say, "it (last night's haka) was fine."

UH has performed the pregame haka since the season opener at Alabama.

Wow, that's REALLY salty! I think they're the only ones who have complained. Bulldogs cannot handle! If you haven't seen it, this is what they're complaining about.



I can understand, it's pretty scary.

Hawaii Ranked 25th

Before I finish the newspaper wrap-ups, here's some good news for the Warrior football team. Hawaii is ranked 25th in the USA Today Coaches Poll! The AP poll and the BCS poll will be released later today, and UH should be ranked in those too! I'll update it when they're released.

UPDATE: Hawaii is ranked 25th in the AP poll as well!

Same Night Wrap-Ups

Here's a link to the Advertiser's wrap-up.

Here's a link to the Star-Bulletin's wrap-up.

And here's a link to the AP wrap-up.

Good night!

Hawaii 54, San Jose State 17

And I thought it would be a closer game. So much for the SJSU defense. And the offense for that matter, with Yonus Davis and Adam Tafralis being the big threats coming into the game. UH held SJSU to 192 yards total offense, while UH racked up 568 yards. SJSU will definitely be better next year though, and UH will have to play them in their house. But then again, it's half UH fans in their place anyway!

And towards the end of this game, we got to look into the future, with Jason Laumoli starring as the FUTUREJUGGERNAUT! The UH defense just keeps on getting better and better and the offense remains UNSTOPPABLE! UH gotta be ranked in all polls after this game. Anyway, I can't wait for next week when Purdue comes into town!

Here are some stats from tonight's game:

Colt Brennan was 28 of 39 for 402 yards, with 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also rushed 7 times for 15 yards and 1 touchdown.

Nate Ilaoa rushed 12 times for 100 yards and 1 touchdown. He also caught 6 passes for 66 yards and a touchdown.

Davone Bess caught 6 passes for 81 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Solomon Elimimian has 12 tackles with 1 QB hurry.

Mel Purcell had 8 tackles, including 3 sacks!

LiveBlogging: Hawaii vs San Jose State

All Times Game Clock!

Final Score - Hawaii 54, SJSU 17

1st Quarter

15:00 - SJSU will receive.

15:00 - Dan Kelly kicks off and SJSU brings it out to the 27.

14:30 - On 1st down from the SJSU 27, Adam Tafralis hands off to Yonus Davis, who carries it to the 32 for a quick 5 yards.

13:50 - On 2nd down and 5 from the 32, Yonus takes it to the 37.

13:30 - On 1st down from the SJSU 32, Tafralis overthrows his receiver. 2nd down.

13:20 - On 2nd down and 10 from the SJSU 37, Tafralis hands off to Yonus Davis, who gets immediately taken down back at the 33!!!!

12:47 - SJSU takes a timeout before the snap.

12:47 - On 3rd down and 14 from the SJSU 33, Tafralis throws incomplete to the sideline!!! Gotta punt!

12:40 - SJSU's Waylon Prather punts and Myron Newberry doesn't even field it as it's shanked to the sidelines.

12:34 - On 1st down from the UH 35, Colt Brennan shovels to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it all the way to the SJSU 39 yard line!!!!

11:50 - On 1st down from the SJSU 39, Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa, gets upended at the 31 yard line for an 8 yard gain!

11:12 - On 2nd and 2 from the SJSU 31, Brennan finds Davone Bess over the middle, but it's off his hands! Incomplete.

10:58 - On 3rd and 2 from the SJSU 31, Brennan shovels to Ilaoa, who takes it to the 26 for a 1st down!

10:38 - On 1st down from the SJSU 26, Brennan hits Chad Mock, who drops it!

10:25 - On 2nd and 10 from the SJSU 26, Brennan scrambles to the SJSU 17 yard line. Very close to a first down!

9:52 - On 3rd and 1 from the SJSU 17, Brennan throws incomplete to Jason Rivers. GO FOR IT!!!

9:43 - They're going for it!

9:40 - On 4th down and 1, Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it to the SJSU 6 yard line for a FIRST DOWN!!! But there's a flag.

9:37 - It was illegal formation on Hawaii. Crap. Gotta replay the down.

9:37 - Dan Kelly will try a field goal.

9:21 - Dan Kelly's 39 yard field goal attempt is GOOD! Hawaii 3, SJSU 0

9:18 - Dan Kelly kicks off into the end zone for a touchback.

9:14 - On 1st down from the SJSU 20, Adam Tafralis hands off to James T. Callier, who takes it for about 3 yards.

8:25 - On 2nd and 7 from the SJSU 23, Tafralis is SACKED BY IKAIKA ALAMA-FRANCIS!!!!

7:47 - On 3rd and long from the SJSU 16, Yonus Davis gets a short gain, but way short of the first down! Gotta punt!

7:10 - SJSU punts and Myron Newberry takes it to the UH 47 yard line.

6:52 - On 1st down from the UH 47, Colt Brennan overthrows Ian Sample, who was well covered.

6:40 - On 2nd and 10 from the UH 47, Brennan hits Ian Sample, who takes it to the SJSU 36 yard line!

6:20 - On 1st down from the SJSU 36 yard line, Brennan hits Chad Mock on a long bomb into the END ZONE FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!

6:13 - Briton Forester's PAT attempt is GOOD! Hawaii 10, SJSU 0

6:13 - Nothing like a 47-second touchdown drive to get things moving.

6:10 - Dan Kelly kicks off WAY OUT of the back of the end zone for a touchback!

6:04 - On 1st down from the SJSU 20, Tafralis hands off to Yonus Davis, who gets immediately wrapped up at the line of scrimmage!

5:20 - On 2nd and 9 from the SJSU 21, hand off to Davis, who falls down at the 23. 3rd down.

4:40 - On 3rd down and 7 from the SJSU 23, Tafralis pitches to Davis, who gets out to the 24 but that's all! Gotta punt!

4:00 - Prather punts to Myron Newberry, who takes it from the UH 38 to the UH 44.

3:45 - On 1st down from the UH 44, Colt Brennan hits Jason Rivers over the middle to the SJSU 44 for a quick first down.

3:05 - On 1st down from the SJSU 44, Brennan hands off to Ilaoa, who takes it to the SJSU 40. 2nd down.

2:28 - On 2nd down and 6 from the SJSU 40, Brennan nearly gets sacked and overthrows Ross Dickerson open on the sideline!

2:10 - On 3rd and 6, Brennan hits Ian Sample over the middle and he takes it in for a TOUCHDOWN!!!! But there's interference on Hawaii. What the crap.

2:00 - On 3rd and 21 from the UH 45 yard line, Brennan hits Davone Bess over the middle for a first down to the SJSU 25 yard line!!!!

1:33 - On 1st down from the SJSU 25, Colt Brennan pitches to Ryan Grice-Mullins, who gets immediately stuffed at the line of scrimmage for no gain.

0:48 - On 2nd down from the SJSU 25, Brennan hits Ian Sample at the 17 yard line! 3rd and short.

0:20 - The refs spot it just outside the 15, just short of the first down.

0:15 - On 3rd and inches from the SJSU 16, Colt Brennan sneaks it to the 13 yard line for a first down!

0:00 - Quarter ends. UH will have the ball at the SJSU 13 yard line when we come back from shi shi break!


2nd Quarter

15:00 - On 1st down from the SJSU 13 yard line, Colt Brennan options to Nate Ilaoa who takes it to the 5 yard line! Brennan took a hit on that play, but he's good!

14:38 - On 2nd down from the SJSU 5 yard line, Brennan hands off to Ilaoa, who takes it to the 1 yard line, but there's a flag on Hawaii, so it's coming back!

14:29 - On 2nd and 13 from the SJSU 15, Brennan throws incomplete to RGM. 3rd down.

14:10 - On 3rd and 13 from the SJSU 15, Brennan shovels to Nate Ilaoa, who gets tripped up at the 12. Field goal?

13:35 - Dan Kelly's 29 yard field goal is GOOD!!! Hawaii 13, SJSU 0

13:30 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it's taken out to about the SJSU 21. It's the 22.

12:52 - On 1st down from the SJSU 22, Tafralis completes a pass out to the SJSU 39.

12:25 - On 1st down from the SJSU 39, Yonus Davis gets hit early, but takes it to the SJSU 40.

11:45 - On 2nd down, Tafralis takes it on a keeper but gets stopped immediately at the SJSU 41.

11:08 - On 3rd and 8 from the SJSU 41, Yonus Davis takes it to the 46. 4th down!

10:33 - SJSU punts and Myron Newberry muffs the punt, and San Jose recovers at the UH 10 yard line! CRAP!

10:20 - On 1st and goal from the UH 6 yard line, Callier takes it inside the 5.

9:40 - On 2nd and goal from the UH 2 yard line, Callier takes it to the 1 FOOT line. 3rd down.

8:54 - The previous play is under review to see if Callier actually got in.

8:54 - The ruling on the field stands. 3rd and very very short from the goal line.

8:44 - On 3rd and goal, Callier takes it in for a touchdown. DOO DOO!

8:32 - PAT is good. Hawaii 13, SJSU 7

8:30 - SJSU kicks off and Ross Dickerson takes it out of the end zone, but gets taken down inside the 10! No problem Warrior offense.

8:05 - On 1st down from the UH 7, Brennan on a screen to Ian Sample, who takes it out to the UH 13 for a 5 yard gain.

7:22 - On 2nd down from the UH 13, Brennan hits Jason Rivers, who gets out to the 23 for a first down!

6:55 - On 1st down from the UH 22, Brennan hits Ryan Grice-Mullins, who takes it out to the 40, and then he fumbles, but it goes out of bounds.

6:30 - On 1st down from the UH 44, Colt Brennan scrambles and is taken down at the UH 49.

5:45 - On 2nd down, Brennan hits Davone Bess, who takes it inside SJSU territory! And there's a late hit on SJSU. PENALTY ON SJSU. Bastards.

5:33 - On 1st down from the SJSU 21 yard line, Brennan hits Nate Ilaoa on a screen, and Ilaoa takes it to the SJSU 8 yard line!!!!

5:10 - On 1st and goal from the SJSU 8, Brennan throws it out of the end zone. 2nd down.

5:00 - On 2nd and goal, Brennan scrambles in for an 8 YARD TOUCHDOWN!!!!

4:59 - Briton Forester's PAT attempt is GOOD! Hawaii 20, SJSU 7

4:55 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it is downed in the end zone for a touchback. Looks like Dan Kelly is back on track!

4:40 - On 1st down from the SJSU 20, Tafralis almost fumbles and gets SACKED by a bunch of Warriors!!!

4:00 - On 2nd and 11 from the SJSU 19, Tafralis hands off to Yonus Davis, who gets hit immediately but takes it out to the 21.

3:15 - On 3rd and 9 from the SJSU 21, Tafralis throws it incomplete, but there's a flag....

3:09 - It's a dead ball personal foul on Leonard Peters. That's total BS.

3:03 - On 1st down from the the SJSU 36, LEONARD PETERS DROPS YONUS DAVIS BACK AT THE 29!!!

2:44 - There's a Warrior down on the field.

2:44 - The Warrior is Lawrence Wilson, and he's walking off the field under his own power, so that's good news.

2:40 - On 2nd down from the SJSU 30 yard line, Tafralis hits Jeff Clark over the middle for a first down into UH territory.

2:00 - On 1st down from the UH 40, Tafralis is SACKED back at the UH 42!!!

1:15 - On 2nd down from the UH 42, pitch to Callier, who takes it to the 35 yard line.

0:40 - On 3rd down from the UH 33, Tafralis pitches back to Yonus Davis, who gets tackled back at the 33, but there's a penalty on Solomon Elimimian for "celebration"????????? What is going on??? There WAS NO CELEBRATION!!!

0:28 - On 1st down from the UH 17, Tafralis throws incomplete into the end zone.

0:21 - On 2nd down from the UH 17, Tafralis gets SACKED BY MICHAEL LAFAELE!!! SJSU CALLS A TIMEOUT!!!

0:18 - Okay, back from time out, On 3rd down from the UH 22, Tafralis keeps it and gets tackled at the UH 20!

0:09 - It's 4th and 13, what will SJSU do? We'll find out after this timeout!

0:09 - They're going for a field goal.

0:09 - The 37 yard field goal is good. Hawaii 20, SJSU 10

0:04 - SJSU kicks an onside kick, and it's recovered by Joshua Rice. June Jones calls a timeout with 0:01 left!

0:01 - On 1st down from the UH 47, Colt Brennan takes the snap and is sacked. But wait, there's a penalty on SJSU and UH. End of the first half. Whatevers.

0:00 - END OF 1st HALF. Hawaii 20, San Jose State 10. Be back in 20 minutes.



2nd Half:

3rd Quarter

15:00 - To start the 2nd half, Dick Tomey tries an onside kick, but Rustin Saole recovers on the UH 47!

14:40 - On the 1st play of the 2nd half, Nate Ilaoa takes the hand off to the SJSU 44 yard line.

13:58 - On 2nd and short, Colt Brennan throws a screen to Nate for no gain.

13:28 - On 3rd and short, Colt Brennan options to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it 12 yards for a FIRST DOWN!!!!

13:02 - On 1st down from the SJSU 31, Brennan hands off to Ilaoa, who takes it to the 17 yard line!!!!

12:34 - On 1st down from the SJSU 18, hand off to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it to the SJSU 4 yard line!!!!

12:00 - On 1st and goal from the SJSU 4 yard line, Brennan passes to Chad Mock in the end zone, but it's dropped! 2nd down.

11:50 - On 2nd down from the SJSU 4, Brennan throws out of bounds.

11:45 - On 3rd down from the SJSU 4, Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa, WHO TAKES IT IN FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!

11:42 - PAT attempt by Forester is GOOD!!! Hawaii 27, SJSU 10

11:40 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it's taken from the goal line to the 21 before he is DRILLED by Michael Malala!!!!

11:20 - On 1st down from the SJSU 23, MEL PURCELL SACKS ADAM TAFRALIS!!!

10:38 - On 2nd and 11 from the SJSU 22, Adam Tafralis' shovel pass is incomplete.

10:33 - On 3rd and 11 from the SJSU 22, Tafralis completes a pass over the middle to the SJSU 48 yard line for a first down.

10:02 - On 1st down from the SJSU 48, Yonus Davis takes it to the 50.

9:25 - On 2nd down from the 50, Tafralis completes a pass to the UH 34 for another 1st down.

8:55 - On 1st down from the UH 34, Tafralis throws long, but there's a flag on the play.

8:50 - Ummmm, pass interference on Hawaii.

8:46 - On 1st down from the UH 20, Yonus Davis takes the screen pass to the 10.

8:05 - On 2nd and short, Tafralis' pass is knocked away by Gerard Lewis in the end zone!

7:58 - On 3rd and short from the UH 10, Yonus Davis bumps his way to the 1 yard line.

7:32 - On 1st and goal from the UH 1, Callier just walks his way into the end zone for a touchdown. Looks like Colt will be playing the 4th quarter!

7:24 - SJSU's PAT attempt is good. Hawaii 27, SJSU 17

7:21 - SJSU kicks off and Ross Dickerson takes it out to the 14 yard line.

6:55 - On 1st down from the UH 15, Brennan pitches to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it out to the UH 35 yard line!!!!

6:45 - On 1st down from the UH 35, Brennan on a bubble screen to Ian Sample, who takes it all the way inside the SJSU 40 yard line!!!!

6:22 - On 1st down from the SJSU 39, Brennan hits Davone Bess, but there's a penalty flag.......

6:16 - Holding penalty on Tala Esera. Replay 1st down.

6:12 - On 1st down from the SJSU 49, Brennan runs out of bounds at the SJSU 46.

6:09 - On 2nd and 17 from the SJSU 46, Brennan hits Jason Rivers, who takes it to the SJSU 31. 3rd down!

5:22 - On 3rd and 2 from the SJSU 31, Brennan completes it to Jason Rivers inside the 25 for a first down!!!

5:03 - On 1st down from the SJSU 24, Brennan gets sacked all the way back at the 34 yard line. Yikes.

4:44 - On 2nd and 20 from the SJSU 34, Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it back to the 34 for no gain.

3:52 - On 3rd and 20 from the SJSU 34, Brennan completes a pass to Bess, who gets carried out of bounds at the 15, one yard short of the first down.

3:40 - On 4th and 1 from the SJSU 15, they're going for it! And Brennan completes a pass to Ian Sample who takes it to the 5 yard line for a FIRST DOWN!!!!

3:22 - On 1st and goal from the SJSU 5, Brennan completes it to DAVONE BESS IN THE BACK OF THE END ZONE FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!

3:11 - The ball was tipped twice on that pass. Forester kicks the PAT and IT IS GOOD! Hawaii 34, SJSU 17

3:05 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it's taken out to the 23 yard line by SJSU.

2:52 - On 1st down from the 23, Tafralis is nearly sacked and FUMBLES, but SJSU recovers. Mel Purcell with the hit!

2:00 - On 2nd and 10, face mask on Adam Leonard.

1:48 - On 1st down from the SJSU 44, Tafralis throws it at the feet of his receiver. 2nd down.

1:28 - On 2nd down and 10 from the SJSU 44, Tafralis on the keeper takes it out to the 48 yard line. 3rd down.

0:48 - On 3rd down from the 49, Tafralis' pass is BROKEN UP BY MYRON NEWBERRY!!!! 4TH DOWN!!!

0:35 - SJSU punts and Myron Newberry takes it out to around the UH 19 yard line. And there's a penalty on UH.

0:31 - Holding on the return, so UH will get the ball on the 9 yard line.

0:18 - On 1st down from the UH 10 yard line, Colt Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa, who fumbles but picks the ball back up and takes it back to the line of scrimmage.

0:00 - End of 3rd Quarter.


4th Quarter

15:00 - On 2nd and 10 from the UH 10 yard line, Colt Brennan hits Davone Bess, who gets it out to the UH 14. 3rd down.

14:18 - On 3rd down and 6 from the UH 14, Brennan hits Ross Dickerson, who takes it for a first down!!!! But there's a flag on the field.

14:05 - Late hit on the QB by SJSU.

14:00 - On 1st down from the UH 48, Colt Brennan passes to Ian Sample on the bubble screen, but it's incomplete.

13:40 - On 2nd down, Brennan completes a long pass to Ryan Grice-Mullins for a first down!!!! All the way to the SJSU 15!

13:30 - On 1st down, hand off to Ilaoa, who takes it to the SJSU 9 yard line!

12:50 - On 2nd and 4 from the SJSU 9, Brennan finds Davone Bess in the end zone FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!

12:42 - Forester's PAT attempt is BARELY GOOD! Hawaii 41, SJSU 17

12:38 - Dan Kelly kicks off out of the end zone for a touchback.

12:35 - On 1st down from the SJSU 20, Adam Tafralis on the keeper takes it out to the SJSU 24. 2nd down.

11:44 - On 2nd down from the SJSU 24, Tafralis fumbles!!!! AND I THINK UH HAS IT!

11:31 - Hawaii has it!!!!

11:10 - On 1st down from the SJSU 37 yard line, Colt Brennan throws an interception! CRAP!!!!

11:00 - On 1st down from the SJSU 13, Tafralis on the keeper FUMBLES AGAIN!!!! AND HAWAII RECOVERS AGAIN!!!!

10:25 - On 1st down from the SJSU 19, Colt Brennan hits Ryan Grice-Mullins in the END ZONE FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!

10:14 - Forester's PAT attempt is GOOD! Penalty on UH for holding. Okay, so it's a re-kick.

10:14 - Forester's second PAT attempt is whistled dead. Another penalty on UH, this time on a false start.

10:14 - Forester's third PAT attempt, a 35 yard PAT attempt, is NO GOOD. Hawaii 47, SJSU 17

10:10 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it is downed in the end zone for a touchback.

9:45 - Myles Eden, a new QB for SJSU, throws incomplete on his first play.

9:40 - On 2nd and 10 from the SJSU 20, there's a whistle, false start on SJSU.

9:39 - On 3rd down, I think there's a personal foul face mask on Leonard Peters. 1st down for SJSU.

9:19 - On 1st down, Eden is SACKED by Mel Purcell. 2nd down.

8:44 - On 2nd down from the SJSU 43, Eden is SACKED AGAIN BY PURCELL!!!!

8:01 - San Jose State takes a timeout.

7:55 - On 3rd and 19 from the SJSU 35, Eden is picked off by Jacob Patek, who takes it back into SJSU territory!!!

7:30 - On 1st down from the 31, Brennan completes a pass to Ross Dickerson, who takes it inside the 20 for a 1st down!!!

7:10 - On 1st down from the SJSU 19, Brennan shovels to Nate Ilaoa, WHO TAKES IT IN FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!

7:10 - Forester's PAT attempt is GOOD! Hawaii 54, SJSU 17

7:08 - Dan Kelly kicks off WAY OUT OF THE END ZONE FOR A TOUCHBACK!

7:03 - On 1st down from the SJSU 20, long gain on a rush for SJSU.

6:33 - On 1st down, the SJSU RB is immediately stuffed in the backfield for a loss!!!!

5:55 - On 2nd down, SJSU runs it out to the 40 or so. 3rd and 6.

5:49 - On 3rd and 6, pitch is taken for a couple yards, but short of a 1st down.

5:08 - SJSU punts into the end zone, so UH will get the ball on the 20. Let's see Graunke!

4:55 - Tyler Graunke is in!!!

4:44 - On 1st down from the UH 20, Graunke pitches back to Khevin Peoples, who takes it to the 23 or so.

4:00 - On 2nd down and 7 from the UH 23, hand off to Peoples, who takes it to the 25.

3:28 - On 3rd and 5 from the UH 25, Graunke hits Dylan Linkner out to the 39 for a first down!

2:52 - On 1st down from the UH 40, hand off to Jason Laumoli for a 6 yard gain!

2:11 - On 2nd and 4 from the UH 46, Laumoli takes it all the way to the SJSU 35 yard line!!!

1:45 - On 1st down from the SJSU 35, Laumoli takes it to the 31.

1:10 - On 2nd down and 6 from the SJSU 31, Laumoli takes it to the 26. 3rd down.

0:20 - On 3rd and 1 from the SJSU 26, Graunke takes a knee. GAME OVER!!!!

0:00 - END OF GAME. Hawaii 54, SJSU 17

Ways to Follow the Hawaii vs SJSU Game

In Hawaii:

GO TO ALOHA STADIUM!

Watch it on Oceanic PPV

Listen to it on 1420 AM


Everywhere:

Streaming video from Hawaiian Tel Media.

Streaming audio from Sports Radio 1420

Live stats via CSTV GameTracker

And I should be liveblogging it.

The game starts at 6:05pm Hawaiian, 8:05pm Pacific, 9:05pm Mountain, 10:05pm Central, 11:05pm Eastern, 5:05pm Samoan, 5:05AM Nov. 19th Central European (Denmark and Germany), 3:05pm Nov. 19th Eastern Summer (New South Wales, Australia). Correct me if I'm wrong!

GO WARRIORS!!!!

UPDATE: Woops, I was wrong. Now corrected!

GameDay: Hawaii vs San Jose State

Stephen Tsai's gameday preview highlights the danger of SJSU running back Yonus Davis and QB Adam Trafalis.

The Spartans will try to overload a side, using a tight end or another sort of extra blocker, and feed Davis. Despite his size, Davis had two games when he had more than 22 carries and four when he exceeded 100 yards rushing, including 199 against Louisiana Tech and 184 against Stanford. "He doesn't need much space," UH defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said. "He'll make you miss. He can turn a 5-yard gain into a 50-yard gain."

If defenses stack the strong side, Tafralis can fake the handoff and U-turn to the weak side. Tafralis has completed 68.5 percent of his passes, and his accuracy was 80 percent or better in three games. He has gone almost four games without an interception, a span of 71 passes.

Dave Reardon talks to Leonard Peters about what he expects to see Dick Tomey throw at the Warrior defense.

Senior safety Leonard Peters said by the middle of the first quarter it will just be another football game.

"They do a lot of shifting and motioning to see if you're playing man or zone and stuff like that. After the first two series it'll settle down and we won't have to disguise as much. Just go man on man," Peters said. "They've got so many formations and trick plays and stuff like that. They're going to try to run on us, everybody knows they're going to try to run the ball. They have a great back.

"Dick Tomey would like nothing better than to come here and beat us on our home turf," he said. "I know for sure this week we're planning on playing four quarters of football."

Stephen writes more about "Tomey Ball" and also has some uniform news about tonight's game.

When the Warriors host San Jose State tonight, it will be the first time this season they will wear silver helmets for a home game.

"It's nice to have a different look," Brennan told the Ka'u players. The Warriors wore the silver helmets during the 90-minute, walk-through practice.

"No, no, no," offensive line coach Dennis McKnight said. "I don't care what we wear or play in as long as we show up to play. The only way to tell how good we are is if our minds are right, our arms look good and we're ready to play."

Should be interesting to see if they wear all black unis with the silver helmets.

And finally, Laurence Miedema of the San Jose Mercury News writes a profile of Colt Brennan and how he almost became a Spartan.

``Colt Brennan is playing the best I've ever seen a Hawaii quarterback play,'' said SJSU Coach Dick Tomey, who coached at Hawaii in 1977-86. (And there have been some of good ones -- most notably Timmy Chang, who shattered the NCAA career record for passing yards.)

To think, Brennan could've been a Spartan.

Tomey and his staff arrived in January 2005 and got a late start recruiting, but they did extend a scholarship offer to Brennan. It probably didn't hurt the Spartans' chances that they had a member of the coaching staff named Brennan.

Brent Brennan, Colt's first cousin and the SJSU recruiting coordinator, said he gets questioned all the time by fans about why he couldn't bring his flesh and blood into the fold.

``Especially now, as well as he's playing,'' Brent said. ``But a lot of time with recruiting, I think players end up where they belong.''

Thank goodness! GO WARRIORS!!!!

Speaking of Colt

Here's an ESPN.com profile of Colt Brennan by Adam Rittenburg.

Brennan's first connection with star wide receiver Davone Bess occurred nowhere near a football field. In the summer of 2005, Bess and several other Hawaii players invited Brennan over to their apartment after a workout. At one point during the night, Bess went outside to take a phone call. When he hung up, he saw Brennan walking up the porch.

"Next thing you know, we had a heart-to-heart," Bess said. "Within 15 or 20 minutes into the conversation, we felt like we knew each other. We'd both been down the same road; we both went through the same situations."

Bess was sentenced to 15 months at a juvenile detention facility after being convicted as an accessory for possessing stolen goods in July 2003, two weeks before he was set to begin his collegiate career at Oregon State.

"Our situations were totally two different scenarios, but we both had the finger pointed to us without the proper evidence," said Bess, who enrolled at Hawaii four months after being released. "We both were pretty much taking life for granted. We couldn't be stopped. Everything was going so good for us. And then all of a sudden, bam! That's a reality check.

Definitely a good read.

QB, Jerry, Study

David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times writes a pretty good article on Colt Brennan (registration required).

His opponents in the Western Athletic Conference aren't nearly as thrilled. San Jose State Coach Dick Tomey, whose team plays Hawaii on Saturday, mused: "Their offense is just a machine."

At Utah State, a 63-10 victim earlier this season, Coach Brent Guy calls Brennan the main cog.

"Colt does such a good job of getting rid of the ball and not throwing bad passes," Guy said. "He just doesn't force the ball in there."

With all the Colt news, Dave Reardon writes a great profile of backup QB Tyler Graunke.

Coach June Jones has always said he's confident Graunke can lead the team.

"He's held up, he's real competitive," Jones said. "He had to get focused on his classwork (he was suspended from one game this season for missing school) and a lot of other things, but I think he's finally coming around. He's a gamer. The last two years he's proven that."

Graunke has the date Aug. 30, 2008, etched in his brain. Hawaii opens its season at Florida, and unless something strange happens between now and then, he'll be the starting quarterback.

"I can't stop thinking about that. I know that's going to be my senior year, and the way I'm thinking, worst-case scenario I'll be starting for one year if Colt stays (next year)," he said. "Eh, I'm hoping I get two years and he gets an opportunity to (go to the NFL). I'm just going to take it where he leaves it."

Man, I'm already looking forward to the Florida game as well. Graunke against Tebow in The Swamp!

At the bottom of that page is another installment of "Colt Following" with a great quote from ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt and some statistical analysis of Colt possibly breaking David Klingler's record for TD passes in a season.

Brennan needs 11 touchdown passes to catch David Klingler's record of 54 in one season, set in 1990 for Houston. Hawaii fans like to point out that, unlike Brennan, Klingler was not pulled early in blowouts, allowing him to throw 11 TD passes in one game.

It should also be remembered that the Warriors' schedule this year includes 14 games (including the bowl game, which counts in stats now), while Klingler's record was amassed in an 11-game regular season.

This doesn't mean a record by Brennan would necessarily be tainted.

Brennan sat out the fourth quarter six times this season, so he has 43 touchdowns in 34 quarters. Assuming Klingler played every quarter of every game, he had 54 TDs in 44 quarters. Brennan averages 1.264 TDs per quarter, and Klingler averaged 1.227.

I hope the fact that Colt has played into the 4th quarter in only 4 games this season is discussed during the games shown on ESPN.

Stephen Tsai writes about the rumors that Jerry Glanville is a candidate for a head coaching job at North Texas. I'm glad to hear what Jerry has to say:

"I have not talked to anybody about it, nobody's talked to me about it, and I guess that means there's nothing going on," Glanville said. "That's Internet speculation. I'm not going to talk about it. There's nothing going on."

...

With the Warriors' success this season, head coach June Jones said, he expects his coaches to be mentioned for coaching jobs across the country.

"That's what happens when you're winning," Jones said.

Glanville mused: "I may move, but I won't move past Diamond Head. That's the end of that tune. You know what my favorite song is, don't you? It's: 'If the Phone's Not Ringing, It's Probably For Me.' I love that song."

I hope nobody steals Jerry away from UH. I love The Glanville.

Tsai's article also discusses the benefits of the academic crackdown by June Jones this year.

The actions, Jones and the players report, appears to be successful.

"I'm doing good," said outside linebacker John Fonoti, who is enrolled in school but not playing football this season.

Fonoti was projected to start at right outside linebacker. Instead, Jones decided to ground Fonoti, running back Mario Cox and strong safety B.J. Fruean for the season. All three will rejoin the team in January, and compete in spring practice in April.

Thirteen true freshmen were part of the 60-player travel squad last year. That time away, plus the usual adjustment to college life, might have factored in several players incurring academic difficulties.

"I struggled last year with attendance," Fruean admitted. "I had to adjust more to college."

Good to hear that they're getting their academics in order.

And finally, here's a link to a preview to the Sports Illustrated article about Colt. You need to be a subscriber to see it. But here's a picture from the article.



I'm gonna buy my issue today! GO WARRIORS!!!!

Tomey Tomey

Sounds like it's Dick Tomey Week. That is, until Saturday night. Until then, here's a nice article on Tomey from Laurence Miedema of the San Jose Mercury News, with an excerpt about his time in Hawaii:

But Tomey's message resonated with a community that puts a huge emphasis on family, loyalty and teamwork.

``Dick is an example of somebody who wasn't born in Hawaii but really understands what `Aloha' means,'' said Artie Wilson, a former Hawaii basketball player and current television analyst. ``It's a lifestyle, it's a way you treat people, it's a feeling. It's all of the things that Dick has in him.''

Most important, it wasn't just talk. Many nights, Tomey would invite the entire team to his house for dinner.

``It's customary over there to take your shoes off before you go into somebody's house, so I remember the whole front yard had shoes in it,'' Tomey's son, Rich, recalled. ``It was pretty funny afterward, watching people try to find their shoes out of the pile of 200 out there.''

Or maybe it's Colt Brennan Week, as Colt is featured in another Heisman pundit poll.

8. Colt Brennan, QB, Hawaii (10). Ian Johnson and Colt McCoy both went down with injuries, so the gunslinger with the huge numbers climbs the charts. He threw for 406 with three scores and also ran for 60 yards and a touchdown his last time out, so the gaudy stats just keep piling up. And the real showcase games have yet to come.

Stephen Tsai mentions in The Warrior Beat blog that there's also a full page article on Colt in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated. Now I gotta go buy me a copy.

Lane and Manes

Dave Reardon writes about raw true freshman receiver Malcolm Lane and grizzled veteran 6th year senior receiver Ian Sample. Both of their families will be in town for upcoming games.

Lane wants to make sure he can play against the Spartans, because his mother, Catherine Baldwin, is coming a long way to be at the game. The recently retired Army sergeant and Lane's stepfather arrive this week from Germany, where Lane graduated from high school last spring.

...

Sample will have another chance to play well in front of family. His parents and brother will be here for the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl.

"They'll be here for the game and Christmas in Hawaii," he said. "It'll be great. It'll be a real good gift."

"I feel great," added Sample, who suffered through injuries most of his UH career before this season. "These last four games are going to be good ones."

Let's hope they can impress!

Reardon also writes that Renolds Fruean should be able to play, while Keala Watson may need a little more rehab. Also, Ross Dickerson is among 18 semifinalists for the first Randy Moss Return Man Award. Cool deal!

Stephen Tsai has an amusing article about the abundance of long flowing manes, among other hairdos, that the hirsute Warriors are sporting.

Marissa Bonilla, the senior manager, said she spends most of pregame downtime braiding players' hair.

One of her regulars is center Samson Satele, who, like his Biblical namesake, finds strength in long hair.

Bonilla ties a braid in Satele's hair for each UH victory. The Warriors entered last week's game with a 7-2 record, but Satele wore eight braids. A prediction? No, Satele said, "I had eight rubberbands."

Running back Nate Ilaoa grew out — actually, grew up — his hair because of an old-fashioned reason. He made a bet with his cousin, Adam Iloilo, a former UH linebacker.

"Whoever cuts his first owes the other 100 bucks," Ilaoa said. "It's continuing. He's growing his hair out. Ol' bald Adam is looking like a Conquistador."

Man, I still wanna hear Nate rap, because he's definitely funny.

Dave Reardon also has another installment of "Colt Following" with a quote from FOXSports columnist Peter Schrager.

"Is it too late for me to get on that Colt Brennan bandwagon? Hello? Anybody?

"Speaking of Colt Brennan -- the Hawaii quarterback's yardage totals, by game, this year? 350, 296, 388, 409, 419, 409, 330, 333, 413, and 406. Not impressed? How about the touchdown numbers? Game by game, Brennan's thrown: 2, 2, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, and 4. OK, OK, big deal, right? Stats mean nothing. How about Hawaii's record, you ask? 8-2, 6-1 in conference. Colt Brennan's as legit a Heisman Candidate as there is this season. If he doesn't at least get the invite to New York, the system's flawed."

Amen! Here's a link to Schrager's article.

And finally Ryan Grice-Mullins, or Grice-Mullen, is profiled by T.J. Berka of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, which I believe is RGM's hometown paper. Here's a pretty big excerpt, but it's definitely worth reading the whole thing.

Grice-Mullen signed with Hawaii in Feb. 2004 over Fresno State, Idaho and Idaho State as a cornerback, but was quickly switched to wide receiver during his redshirt year of 2004.

"Coach (June) Jones came up to me and asked me if I wanted to switch," Grice-Mullen said. "I said if it would get me playing time earlier, I'd do it. It was quite an adjustment, considering the timing that you need to have in this offense."

It's an adjustment that Grice-Mullen has made really well, not only on the stat sheet but on the Internet, as well.

A fairly popular video on YouTube.com has Grice-Mullen and Brennan connecting on a long pass against Utah State on Nov. 4. Grice-Mullen, who caught four passes for 135 yards and two scores on the game, almost got a third, carrying a throng of Aggie defenders approximately 25 yards before being tackled at the Utah State 3.

The play is now immortalized in cyberspace, although Grice-Mullen still thinks he should have scored.

"I was so mad that I didn't get in," Grice-Mullen said. "I really thought that if I kept moving my legs I would get it but I didn't. It was a heck of a play, though."

If Grice-Mullen keeps working as hard as he did on that play, he'll succeed more often than not.

Ryan Grice-Mull(en)ins is such a great receiver. And here's the YouTube video this article is referencing.



GO RYAN!!! GO WARRIORS!!!!

Tomey, Tony, Yogi

Dave Reardon has a great profile of former UH and current San Jose State head coach Dick Tomey. Here's an excerpt:

"(College football) has changed in that the offenses are more spread out, people are capable of scoring more points. Offenses are more explosive because the quarterbacks and receivers are better. There's more variety on offense and defense," Tomey said. "But what wins games hasn't changed. Turnovers, the kicking game, stepping up in critical situations and the fourth quarter. That hasn't changed a bit."

That's something he and his longtime friend, Jones, agree on. Their methods of succeeding in those areas? It's like comparing apples and oranges, to quote Tomey's line in a local insurance commercial from the 1980s.

"He probably doesn't learn anything from me, but I learn from him," Tomey said. "I'm not a real X's and O's guy. I'm more into the people end. June's as good a tactical coach with X's and O's as there is. I just know I'm not in June's league (in tactics)."

Jones is especially concerned about Tomey in one area.

"Am I worried about a trick play? No," Jones answered. "I'm worried that he'll come in here with four or five of 'em."

Ferd Lewis has a quiz on how well you know the Tomester from his days at UH. Here's a sample question:

3. To help build up his team's mental toughness, one year Tomey brought in Tony Robbins, who had UH players:

A. Walk on hot coals and chant "cool moss."
B. Wade through a pit of snakes.
C. Climb Haleakala.

Cool moss! Cool moss!

Stephen Tsai writes that Nate Ilaoa, who's recovering from a sprained ankle, should be good to go for this Saturday's SJSU game. He also writes that defensive lineman Keala Watson and Renolds Freuan are fighting back from injury and hope to play on Saturday, but Kahai LaCount may be out for the year with a torn MCL in his right knee. That sucks. I hope he'll be able to play in the Hawaii Bowl.

The article also has a section discussing the steps Dan Kelly is taking to correct his kicking form.

"I didn't know what I was doing wrong until I looked at films with Mouse (on Sunday)," Kelly said. "It was easy to see. My form was all screwed up. I was over the ball. I lost control. It forced me to swing across. I know that, and it's never going to happen again. I won't make the same mistake twice."

Until then, Kelly was on a remarkable streak in which 15 of 33 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.

"Sometimes kickers get into a fret," Davis said. "They have to get over the fret stage to become consistent."

Kelly said he was not bothered by the kickoff preceding the three errant ones. After being entangled, a Louisiana Tech player took a swing at Kelly.

"He must have gone through some family problems," Kelly said. "He must have had some hostility built up."

Hahaha! Dan Kelly has a great attitude, so he should be able to work through this.

Dave Reardon writes in his Sports Notebook about Adam Leonard's relaxation and recovery technique.

How does the hard-hitting sophomore heal up between games?

Yoga.

No joke. Leonard said the stretching and meditation of his beginning yoga class helps him as a football player.

"Monday's the hardest day to go in because you're sore. But once you go in it's great. You work everything out, your legs, hips, core, shoulders. You feel great," he said.

"My body feels real good throughout the season. Even though I didn't play an extended period of time last year, my body was getting really banged up. I could tell my legs were getting tired. This year I feel rejuvenated and every game is like the first two games."

And finally, Dave Reardon started something called a "Colt Following" which takes quotes from around the nation, stats, etc related to Colt Brennan and compiles them into a daily feature. Here's an excerpt from today's edition.

DICK TOMEY

San Jose State football coach who tried to recruit Brennan

"He's taken it to another level. He's a little different, a gunslinger with that sidearm. He does whatever it takes to complete the pass. He's a leader and a good runner who's willing to run, and that changes the whole dynamic. He's clearly the best quarterback at Hawaii since June's been there."

Awesome.

Mending

Here's a link to a Honolulu Advertiser video of June Jones' Monday news conference.

Stephen Tsai has an injury update, and it looks like there's some good news.

Two University of Hawai'i defensive linemen who missed the past two games because of injuries — Renolds Fruean and Keala Watson — yesterday participated in conditioning drills and are hopeful of playing in Saturday's game against San Jose State.

Glad to hear they may be back for the regular season.

There's also a couple of funny quotes from Jerry Glanville, who talks about linebacker Erik Pederson.

"I knew he was an inside linebacker, even though he doesn't look like one," Glanville said. "We've been able to do that for 40 years. We can look at a guy and project where he will play best. I want to meet the guy who first looked at a lobster and said, 'I think I'll eat it.' That guy would make an excellent football coach."

Glanville said Pedersen brings quickness to the position.

"He has excellent acceleration," Glanville said. "He's at top speed in two steps. At inside linebacker, you need to get moving in a hurry. He does that."

Pedersen's long-term goal is to gain weight. His short-term goal is "to get people to know my name."

"His first name is Shaved," Glanville said, "his last name is Head."

Pedersen also answers to Pedey and Diesel (because teammates believe he resembles Vin Diesel facially).

"Every week I get a new nickname," Pedersen said. "I'd rather they call me Erik, which is my name, but nobody knows it."

I like Diesel! And Glanville can never leave, he got too many quotes.

Dave Reardon writes that June Jones is not gonna be cheering for Boise to run the table.

"We hope they lose," said Jones, when asked if he'd like Boise State to finish unbeaten and earn a berth in a lucrative bowl game that would help every Western Athletic Conference school balance the budget.

"We want to be WAC champions, that's one of our goals this year. And that would allow us to do that, if they lose one," Jones said yesterday at his weekly news conference. "They could lose two as far as I'm concerned."

I think the only time I'm gonna be cheering for the Broncos is if they make it to a BCS game. Go WAC! But until then, GO AGGIES! GO WOLF PACK!

Dave Reardon also has an injury update on Nate Ilaoa.

Starting running back Nate Ilaoa ran in conditioning drills yesterday, but Jones said UH's leading scorer with 13 touchdowns was still limping a little. Ilaoa was held out of Saturday's game because of a sprained ankle.

Let's hope he'll be good for the SJSU game. GO WARRIORS!!!!!

Walter Camp

The Advertiser writes that Colt Brennan is one of the ten "Players to Watch" for the 2006 Walter Camp Founation Player of the Year award.

The 2006 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, who is voted on by the 119 Division I-A head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced on ESPN Thursday, Dec. 7. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation's annual national awards banquet on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven. Tickets ($275) are available by calling (203) 288-CAMP.

Last year's recipient was Reggie Bush of Southern California. He also won the Heisman Trophy.

Congratulations to Colt. Again.

The Advertiser gets cheeky with their news story entitled "Surprise: No Warrior WAC player of the week"

For the first time in six weeks, no UH football player was named Western Athletic Conference player of the week.

Over the past weeks, UH quarterback Colt Brennan received three offensive selections, receiver/kick returner Ross Dickerson received two -- one on offense and another on special teams -- and defensive end Melila Purcell received one.

And finally, nobody posted any highlights of the La Tech game, but someone (chasethedragon) did post a video of the Warriors doing the haka before the game. Watch the La Tech players run off the field.



Gets you pumped!

Playground

Dave Reardon has an article about how the Warrior offense has become a beautiful machine of absolute destruction.

Quarterback Colt Brennan's mastery of Jones' four-receiver system has spread the wealth -- and increased it to the point of making 40-point leads seem mundane.

"I can remember at one point I looked up and we were blowing them out 50-something to whatever it was, and I was just 'whatever.' I wasn't excited because those are our expectations, to have that many points, to have another 60-point game," (Davone) Bess said. "Not to say it in a cocky way, but it's just the way the offense is clicking right now. It all starts with the coaches preparing us each week, giving us great looks from the scout team. Once we come into the game, it's almost like practice."

UH football (8-2, 6-1 WAC) is so much fun now, different players have compared the games to going to an amusement park or a day at the beach -- or another activity near and dear to many college students.

Great quote by Bess. I can't wait to see how the Warriors do on national TV against the Beavers. I just hope the defensive line will be healthy. Stephen Tsai has an injury update.

University of Hawai'i nose tackle Kahai LaCount is suffering from a partially torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee and is expected to miss the final three football games of the regular season.

LaCount was injured with 15 seconds remaining in Saturday's 61-17 UH victory over Louisiana Tech.

He is the sixth UH defensive lineman to suffer a significant knee or ankle injury in the past three games

This d-line is having the worst luck. I hope Kahai's able to come back for the Hawaii Bowl. But there is some good news in the article.

Reinebold said Rocky Savaiigaea, who did not play Saturday because of a sprained ankle, might be available this week. Savaiigaea can play all three line positions in the Warriors' 3-4 scheme.

Dave Reardon's Warrior Replay breakdown is as good as ever. Here's an excerpt:

3. Big hit

The Setup: Hawaii 9, Louisiana Tech 3; 1:20 remaining, first quarter, Louisiana Tech ball, first and 10 at Louisiana Tech 47.

The Play: Running back Daniel Porter cuts back through a nice hole and gets into the Hawaii secondary. Myron Newberry gets low and knocks him off balance, and then Leonard Peters finishes Porter with a flattening high-velocity body slam.

The Impact: Although Louisiana Tech scored two plays later on a 43-yard pass, Peters' hit set the tone for Hawaii's defense for the rest of the game and it did not allow another score until the final 17 seconds. Peters played despite missing practice with a wobbly knee during the week.

Peters: "We're having a lot of fun, smiling and yelling. It's not like we're even playing a real game, it's more like we're playing on the beach or something. That's the way the game should be, it should be fun."

Man, I wanna play for UH! Sounds like fun. Too bad I don't have any elibility, and more importantly, skills.

Ferd Lewis has a great column about June Jones' friendship with Dick Tomey, even if their coaching philosophies are miles apart.

Yet, for all their connections they are as disparate in personality and philosophy as their eras. While Tomey's win-with-defense-and-the-kicking-game mantra at UH was "we just want to have a chance in the fourth quarter," Jones' might as well be, "we want to get our backup quarterback some work in the fourth quarter."

While Tomey maintains his offense's only mandate is to allow the team to punt every series, Jones' pass-happy offense can go a whole game without employing the punter. And has.

Tomey plays for field position. Jones throws from anywhere. Sometimes on fourth down, too. Tomey utilized a tight end. Jones does not acknowledge the concept. Tomey learned at the elbow of Bo Schembechler. Jones at the side of "Mouse" Davis. One believes three things — two of them bad — can happen when you put the ball in the air. The other sees the ground game as a change of pace.

Definitely a good read.

And finally, the Advertiser finds that a lot of fans wants UH to play UCLA in the Hawaii Bowl.

With a 25-7 victory over Oregon State, the Bruins are 5-5 and one game away from bowl eligibility with two games remaining in the constantly-shifting bowl landscape.

UCLA can put itself in position to play its first football game in Hawai'i since 1938 if the Bruins beat either Arizona State this week or USC on Dec. 2.

Whichever team comes down to play, I pity the fools!

GO WARRIORS!!!!

C.B. for the Hizzo

Colt Brennan gets mentioned in this San Francisco Chronicle column by Jake Curtis.

San Jose State's next game is at Hawaii, which is 8-2 and has a quarterback, Colt Brennan, who's on pace to set two major NCAA records.

Brennan has 43 touchdown passes, and with three games left, he is within reach of David Klingler's single-season record of 54, set at Houston in 1990. (Houston had 11 regular-season games in 1990; Hawaii has 13 this season.)

Brennan also has a chance to break the record for highest passer-efficiency rating for a season. His current rating of 189.0 is better than the record of 183.3 set by Tulane's Shaun King in 1998.

So why isn't Brennan not in more Heisman Trophy discussions?

Since the games are on too late for mainland sportswriters and they never see UH games, maybe they think Colt Brennan is just a mythical beast? Just my guess.

Leonard Peters Question

Just a reminder, you only have about seven more hours to submit a question for Leonard Peters on Stephen Tsai's Warrior Beat blog. Stephen will relay your question to Leonard and his answers will be posted on Tuesday. I'm still trying to think of something to ask. Be there!

2007 Schedule Update

Here's an excerpt from an article Dave Reardon wrote this morning regarding the 2007 schedule, which is still pretty much up in the air because of the ongoing Michigan State legal wranglings. Reardon talks to Hawaii A.D. Herman Frazier about some possibilities.

"It will fall into place," Frazier said.

He said he is in contact with schools that want to play Hawaii, but did not disclose the names. He did say Louisville called him last week to schedule a 2007 game, but Frazier declined because it would be at Louisville.

"If I'm going to do that, I might as well play at Georgia," Frazier said.

He said he wants to schedule a "marquee" team. When asked to define "marquee," Frazier said "top 20."

Frazier said his plan is to schedule a "big-time anchor on the back end," meaning Thanksgiving weekend or the first week of December (most likely at home), then a "decent team on the front end," and a I-AA team.

"Perhaps another team (in addition to UNLV) on the road," Frazier said. "But it all depends on who the anchor is. And my anchor depends on what happens with the Michigan State part."

I really hope the Michigan State situation is resolved ASAP. Since John L. Smith won't be the coach next year, I really couldn't care less if UH plays them any more, but if it means we won't need to schedule a I-AA team, then I'm all for it! Until then, it's just speculation and only Herman truly knows what the heck is going on. But he makes it seems like everything's under control, so we'll see what pans out, at some indeterminate date in the future...

Rankings - Oh So Close

Not actually "ranked" yet, but knocking on the door. Here's how UH stands in the polls right now:

• Ranked 28th in the BCS poll
• Ranked 26th (39 votes) in the AP Poll
• Ranked 27th (65 votes) in the USA Today Coaches Poll
• Ranked 27th (99 votes) in the Harris Interactive Poll
• Ranked 26th in the CBS Sportsline poll

So UH should be breaking into the top 25 in most of these polls if they beat SJSU next week, especially if it's a complete destruction! GO WARRIORS!!!

Stats After Week 11

From the NCAA and ESPN

Hawaii is:

• 1st in the nation in scoring offense with 48.7 points per game.
• 1st in the nation in passing offense with 436.7 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in total offense with 542.4 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in third down efficiency with a conversion percentage of 57.6%
• 1st in the nation in tackles for loss allowed with 3.30 allowed per game. Way to go O-line!
  
• 63rd in the nation in scoring defense with 22.6 points allowed per game. UH is outscoring their opponents by 26.1 points per game.
  
• 100th in the nation in total defense with 391.80 yards allowed per game.
• 110th in the nation in time of possession with 27:42 minutes per game.
  
• T-42nd in the nation in turnover margin with 0.20 per game.
  

Colt Brennan is:

• 1st in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 188.98
  
• 1st in the nation in total offense with 401.9 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in points responsible for with 28.20 points per game.
• 1st in the nation in touchdown passes with 43.
• 2nd in the nation in passing yards per game with 375.30 yards per game
  

Nate Ilaoa is:

• 12th in the nation in scoring with 8.67 points per game.
• 17th in the nation in all-purpose yards with 131.33 yards per game.

Davone Bess is:

• 7th in the nation in receptions with 6.90 per game.
• 16th in the nation in receiving yards with 84.10 per game.

Ross Dickerson is:

• 3rd in the nation in kickoff returns with 31.24 yards per return.
• 38th in the nation in all-purpose yards with 116.70 yards per game.

NOTE: These aren't permalinks, so as the week changes, so will the stats.

Hawaii vs La Tech Newspaper Wrap-Ups

Stephen Tsai writes about Colt's good night and Reagan Mauia's great night.

"When he blocks, defenses don't like to blitz anymore," Brenann said. "He is so physical. You know on defense how they have a rover, a guy who goes around? He's our rover, man. He knocks blitzers and guys coming up the field. It just kills defenses.

"I don't get to hear his blocks," Brennan added. "But after I throw the ball, I look around and see the guys on the ground."

Most remarkable is Mauia also should have been on sick leave. He has a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee, a torn meniscus in his right knee, and sprains in both shoulder joints.

"It's God," Mauia said. "He gave me the strength to keep playing and do what I love to do. He lets me play for my family, my son back home (in California), my father. I do it for everybody. And, of course, I like to help out Colt."

He's amazing! He's The Juggernaut! He can't be stopped!

Mauia's loudest cheerleader was Ilaoa.

"I activated the bulldog," Ilaoa said. "I gave the bulldog a chance to strut his stuff."

Ilaoa's constant advice was to protect his knees.

"I told him they were going for his lumber," Ilaoa recalled. "I kept yelling, 'Pick up your lumber.' They were trying to cut him down. They still couldn't bring him down. His swagger meter is too loose."

The "bulldog"? Nooooo!!! The Juggernaut! In any case, what a great game by Reagan!

Jason Kaneshiro writes about Reagan getting his chance to run it.

"He does some unbelievable things out there and it's so fun to watch a guy that big running," Brennan said. "Everyone talks about Nate, but I think it's scarier to watch Reagan because he's that much bigger and still quick."

The senior also helped set up a field goal to end the first half that sent UH into the break leading 26-10.

The Warriors faced third and 20 after an apparent touchdown pass was wiped out due to a penalty. With just 11 seconds left, Jones called on Mauia, who took the handoff and rumbled 22 yards through a hole on the left side of the line and was brought down at the LaTech 7 with 3 seconds showing.

"When Colt came into the huddle he said, 'This is going to be a big play for us,' so I thought it was going to be a pass," Mauia said. "So when he called 'Tampa Left' I was like, 'no way.' I was juiced up, so I was ready for it.

Going back to Stephen Tsai's article, what motivation by Jeff Reinebold gave the d-line!

Reinebold, who used to coach for Louisiana Tech, met his former recruit, Bulldog left guard David Accardo, during warmups. Reinebold relayed the discussion to his players before the game.

"They were talking a lot of trash about us, how they were going to kill us, and beat us up like they did last year," UH safety Leonard Peters said "Once you call one of us out, you're taking on the family. They called out (nose tackle) Mike (Lafaele). They were going to dominate him."

Lafaele said: "It was the left guard. That was the guy Reinebold recruited. He was talking smack about me."

But after the game, Lafaele approached Accardo.

"He said, 'It wasn't me,' " Lafaele said. "He got me hyped before the game. Everybody was hyped with what that dude said."

Asked about the story, Reinebold said: "Was the speech true? Of course, it was true. I don't tell stories. He said he was going to kick (Lafaele's) butt. Here's the deal: I love the kid for being that confident and saying, 'I'm going after you guys.' "

Poor David Accardo! He got punk'd!

Dave Reardon's wrap-up discusses how the Warriors adjusted after a slow start.

"Colt had another great game," UH coach June Jones said, after the Warriors added 618 yards to their nation-leading total. "(LaTech) did a whole lot of things that we didn't practice against."

But the Warriors adjusted, to say the least, with eight scores in a row while the Hawaii defense muzzled the Bulldogs.

...

It was just the second touchdown of the season for Mock, the most unsung of the Warriors' regular receivers. He said despite going most of the first half without a touchdown pass, the offense knew it would just be a matter of time before it got on track.

"There wasn't any panic in the huddle," Mock said. "One snap and clear, we gotta get there. We know what we can do, we just gotta go out there and do it."

Reardon also has a great quote from Adam Leonard as UH plays these final games.

"We're getting to the point where we can play the same way each down," said linebacker Adam Leonard, who led UH with six tackles. "They came out fired up, they wanted to pull off a big upset. We know every team that comes in the next few weeks is going to play like that."

San Jose State, after watching them almost beat Boise yesterday, will be a tough opponent.

But back to La Tech, Ferd Lewis writes about the vengeance factor in last night's game.

For the turnaround from one season to the next was 76 points worth, second largest in school history. Only a 91-point swing from a 39-7 loss to Texas-El Paso in 2000 to a 66-7 win over the Miners in 2001 was steeper.

"We remembered what they did to us up there last year," said defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis.

The Warriors lost by bigger scores in their 5-7 season of 2005, but none came with the embarrassing sting of the one-sided night in Ruston.

"It was embarrassing to even look at the film again," said assistant coach Rich Miano. "Nobody kicked our (butts) as physically. We had to start showing this year's tapes."

If last year's pummeling was a season lowpoint for the defense, then this was high point illustrating the width of the turnaround. From giving up 327 yards rushing last year, the Warriors whittled it down to 135.

Nick Abramo has some quotes from La Tech coaches and players regarding the turnaround.

"College football is cyclical," LaTech coach Jack Bicknell said. "For a couple of years, we had a lot of returning guys. This year, we're young.

"I looked at the tape of last year's game and I thought, 'How did we do that?' In my opinion, that quarterback (UH's Colt Brennan) is a totally different player who's just amazing right now. They've learned their lessons, they've gained confidence and they've become dangerous."

Leila Wai writes about Jacob Patek coming back into the game after getting a split lip and a bunch of stitches.

"I'm alright," Patek said. "I was just trying to make a tackle and I slid down and the guy kicked me with his feet."

He received 17 stitches, and "was back out within 15 minutes," he said. "At first I didn't know how bad my lip was, until I got a look at it and it was split in two. It's all good, but it hurts a little right now. The Novocain is wearing off."

The stitches curled from the top of his upper lip to the inside of his mouth. Blood that seeped from the stitches dotted his lower lip after the game. Tomorrow he will undergo plastic surgery to fix the gash.

"It was gross, man," free safety Leonard Peters said. "I thought he was done for the game. It shows how much he wants to play. It was very bloody. I thought he broke his teeth or something. The blood was coming from everywhere. By that time we were up a little bit and had a safety who could come in, but it showed how much he wants to play. He's a tough kid."

That dude's a true Warrior!

Stacy Kaneshiro, Leila Wai and Ferd Lewis write about Dan Kelly's struggles last night.

"It was just a lack of technique tonight," Kelly said. "I just have to pick it up Monday. I can't let this bug me anymore. It's done, it's finished."

Punter Kurt Milne took over the kicking duties following Kelly's third out-of-bounds kickoff. It was Milne's only action because the Warriors didn't attempt a single punt.

"It was nice," Milne said. "I actually felt like I did something."

Hawai'i graduate assistant Dennis McKnight, who coaches the kickoff teams, said Kelly's job isn't in danger.

"Dan was over-striding, kind of like a guy in golf," McKnight said. "He was pulling the ball left. June (Jones, UH head coach) said he wanted somebody else to kick it and we did.

"We just told Dan, 'Relax, don't worry about it.' He's still the guy. We love you, but during the game we had to go with someone else. Sometimes kickers are people who get a little mental.

He'll be back and better than ever!

And finally, the Star-Bulletin Notebook highlights the two Texas corners, who both had interceptions last night.

"I was due for an interception," Newberry said. "I hadn't had one in three games, and he had to step up and make a play. We were talking all week saying we were going to make big plays this week."

After UH opened up a 33-10 lead on the opening drive of the second half, Lewis picked off a pass from Zac Champion and returned it 33 yards down the sideline to the LaTech 19. The offense capitalized with a touchdown pass from Colt Brennan to Davone Bess on the next play.

"As a defense we didn't have any turnovers in the first half and we knew we had to get some in the second half," Lewis said.

I like the attitude of the defense! GO WARRIORS!!!!

Quick Wrap-Ups

Here's a link to the Advertiser's same night wrap-up.

And here's the Star-Bulletin's same night wrap-up with an excerpt:

Forget for a moment the PlayStation passing numbers and bone-crunching defense, the hair and the tattoos, the haka and the shaka.

Hawaii football is gaining a new trademark.

“If it isn’t already, it’s becoming consistency,” said Warriors receiver Jason Rivers, who caught four passes for 113 yards in UH’s 61-17 rout of Louisiana Tech tonight at Aloha Stadium.

UH won its seventh straight game, and improved to 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the WAC. For the third game in a row and fourth in five, Hawaii exceeded 60 points.

The defense also dominated again. UH has now beaten its last three opponents by at least 44 points each.

Early on, LaTech (3-7, 1-4) was intent on making a game of it, but the Warriors scored 52 unanswered points after the Bulldogs took an early lead.

Hawaii 61, Louisiana Tech 17

The offense took a while to get into full gear, but it eventually did and was helped greatly by the defense with the two interceptions and the QB pressure all night. I hope none of the injuries are serious (what happened to Keith Ah Soon?), and I hope Nate Ilaoa will be back for next week's game. He suited up but didn't play. Leonard Peters' pretty much showed that he can play through any kind of injury. He didn't miss a step! Anyways, here are some stats:

Colt Brennan was 27 of 40 for 406 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also rushed 6 times for 60 yards and 1 touchdown!

Reagan Mauia had 6 rushes for 52 yards and 2 touchdowns!

Davone Bess had 7 receptions for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Ross Dickerson had 6 receptions for 82 yards and 1 touchdown.

LiveBlogging: Hawaii vs Louisiana Tech

All Times Game Clock!

FINAL SCORE - Hawaii 61, La Tech 17

1st Quarter:

15:00 - Louisiana Tech has won the toss and will receive.

15:00 - Dan Kelly kicks it into the end zone, and it's downed there.

14:50 - On 1st down from the LaTech 20, play action pass to the 38 yard line.

14:40 - On 1st down from the LaTech 38, the running back breaks through the middle for a 43 yard gain. Leonard Peters in the back for the stop. His knee looks okay, but what the heck! Ball inside UH territory.

14:20 - On 1st down from the UH 19, ball is taken to the right sideline for an 8 yard gain to the 11.

14:10 - On 2nd and 1 from the UH 11, the running back is stuffed for little or no gain.

13:30 - On 3rd and short from the 10, the ball is advanced to the 8 for a first down.

13:20 - On 1st and goal from the 8, QB Zac Champion has to throw it out of the end zone.

13:00 - On 2nd and goal from the 8, Champion, under pressure, throws it out of the end zone.

13:00 - On 3rd down, there's a whistle blown. Delay of game on LaTech.

13:00 - On 3rd down from the UH 13, Champion throws TOO HIGH! 4th down!

12:56 - On the 30 yard field goal attempt, La Tech hits it. Hawaii 0, La Tech 3

12:52 - La Tech kicks off, and Ross Dickerson takes it out of the end zone to around the 23.

12:42 - On 1st down from the UH 23, Colt Brennan finds Ian Sample on the right sideline to the 30.

12:39 - On 2nd and 3 from the 30, Brennan hits Ian Sample at the UH 39 for a first down! Nate Ilaoa is not starting the game. Reagan Mauia is geting the start.

12:20 - On 1st down from the UH 39, Brennan hits Chad Mock, who steps out of bounds at around the 50.

12:03 - On 1st down from the La Tech 49, Colt Brennan overthrows Chad Mock deep.

12:00 - On 2nd and 10 from the La Tech 49, Brennan overthrows Davone Bess along the right sideline. 3rd down.

11:45 - On 3rd and 10 from the La Tech 49, Brennan hits Jason Rivers for 24 yards to the 25 yard line!!! 1st down!

11:29 - On 1st down from the La Tech 25, Brennan scrambles and DIVES to the 5 yard line for a first down!!!

10:55 - On 1st and goal from the 5, Brennan throws it out of bounds to the left of the end zone.

10:48 - On 2nd and goal from the La Tech 5, shovel pass to Mauia, who bounces around and finally gets brought down at the 1 yard line!

10:12 - On 3rd and goal from the 1, hand off to Reagan Mauia who TAKES IT IN FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!

10:10 - Briton Forester's PAT is wide left. OKAY. Hawaii 6, La Tech 3

10:05 - Dan Kelly kicks off and the it's downed in the end zone. Come on D!

9:45 - On 1st down from the La Tech 20, Patrick Jackson takes it 2 yards to the 22.

9:10 - On 2nd and 8 from the 22, Zac Champion passes incomplete.

9:06 - On 3rd and 8 from the 22, Champion's pass is incomplete! GOTTA PUNT!

9:00 - La Tech punts and Myron Newberry bobbles the ball before taking it for a short return to the UH 24.

8:32 - On 1st down from the UH 24, Colt Brennan hits Ian Sample at the 33 yard line for a quick 1st down!

7:50 - On 1st 2nd down from the UH 34, Brennan passes deep to Ross Dickerson. PASS INTERFERENCE!

7:39 - UH will get the ball at their own 48 yard line.

7:35 - On 1st down from the UH 48, Brennan scrambles and takes it to the La Tech 47 for about 5 yards.

6:50 - On 2nd down from the La Tech 47, Brennan shovels to Mauia, who drops it.

6:42 - On 3rd down from the La Tech 47, Brennan hits Ross Dickerson who takes for a first down!!!

6:33 - On 1st down from the La Tech 25, Brennan swings it Davone Bess, who takes it in FOR A TOUCHDOWN. But there's a flag on the play....

6:31 - It's holding on UH, so the play will come back. And that was an awesome run too!

6:27 - On 1st down from the La Tech 35, Brennan hits Ross Dickerson, who takes it to the 29. 2nd down.

5:50 - On 2nd and 14 from the La Tech 29, Brennan hits Ian Sample along the right sideline to the 22 yard line. He caught it with the defender all over him!

5:00 - On 3rd and 7 from the La Tech 22, Brennan over throws Sample in the end zone. 4th down.

4:57 - Dan Kelly will try for the kick, but not before La Tech calls a timeout.

4:57 - Dan Kelly's 39 field goal attempt is GOOD!!! Hawaii 9, La Tech 3

4:50 - Dan Kelly kicks off and La Tech takes it out to the 18 yard line. And there's a flag on La Tech.

4:43 - It's a PERSONAL FOUL on La Tech, so they'll have it back at the 10.

4:20 - On 1st down from the 10, short gain to the 12.

3:40 - On 2nd down, a big gain to the 27 by Daniel Porter. 1st down.

3:15 - On 1st down from the La Tech 27, Porter takes it to the 30 for a 3 yard gain.

2:30 - On 2nd and 7, pass is incomplete, but there's interference on Gerard Lewis.

2:22 - On 1st down from the La Tech 37, Porter takes it to the 41.

1:55 - On 2nd and 6 from the La Tech 41, Champion completes a short pass to Porter, who takes it to the 46 yard line.

1:12 - On 1st down from the La Tech 47, Porter makes a pretty nice gain but he GETS NAILED BY LEONARD PETERS at the end of the play!!!!

0:50 - On 1st down from the UH 42, Porter gets dropped for a loss by Micah Lau! And a bunch of other Warriors!

0:00 - Clock winds down and it's the end of the 1st quarter.


2nd Quarter:

15:00 - On 2nd and 11 from the UH 43, Zac Champion finds a tight end for a 43 yard touchdown pass. Yikes!

14:54 - PAT is good. Hawaii 9, La Tech 10

14:50 - La Tech kicks off short, and David Veikune takes it a couple yards to the 32.

14:30 - On 1st down from the UH 32, Colt Brennan finds Jason Rivers deep along the left sideline, and he takes it to the middle of the field for 15 more yards to the La Tech 19 yard line!!!!

13:50 - On 1st down from the 19, Brennan hits Ryan Grice-Mullins, who dances around and ends up with no gain.

13:40 - On 2nd and 10 from the La Tech 19, Brennan throws a touchdown pass to CHAD MOCK!!!!

13:35 - Extra point is good! Hawaii 16, La Tech 10

13:32 - Dan Kelly's kick off goes out of bounds, so La Tech will have it at the 35.

13:10 - On 1st down from the 35, Patrick Jackson takes it to the 39 for a 4 yard gain.

12:35 - On 2nd and 6, Jackson takes it for a short gain to the 40.

12:00 - On 3rd and 5 from the 40, Champion hits his receiver but he's stopped immediately by Myron Newberry!!! 4th down!!! And now Newberry will get the punt.

11:24 - La Tech punts and Newberry lets it drop. It'll be downed at the UH 20.

11:00 - On 1st down from the UH 20, Colt Brennan finds Ross Dickerson on a crossing pattern over the middle for a quick first down!

10:30 - On 1st down from the UH 38, Brennan overthrows Dickerson along the right sideline.

10:15 - On 2nd down from the UH 38, Brennan finds Davone Bess, who takes it to the 45.

9:40 - On 3rd down from the UH 45, Brennan overthrows Bess and IT'S INTERCEPTED!

8:55 - On 1st down from the UH 43, Zac Champion throws incomplete.

8:50 - On 2nd down from the UH 43, Jackson takes it for a 2 or 3 yard gain.

8:12 - On 3rd down and 7 from the UH 40, La Tech calls a timeout.

8:12 - On 3rd down and 7 from the UH 40, Champion is NEARLY INTERCEPTED by Adam Leonard. Gotta punt!

8:00 - La Tech punts and Newberry lets it go, and it'd down inside the 5.

7:30 - On 1st down from the 5, Brennan can't find anybody open so he runs it to the 35 yard line!!!

7:22 - On 1st down from the UH 35, Brennan hands off to Mauia, who takes it out the UH 47 before he's tripped up.

7:00 - On 1st down from the UH 48, Brennan to Ross Dickerson, who takes it to the La Tech 38!

6:48 - On 1st down from the La Tech 39, Brennan finds Davone Bess who breaks a couple tackles and takes it to the La Tech 25!!!

6:10 - On 1st down from the La Tech 25, Brennan throws incomplete, a little behind Ian Sample.

6:10 - Tala Esera is injured on the play, but walks off.

6:05 - On 2nd down, hand off to Mauia and he RAMS his way to the 16 yard line!!!

6:05 - CRAP. There was holding on that play by Davone Bess to negate that nice run by Mauia.

5:45 - On 2nd down from the 28, Brennan throws incomplete, but there's interference on La Tech!

5:35 - On 1st down from the La Tech 13 yard line, Brennan rifles it to Ross Dickerson in the END ZONE FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!

5:33 - PAT by Forester is good! Hawaii 23, Louisiana Tech 10

5:30 - Dan Kelly kicks off and once again, it goes out of bounds. La Tech will have the ball at the 35.

5:10 - On 1st down from the La Tech 35, Zac Champion hands it off to Porter, who is STUFFED by a bunch of Warriors!

4:20 - On 2nd down from the La Tech 35, Champion completes a pass to the 43. 3rd down and short.

3:44 - On 3rd and 2 from the La Tech 43, Champion completes a pass to the 50 yard line for a first down.

3:12 - On 1st down from the UH 49, short gain to the 45.

2:35 - On 2nd down, BIG RUN to the UH 32 yard line. Geez.

2:10 - On 1st down from the UH 32, Zac Champion is SACKED by MEL PURCELL!!!

1:33 - On 2nd down and 18 from the UH 40, Champion throws incomplete over the middle.

1:19 - On 3rd and 18 from the UH 40, Champion throws long and INCOMPLETE! Gotta punt or try the 57 yard field goal!

1:14 - La Tech punts and Newberry lets it bounce into the end zone for a touchback.

1:03 - On 1st down from the UH 20, Colt Brennan hits Jason Rivers along the left sideline for a 12 yard gain!

0:51 - On 1st down from the 32, Brennan hits Jason Rivers, who makes a LEAPING GRAB to the La Tech 40 yard line!!!

0:36 - On 1st down from the La Tech 40, Brennan throws incomplete.

0:32 - On 2nd down from the La Tech 40, Brennan hits Davone Bess, who makes an AMAZING leaping catch with one foot inbounds to the 19 yard line!!!

0:29 - And the play is being challenged by La Tech.

0:29 - Video evidence confirms that it is a catch!

0:25 - On 1st down from the La Tech 19, Brennan throws to Bess in the end zone, but it's broken up!

0:22 - On 2nd and 10 from the La Tech 19, Brennan scrambles and is brought down at the 15, but there's a flag.

0:16 - It's holding on Samson Satele, so the ball will be walked back.

0:16 - Okay, now the play is being reviewed to see if Colt fumbled on that play, but that's not right since the play was whistled dead.

0:16 - And the play stands.

0:16 - On 2nd and 20 from the La Tech 29, Brennan to Jason Rivers along the left sideline for a TOUCHDOWN!!!! But wait, there's a flag on the field.

0:11 - The refs are saying Jason Rivers was out of bounds and then came back in bounds, so loss of downs.

0:06 - Brennan hands off to Mauia, who RUMBLES his way to the 7 yard line!

0:00 - Dan Kelly's field goal attempt is GOOD! End of half! Hawaii 26, La Tech 10

HALFTIME - Be back at the top of the hour!


3rd Quarter:

15:00 - La Tech kicks off and Malcolm Lane takes it out to the 29 yard line.

14:20 - On 1st down from the UH 29, Brennan has to tuck it and gets tackled at the UH 31.

13:48 - On 2nd down from the UH 30, Brennan throws deep to Ian Sample, INCOMPLETE. Pass interference not called.

13:37 - On 3rd down and 9 from the UH 30, Brennan throws incomplete, but there's INTERFERENCE!!!

13:37 - A La Tech player is down on the field.

13:33 - On 1st and 10 from the UH 45, Brennan hits Ian Sample for a 10 yard gain.

13:25 - On 1st down from the La Tech 45, Colt Brennan throws it deep to Ryan Grice-Mullins, who makes a GREAT CATCH at the La Tech 5 yard line!!!!

12:55 - On 1st down from the La Tech 5, Brennan scrambles and takes it to the 2 yard line.

12:15 - On 2nd and goal from the La Tech 2, Brennan on the KEEPER FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!

12:08 - PAT is good! Hawaii 33, La Tech 10

12:05 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it goes OUT OF BOUNDS AGAIN. La Tech will have it at the 35.

11:52 - On 1st down from the La Tech 35, Zac Champion is nearly sacked by Jacob Patek, but he got it off in time. Crap.

11:42 - On 2nd down, short run to the 39 yard line.

11:08 - On 3rd and 6, Champion is intercepted by Gerard Lewis, who takes it back to the La Tech 20 yard line!!!!!

10:50 - On 1st down from the La Tech 19, Colt Brennan lays it off to Davone Bess on the screen and he crosses from the left side of the field to the right for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!!

10:27 - PAT is GOOD! Hawaii 40, La Tech 10

10:25 - Kurt Milne has come in to kick off, and he does. It's taken at the 5 yard line out to the 19 or so.

10:00 - On 1st down from the 20, Champion's pass is incomplete.

9:55 - On 2nd down from the 20, hand off is taken out to the 25.

9:20 - On 3rd down and 3 from the La Tech 27, Champion is SACKED BY IKAIKA ALAMA-FRANCIS!!!! Gotta punt!

8:40 - Newberry takes the punt on the UH 40 and takes it to the La Tech 34 yard line!

8:10 - On 1st down from the La Tech 34, Brennan finds Bess along the left sideline, and he takes it inside the La Tech 10 yard line!

7:40 - On 1st and goal from the La Tech 6, Brennan to Grice-Mullins, who is stopped immediately inside the 5.

7:01 - On 2nd and goal from the La Tech 3, Brennan throws incomplete.

6:53 - On 3rd and goal from the La Tech 3, Brennan rifles it in to the back of the end zone to Ian Sample for the TOUCHDOWN!!!!!

6:53 - PAT attempt is GOOD! Hawaii 47, La Tech 10

6:50 - The ball is kicked off and it's taken by La Tech to the 25 yard line.

6:30 - On 1st down from the La Tech 25, short gain out to the 27.

5:55 - On 2nd down and 8 from the La Tech 27, Champion gets rid of it as he was ALMOST SACKED by Jacob Patek AGAIN!

5:44 - On 3rd down from the La Tech 27, Champion passes it and the La Tech receiver makes an AMAZING catch. Sheesh.

5:25 - On 1st down from the 50, run is stopped for no gain.

4:44 - On 2nd down and 10 from the 50, Champion is INTERCEPTED by Myron Newberry, and he takes it all the way to the La Tech 18 yard line!!!!

4:31 - On 1st down from the La Tech 18, Colt Brennan, throws a short pass to Ross Dickerson, who takes it to the 8 yard line.

3:33 - On 2nd and 1 from the 9, hand off to Reagan Mauia, and he bulls his way to the 3 yard line! THE JUGGERNAUT!

3:02 - On 1st and goal from the 3, handoff to THE JUGGERNAUT, who takes it in for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!

3:02 - Excessive celebration penalty on Hawaii. Who gives a crap.

3:02 - PAT attempt is GOOD! Hawaii 54, La Tech 10

2:59 - Milne kicks off to the 20 yard line, and it's taken out to the 35 yard line.

2:35 - On 1st down from the 35, Champion on the keeper to the 39.

1:55 - On 2nd and 6 from the 39, pass complete to the 46 for a first down.

1:33 - On 1st down from the La Tech 47, short gain out to the 49.

0:55 - On 2nd and 7 from the 50, Champion scrambles and passes incomplete.

0:45 - On 3rd and 7 from the 50, Champion completes a pass to the UH 42 for another first down.

0:25 - On 1st down from the UH 41, Champion throws it perfectly but it bounces off the receiver's hands.

0:19 - On 2nd and 10 from the UH 41, Griffin carries the ball to the UH 33.

0:00 - Time runs out on the 3rd Quarter. Be back after this timeout!


4th Quarter:

15:00 - On 3rd and 2 from the UH 33, La Tech gets the first down on a run to the 28.

14:30 - On 1st down from the UH 28, Champion throws incomplete over the middle. Nice coverage by Leonard Peters!

14:26 - On 2nd down, Zac Champion on the keeper to the UH 15 yard line. Another 1st down.

13:52 - Hand off is taken to the 11 yard line. 2nd down.

13:20 - On 2nd down and 6 from the UH 11, Champion completes a pass to the 8 yard line.

12:45 - On 3rd and 4 from the 9, Griffin takes it inside the 5 for a first down.

12:10 - On 1st and goal from the 4, Griffin takes it to the 3 for a short gain before he's stopped by a bunch of Warriors.

11:30 - On 2nd and goal, Champion on the fade is just a little high. Incomplete!

11:28 - On 3rd and goal from inside the 5, there's a bad snap and IKAIAKA ALAMA-FRANCIS with another SACK!!!

10:45 - On 4th and goal from the 13 yard line, Champion completes a pass but Griffin is stopped at the 6 yard line. Turnover on downs! Michael Lafaele is slow in getting up, but he seems fine now.

10:30 - Tyler Graunke is now in the game!

10:30 - On 1st down, Graunke completes a beauiful pass over the middle to MALCOLM LANE, but he fumbles the ball into the hands of a La Tech defender, who takes it back into La Tech UH territory! Strange play. And now Keith Ah Soon is down on the play.

10:12 - Keith Ah Soon is still down on the ground. Let's hope he's okay. Timeout.

10:12 - Keith is now sitting up and he walks off the field under his own power. Things were looking bad for a moment there. Thank God.

10:00 - On first down from the UH 40, Champion throws incomplete.

9:50 - On 2nd down, short rush out to the 38.

9:10 - Gerard Lewis upends the receiver after a short pass out to the flat.

8:30 - Blaze Soares with the SACK on 4th DOWN! Turnover on downs!

8:07 - Tyler Graunke is back in the game. And an illegal subtitution penalty is called on UH.

7:50 - On 1st down from the UH 45, Tyler Graunke throws incomplete.

7:44 - On 2nd down and 15 from the UH 45, Graunke completes a nice pass to Bess on the right sideline for a 1st down!!!

7:38 - On 1st down from the La Tech 31, Graunke to Bess, who takes it in for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!

7:35 - PAT is good! Hawaii 61, La Tech 10

7:27 - Milne kicks off and it's taken out to the 15 yard line.

7:15 - Michael Mosley is the new La Tech QB, and he hands it off for a 5 yard gain.

6:25 - Mosley overthrows his receiver on 3rd down.

6:20 - On 3rd and 5 from the La Tech 20, Mosley completes a pass to the 30 for a first down.

5:55 - On 1st and 10, Mosley completes a pass for another first down.

5:25 - On 1st down from the La Tech 43, short rush, but there are flags.

5:00 - Mosley completes a pass into UH territory.

4:20 - On 2nd and 2 from the UH 48, La Tech is dropped for a loss.

3:45 - On 3rd and 3 from the 50, Mosley completes a pass over the middle for another first down.

3:10 - On 1st down from the UH 37, run up the middle for about 5 yards. And the clock winds down.

2:35 - Mosley throws too high and incomplete. 3rd down.

2:30 - On 3rd down from the UH 33, Mosley is sacked by a whole bunch of Warriors!

1:50 - On 4th and 9 from the UH 37, Mosley fumbles and then picks it back up to run it for a first down!

1:20 - On 1st down from the UH 26, Mosley gets sacked by Joshua Rice!

0:35 - On 2nd down from the UH 39, Griffin is dropped back at the 41. And another Hawaii player is down. Timeout.

0:25 - On 3rd down, Mosley throws a TOUCHDOWN PASS! Wow!

0:17 - PAT is good. Hawaii 61, La Tech 17

0:06 - Alonzo Chopp takes the short kick from La Tech. And time runs out!

0:00 - FINAL SCORE - Hawaii 61, La Tech 17

Ways to Follow the Hawaii vs La Tech Game

In Hawaii:

GO TO ALOHA STADIUM!

Watch it on Oceanic PPV

Listen to it on 1420 AM


Everywhere:

Streaming video from Hawaiian Tel Media.

Streaming audio from Sports Radio 1420

Live stats via CSTV GameTracker

And I MIGHT be liveblogging it.

The game starts at 6:05pm Hawaiian, 8:05pm Pacific, 9:05pm Mountain, 10:05pm Central, 11:05pm Eastern, 5:05pm Samoan, 5:05AM Nov. 12th Central European (Denmark and Germany), 3:05pm Nov. 12th Eastern Summer (New South Wales, Australia). I hope I got all of that right.

GO WARRIORS!!!!

GameDay: Hawaii vs Louisiana Tech

Stephen Tsai's gameday preview has a quote from La Tech offensive coordinator Conroy Hines about Jerry's D.

Hines probably should review the session on countering the blitz. Hines said UH defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville has changed his approach. "Last year, he all-out blitzed us," Hines said. "We just had to maximum protect and try to make a play. Now he's mixing his schemes. He's blitzing out of cover-2, cover-3, man defenses. He has one- and two-man blitzes, from a variety of directions. It makes you be on your toes."

I wonder if these are new things Glanville is trying or just the Warriors getting a better grasp of his multiple schemes? Whatever's happening, it's working!

Tsai's other article has a great quote from Dennis McKnight.

In the ensuing offseason, Reinebold replaced defensive line coach Vantz Singletary, who accepted a job at Tennessee-Chattanooga, and McKnight joined as a graduate assistant. McKnight now coaches the offensive line.

"No, no, no," McKnight protested. "I'm just relaying June's system. He's the best offensive line coach in the country. He knows pass protection better than anybody in the country. That's just the flat-out truth.

"Everybody thinks June is a quarterback guy or a receiver guy or whatever," McKnight added. "First and foremost, he's an offensive line guy. Mike Cavanaugh is a good line coach, but he became a great line coach learning and working under June."

The article is basically about how June has had to rebuild the UH football team twice, with each time setting the foundation for future greatness. So let's hope next year's schedule will give UH the best opportunity to display that greatness. We'll see... soon?

Dave Reardon's gameday preview focuses on this key matchup:

LaTech offensive line vs. Hawaii defensive line

...

UH defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold knows Bulldogs right tackle Bill Jones and left guard David Accardo pretty well. He recruited them when he was a Louisiana Tech assistant.

The Warriors starters -- Mel Purcell, Lafaele and Ikaika Alama-Francis -- are healthy, but Larry Sauafea and Siave Seti were brought over from the offense because of injuries.

"This week we're really coaching up these guys," Lafaele said. "I guarantee they're going to get playing time."

"We're mixing and matching," Reinebold said. "We'll keep 'em rolling, keep 'em fresh.

UH's depth should prevail, but if LaTech can control the line, it will help the Bulldogs limit the Warriors' offensive possessions and keep them in the game longer.

Dave Reardon also writes about the looseness the Warriors have in practice. Colt Brennan also talks about the danger of outside distractions.

Brennan -- who handled about a half-dozen national media interviews this week -- also said the Warriors are guarding against becoming distracted, complacent or uptight. He was worried it might happen last week.

"I felt really tired and I was kind of nervous before the Utah State game," Brennan said. "I thought we might come out slow and let them play with us."

That wasn't the case, as Hawaii scored on its first two possessions and Brennan finished with six TD passes in three quarters.

This team doesn't seem like it gets distracted too easily.

And finally, Scott Beder of The News Star in Louisiana writes a give-up-already gameday preview that takes a shot at UH and June Jones.

The Warriors’ offense is ranked No. 1 in the country and the Bulldogs’ defense is dead last. That’s not even factoring into the equation the Tech defense is decimated by injuries, particularly in the secondary.

It will take a gallant effort to hold Hawaii under 70 points — we’re not kidding. Hawaii coach June Jones isn’t known for his compassion in these matters, so if the Warriors can run it up, they will.

Actually, if June wanted to run up the score, Hawaii could've scored 80 points in a couple of games this season. If June wanted to run up the score, he would've let Colt Brennan play the whole game, every game. Of the nine games UH has played so far this year, Colt Brennan has played into the 4th quarter in only four of them. June wants his 2nd and 3rd stringers to get some game time running the offense, and if they run it well that's somehow running up the score. Oh well, that's the disadvantage Hawaii has when nobody watches the games and just reads the box score.

Hype

Colt Brennan and Hawaii gets more national attention. First, from ESPN's Dave Revsine.

56: But no quarterback has put up more impressive numbers than Hawaii's Colt Brennan. His 39 TD passes put him on a pace for 56 -- two more than the record for a single season, set by Houston's David Klingler in 1990. Before you protest about Brennan's two additional games, remember that Klingler threw 11 TDs in one shameless 84-21 rout of Eastern Washington.

77th: The four schools left on Hawaii's schedule (Louisiana Tech, San Jose State, Purdue and Oregon State) have an average rank of 77th nationally in pass efficiency defense, meaning Brennan has a great shot at putting up some big numbers down the stretch.

37: For a little perspective on Brennan's achievements, consider that these nine teams have combined for 37 TDs or two fewer than the Hawaii QB has thrown all by himself -- Navy, Florida International, Colorado, Arkansas State, Duke, Arizona, Air Force, Kansas State and Southern Mississippi.

The Boston Herald's "Double D" has a story about UH football not getting respect, calling UH "the Rodney Dangerfield of college football."

Also, Hawaii doesn’t get full credit for its home wins because of the “paradise” factor. Visitors supposedly are lulled to sleep by the sun, surf and beauty of the Islands.
Finally, Hawaii’s games start so late Saturday night many folks don’t get the score until Monday. That’s not good when the updated rankings come out on Sunday.

And finally, Jaymes Song writes another AP article, this time about tomorrow's game against La Tech.

"Everybody deep down inside really wants this game and really wants to go out there and kind of redeem ourselves for last year," Brennan said. "We're going to have no problems of getting up for this game and going out there and putting it on them.

"But we know they have a lot of talent. We know they have athletes that can run. If we underestimate them and don't respect them, they could make things difficult for us."

The surging Hawaii Bowl-bound Warriors are seeking their seventh straight win. They have outscored their opponents 131-20 in the last two games and are ranked No. 1 in the nation in total offense (534 yards a game), passing (429) and scoring (47.3).

Hawaii, favored by 38 points, should have another big offensive night.

The Bulldogs are last in the nation in total defense and second worst in scoring defense. Louisiana Tech has only six sacks on the season.

"They really have got it rolling right now and it's just an unbelievable challenge," Bulldogs coach Jack Bicknell said. "The big thing you've got to do is just try to slow them down and you're going to need some score some points offensively to have a chance."

It's too bad that they're decimated by injury. Nonetheless, NO MERCY! GO WARRIORS!!!!

Bowling

The Seattle Times' Bud Withers already knows the demolition that'll take place for whatever PAC-10 team comes down to play in the Hawaii Bowl.

This is what awaits the Pac-10 entry in Honolulu: A Hawaii team that has taken coach June Jones' old run-and-shoot offense — that's the one Portland State used in 1980 to beat Delaware State, 105-0 — to spectacular heights.

The Warriors (7-2) lead the nation in total offense (534 yards a game) and passing offense (429). The quarterback, Colt Brennan, has 39 touchdown passes and six interceptions. His 190 pass-efficiency rating is better than the NCAA season record by Shaun King of Tulane in 1998 (183.3).

So overwhelming has the Hawaii offense been, that it's almost a given Brennan will set the NCAA season record for touchdown passes if he stays healthy over four more games, all at home. That's 54, by Houston's David Klingler, in 1990.

I know the demolition is not a given, but June's UH teams historically have played their best football towards the end of the season, and look at where they are now. It would be great if the Warriors could play someone better than the 6th place PAC-10 team, but that's why contracts are signed I guess.

Voices Hoarsey

Kalani Simpson writes a column about voices and how they can sometimes get hoarse. He manages to build it around interviews with Coach Dennis McKnight, Coach Dan Morrison and Colt Brennan.

If Dennis McKnight lost his voice, where would he be?

And at first he agrees with this -- it's a big part of his aura, the loudness, with the big body, the energy. It's who he is. If he lost his voice?

But on second thought, "I think if tomorrow I became deaf I still think I'd be a good football coach," McKnight says. "Because the main thing I bring to the table is technique and try to get guys to think and anticipate. Everybody can draw lines and know plays and stuff and assignments, where to go. But the technique of getting the job done, the anticipating of leading the stance, studying film, all of those things. I think that's what I bring. So I think I do most of my work in the film room, actually."

That Kalani Simpson is pretty creative. Sometimes it's completely off the wall and strange, but for the most part he keeps it related to UH football and it's always interesting!

Nate Ilaoa

Stephen Tsai writes a profile of Nate Ilaoa and all the trials and tribulations he's had to go through to get to where he is today.

"So now I'm getting surgery and my knee's not even done healing, and that means you can't rehab," he said. "I can't lift and I can't run. I can't squat (lift) or do the dumb-bell stuff. I'm just sitting there with a bad knee and a bad shoulder, and the doc is saying, 'just chill.' "

Ilaoa, who weighed 180 pounds when he signed as a slotback in 2001, was up to 240 pounds entering the 2005 training camp.

"He had that midnight problem," said his cousin, UH center Samson Satele. "That's Jack-in-the-Box, Zippy's, whatever's open at midnight. That's how he gained the weight."

After Ilaoa suffered a pulled hamstring on the second day of the 2005 training camp, head coach June Jones voiced his displeasure to reporters. Jones said Ilaoa was overweight, and had let down teammates. Jones said Ilaoa's poor condition led to the hamstring injury.

"It was a tough situation," Ilaoa said. "But I wasn't going to give up. I had a lot of support."

DeLaura knew that Ilaoa's injuries made it difficult for him to train. Unwilling to give up on Ilaoa, deLaura created a special conditioning program.

The article gives the people who criticized him for reporting out of shape in 2005 a new perspective on what he had to deal with. But now he's a fit and healthy 250 pounds, which is heavier than he was when he was out of shape, but now it's all power and muscle baby!

Jason Rivers

Dave Reardon writes a profile of receiver Jason Rivers, who had a solid 2004 freshman year, couldn't play in 2005 for academic and moped reasons, and is now one of the great receivers in the Warriors' offense once again.

Grice-Mullins said the threat of Rivers catching a deep ball helps the other receivers. So does his willingness to share -- the football, as well as his knowledge.

"He definitely helps stretch the field and he brings a physical game. He and (slotback) Ross (Dickerson) will run right through you," Grice-Mullins said. "The year with him sitting out I think really helped him. He's a totally different guy now. He's more of a team guy. He understands it's not about how many balls you catch or yards you get. He's taken a leadership role."

Rivers was a big part of UH's late-season rallies in 2003 and 2004 that led to winning records and Hawaii Bowl appearances. He said this season is more exciting because of the way the Warriors have played on the road (they finished 3-2 away from home, and clinched a winning record and Hawaii Bowl bid with a 63-10 win at Utah State last Saturday).

"This is better than before because it says a lot about our team, going on the road and winning consistently, putting up 60 points," Rivers said. "That says a lot about us playing to our potential."

I remember getting mad that he fell off his moped because he was ready for a breakout season, but that incident is hardly ever mentioned any more and I'm beginning to think that maybe it didn't happen, or it wasn't as severe as it sounded. In any case, glad he's healthy, both physically and academically. I make a bold prediction that he'll have 100 yards receiving with 2 touchdowns in tomorrow's game!

Reardon also has news that Leonard Peters may not be able to play this week's game.

Miano and defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said they weren't sure if free safety Leonard Peters' shaky knee would be strong enough to allow him to play tomorrow.

"He worries me. You can't tell him that he should sit out this game, or rest a couple weeks because he's a warrior," Miano said. "It doesn't matter what the doctors say, it doesn't matter what we say. He won't come off the field."

If Peters doesn't play, Mike Malala will.

Rest it Leonard, rest it! I think it would be great to have Michael Malala play and maybe show off more of his kung fu moves. You know, like this one:

Konrath Profile

The Chicago Sun-Times' Taylor Bell writes a profile of linebacker Kevin Konrath, who will become a Warrior next year.

He also was recruited by Illinois, Northwestern, NIU and Army. But nobody recruited him as hard as Hawaii. When he added up all the positives -- most importantly, head coach June Jones and assistants Jerry Glanville and Reinebold have NFL experience -- he committed.

Hawaii doesn't get much exposure in the Chicago area, save a few late-night games on cable. But the Rainbows Warriors*, who have been invited to play in the Hawaii-Sheraton Bowl on Dec. 24 in Honolulu, are one of the most exciting and highest scoring teams in Division I. They scored 60 points in one game, 68 in another.

''It's great to play for a team like that. Defensive players like good offense,'' said Konrath, who will make an official visit to the Honolulu campus in early December. ''I was shocked when Hawaii called. I didn't think they recruited this area. This is the first time they have ever recruited in Chicago.

''I never thought about going to Hawaii. What do I know about it? It's paradise, surrounded by ocean, warm weather. I don't surf. But I've seen lots of pictures on television. I want to see Pearl Harbor. The football stadium is next to Pearl Harbor. And I'll go to Waikiki Beach a lot.''

*I had to make a slight correction to that article. I hope Taylor don't mind. There were others I could've made, but I'm not Taylor's copy editor!

Anyway, glad to hear Kevin is excited to come to Hawaii. He sounds like a great player who will thrive in Jerry's hard-hitting defense! And I'm happy Coach Reinebold is expanding recruiting to places UH has never really recruited before. This will only help UH get more fans nationally and internationally, with more and more people being woken up at 1 A.M. by the cheering coming from next door for the WARRIORS! In Illinois or Texas or Florida or places you only thought existed in fairy tales, like Denmark or Hanau, Germany! ICH BIN EIN WARRIOR!!!

The Glanville

Superprep.com has a great in-depth Jerry Glanville profile about why he came back to coach for UH and what he does for the program. A lot of this is stuff covers what Kalani Simpson and others have written about but it's still an excellent article that includes interviews with Jeff Reinebold and June Jones. It gives one hope that Jerry will be around for a long time.

“That’s the one thing about this place,” said Reinebold. “You are going to get coached by some unbelievable guys that have seen it all. That’s the reason I came here. I was working as the Senior Manager of NFL Development in Europe. I had a chance to come to Hawaii. When I learned Jerry Glanville was going there to become the Defensive Coordinator it sealed the deal for me. I was working with Chris Dishman in Europe. He played for Jerry and told me to get ready for the greatest coaching experience ever. It has been amazing here and Jerry is all of that and more.”

With the offense set under Jones, Mouse Davis and company it was the defense that needed overhauling. Coaching, especially on the defensive side of the ball, is even more of a premium. Glanville showed up for the first spring and got their attention immediately.

Under Glanville nothing is scripted. For him it’s all about feel and spontaneity. Everything he does is done with a great deal of thought because he knows what he wants. But Glanville just has unconventional coaching methods to the mainstream coach. In essence, Jerry Glanville defies the standard coaching model but the results are the same and than some.

Definitely read the whole thing. It was hard deciding on an excerpt.

Campaign

Since there is so much news, I'll be breaking it up into little bite size pieces.

UH has started Colt's Heisman campaign. Here's a link to an e-mail attachment pop-up thing that's being sent to the media and Heisman trophy voters.

And here's a link to a C.B. for Heisman video! No breakdancing, but it's still cool. And for the ladies, for some reason Colt is naked at the end.

C.B. in S.I.

I'm not sure if it's an online-only article or not, but Sports Illustrated's Cory McCartney has an Inside College Football profile of Colt Brennan up at SI.com. Here's an excerpt:

But Brennan already knows what you're thinking: It's all the system. It's the same pass-happy offense that allowed Timmy Chang to shatter the NCAA all-time career passing record by more than 2,000 yards.

Brennan has heard it all before, and he revels in it.

"Everything I've taken in from stuff I've watched in the NFL is they're trying to get the quarterback to run the system and I get baffled when people say, 'Oh, he's a system quarterback,'" Brennan said. "Isn't that the job? Isn't that what defines a good QB, someone who runs the system that they're taught to run? People call me a system quarterback, but I really take that as a compliment."

A lot of the article is familiar news to UH fans, but it's cool he's getting some publicity in Sports Illustrated. See, they're already setting up next year's Colt vs Colt Heisman race!

Laupepa

Stephen Tsai writes that Laupepa Letuli was diagnosed with a partially torn MCL.

A magnetic resonance imaging showed the partial tear to the same MCL he injured earlier in the season. He missed three games because of that MCL injury.

"It's torn again, but I heal really fast," Letuli said. "I'll do the same rehab, and hopefully I can come back against Oregon State. That's my goal."

Mike Cavanaugh, who was UH's offensive line coach through the 2004 season, recruited Letuli and several other UH linemen. Cavanaugh is now Oregon State's line coach. And Letuli, who moved from offensive left guard last week to shore up a depleted defensive line, is now a defensive end.

"Each kid comes back a little differently," defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said. "It depends on pain tolerance and the strength of his knee. That's something we'll have to wait and see. I'm hoping he comes back soon. The 20 plays he played (against Utah State), you could see every play he got a little better and a little more comfortable."

Good luck to Laupepa in his recovery. Tsai also has a short profile of freshman linebacker Erik Pederson and news that OLB Tyson Kafentzis will get his first start since the Boise game after recovering from a hairline fracture in his right ankle.

Dave Reardon writes a profile of Louisana Tech strong safety Mark Dillard, who was a running back that killed the Warriors last year. Good move! Reardon also has an injury update on Leonard Peters.

Starting safety Leonard Peters said he will test his knee in practice today after declaring it "unstable" yesterday. He said he thinks it will be solid enough by Saturday to play.

That's what he told coach June Jones.

Jones: "Any better, Leonard?"

Peters: "Yes."

Jones: "Tomorrow then?"

Peters: "Guarans."

As for his torn rib cartilage from the beginning of the season, that is still bothersome at times.

"It's OK today, three days after the game. In between that time it's pretty sore," Peters said.

Rest it Leonard! Rest it!

Ferd Lewis writes a column contemplating when is a good time for Colt Brennan to come out of a blowout game. It might be halftime, judging from this article from the Shreveport Times.

The Bulldogs' defensive line is banged up with the most serious injury to starting tackle Josh Muse. Muse is questionable with shoulder and ankle injuries.

However, of even greater concern is the secondary, which has been decimated. The top two free safeties "" Abrams and Baker are out this week "" leaving third stringer Keeven Moore to make his second straight start.

At strong safety, starter Mark Dillard has been dogged by an injury to his sternum and hasn't been full speed for three weeks.Marquis Spurgon will likely make his third straight start.

Last week against North Texas, starting corner Weldon Brown, one of the Bulldogs' most valuable players, suffered a knee injury and is out for at least two weeks.

Shalamar Walker, who began the season as third string, will make his first career start opposite Tony Moss, who has been hobbled with shin splints.

Last week Walker saw his first significant playing time after Brown went down. He intercepted a pass late in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

"I was just trying to help the team out," Walker said. "I've been practicing hard and I knew something would come through."

This patchwork group will be put to the test against quarterback Colt Brennan and a high-powered Hawaii offense.

Man, sounds like Colt will have to come out in the 2nd quarter. It doesn't sound fair at all. Well, La Tech did destroy the Warriors in Ruston last year, so it's only right that UH does the same to them. I predict UH by 60. GO WARRIORS!!!!

Dim Sum

Tip of the Day: Don't eat dim sum that's been in the fridge for nearly a week and then underheat it. You gotta throw it out or fully re-cook. There is no in-between. Nonetheless, it was delicious -- that is until this morning when it decided to leave my body in an untimely fashion and in different directions. But this has nothing to do with UH football, so on with the belated links.

======

Stephen Tsai has more on recent commit Gabe Tuata.

Laau "Airplane" Tuata said his son "is committed to UH." Laau Tuata said he will attend UH's game against San Jose State next week, and "I'm going to go to every one next year."

Gabe Tuata said he received strong interest from Boise State, Arizona, Colorado and Brigham Young. But Tuata said he wanted to play in UH's four-wide offense and learn from quarterback Colt Brennan. He also praised point recruiter Rich Miano, who coaches the defensive backs.

Tuata said he was told he will compete at slotback.

"I'm fine with anything," he said.

Sounds more and more like he'll become a Warrior. That's excellent news. Especially reading the mad props from his coach.

"We used him as a punt returner and kick returner," Kealakehe coach Cliff Walters said. "He has scored quite a few touchdowns on returns. I'd say he's averaging about one a game. He certainly gives us field position."

Tuata, who is 5 feet 7 and 175 pounds, can run 40 yards in 4.49 seconds.

"And that's on grass," Walters said. "He's very quick. He has excellent hands. He's probably the best receiver I've seen, and certainly the best in the BIIF. He has a 42-inch vertical (jump). To some, size is important. But when he goes downfield for a pass, he'll come up with it. He plays as if he's 6-2."

Graunke to Tuata sounds great. So does Funaki to Tuata. In the second half of the article, Tsai has an update on who may be starting this week (Ryan Keomaka at corner and Tyson Kafentzis at OLB) as well as a funny exchange between injured corner A.J. Martinez and Keomaka.

Keomaka has emerged because of his consistent tackling, surprising for a defender who is 5 feet 9 and 170 pounds.

"See this?" Keomaka said, pointing to a patch on the back of his neck. "Titanium stuff. It's because of my muscles."

Martinez began to laugh as Keomaka flexed his biceps.

It is Keomaka's jovial personality that has confounded coaches, and led to him being dismissed from the team twice in the past year.

"Sometimes they don't take me seriously," said Keomaka, who has an interception in each of the past two games. "I always have a smile. I'm a happy guy. But when I'm playing, I'm serious. I don't smile. I'm mentally focused. Right?"

He then begins to laugh.

"Guys like Ryan, and sometimes even me, it may seem like we're joking all of the time, but we're not," said Martinez, who answers to the nickname Smiley. "When it comes down to it, we get the job done and are very focused, especially Ryan.

Ryan Keomaka's story, persevering through his academic and on-the-field struggles, is something to be written about when he emerges as a breakout player next year. Who knows, it could happen in these last five games. Right now he has a two-game interception streak and I have a feeling he'll make it three this Saturday!

Dave Reardon reprints his Tuata update from yesterday and writes that Leonard Peters is still the man, willing to play through injury.

Starting free safety Leonard Peters said he plans to play in UH's game Saturday against Louisiana Tech at Aloha Stadium despite a "loose" knee.

"I'm going to play," Peters said after yesterday's practice, while he rode the exercise bike. "Unless they hold me out."

"They" would have to be the training staff, because coach June Jones won't hold out Peters. "It's his decision," Jones said.

Peters missed all but the first game of last season with an ACL injury in the same knee. He has played most of this season with torn rib cartilage.

Peters said he plans to rest the knee again today and then see how it goes running on it tomorrow.

If he is unable to go, backup safety Mike Malala might start.

"Just in case," said Malala, who worked out with the first team at strong and free safety yesterday. "Some of the boys are kind of banged up. I've been waiting (for more play at safety), but I take pride in my special teams."

I think Coach Jones or the training staff should make Leonard rest it. We need him to be super healthy for the final games as the opponents get tougher and tougher. Leonard's not gonna take himself out because he loves the game too much. Oh well, let's hope his knee gets better quickly.

======

Ferd Lewis writes about Louisiana Tech's football team needing to go on the road to play big teams for the big paychecks so their athletic department stays solvent, even if it means getting crushed.

Earlier this week, Dave Reardon spoke to June Jones, who hinted that Herman Frazier probably scheduled a few out-of-conference road games next year. I really hope Hawaii will play some BIG TIME teams on the road willing to give them some big checks. For one, I believe the athletic department is still in the red and needs all the money it can get. And for two(?) I think next year's team is gonna be awesome enough that we just might go into somebody's house and take their money as well as a frickin HUGE win or two. But I'm just speculating until there's an announcement. Come on Herman! You can do it!

======

Jimmy Watson of the Shreveport Times has some quotes from La Tech head coach Jack Bicknell giving some love, tinged with dread, to the UH offense.

"I don't know if Hawaii is on pace to set some kind of scoring record but they have certainly gone nuts the last few weeks," Bicknell said. "We need to try to slow them down, but it's not like you'll hold them to seven points or something. Then we have to answer with our scores."

While Brennan is on pace to set an NCAA single season touchdown mark, Bicknell is particularly worried about Warrior running back Nate Ilaoa. The 5-foot-9, 248-pound senior is 19th in the country in all-purpose yards with 1,182 through nine games.

"Their running back is probably who I fear the most, as far as making plays," Bicknell said. "Little slip screens, little shovel passes. I don't know what he weighs -- I'm afraid to look -- but he's a big, thick guy who can really run. He bounces off people. To me, he's who really makes that offense go."

If you think the injuries plaguing the Warriors are bad, and they are, you should read this article by The News Star's Scott Beder about the injuries plaguing Louisana Tech.

Last spring the Bulldogs lost defensive end Thad Williams for the season with a knee injury. Williams, a converted tight end, was coming on strong.

Then this fall, during two-a-days, starting defensive end Jared Patron suffered a season-ending knee injury.Since the season has started, Tech has had five defensive starters miss time with various ailments, while another handful are playing with injuries that are limiting their ability.

"The only other time in my experience (injuries have been this bad) was Frank Solute's first year (at Nebraska) in 1998," said Tech defensive coordinator George Arlington, who is in his 32nd year as a college assistant. "That year we had 44 different starters by the end of the year. This is as bad and maybe worse."

I feel for them. They gotta travel all this way without a lot of their first team, get blown out, then travel all the way back to Louisiana. It would be better if it was a fair fight and UH was playing the La Tech team that blew them out last year. And the revenge would be much more satisfying. With this team, it's almost like you feel sorry for them. Let's hope they recover and become a force in the WAC next year. Not that I'm looking past this game! And neither definitely, are the Warriors.

======

Speaking of WAC teams that are "playing up", here's an article on the rise of San Jose State, which UH plays in two weeks.

The Spartans' success has not gone unnoticed at WAC headquarters. San Jose is the largest market among the nine cities in the conference, with about twice as many inhabitants as second-place Fresno (approximately 1 million to 500,000).

"We anticipated that Dick Tomey was going to come into San Jose State and in a fairly short period of time turn the program around, and we're seeing that," Benson said. "We've been waiting for many years for San Jose State to have this type of success. We think it's important to the overall credibility of the WAC. It's obviously our largest television market, and it's important for the WAC, for San Jose State football to be successful. I think this is a real boost, not only for the Spartans but for the WAC as well."

Couldn't have said it better myself Karl. Now go make nice with ESPN!

Gabe Tuata (w/ Updates)

Stephen Tsai reports that Kealakehe running back Gabe Tuata has committed to becoming a Warrior.

Tuata said he received strong interest from Boise State, Arizona, Colorado and Brigham Young.

Tuata said he was told he will compete at slotback at UH.

"I'm fine with anything," Tuata said.

Tuata was named to The Advertiser's All-State second team as a junior last year.

This year, he has rushed for more than 1,600 yards in 11 games. Against Hawai'i Prep Academy, he gained 275 yards on 10 carries.

Tuata, who is 5 feet 7 and 175 pounds, can run 40 yards in 4.49 seconds.

Sounds like a great player! Glad he decided to stay.

UPDATE: Looks like this race has turned from UH pickup to toss-up. Dave Reardon has an update.

Kealakehe running back Gabe Tuata made an oral commitment to accept a football scholarship from Hawaii on Monday, but also said today that he continues to be in contact with Arizona and will consider the Wildcats if offered a scholarship.

Tuata said Arizona is interested in him, but had not offered yet.

"No, they made me wait. That's why I commited to Hawaii. They gave me a solid offer," Tuata said.

He also said UH wanted him to commit "right away."

Tuata said his tentative plan is to sign with Hawaii on Feb. 7, national letter of intent day. He hesitated when asked how firm his commitment is to the Warriors, then said, "I'm committed to Hawaii."

He also said, "There will be trips," when asked if he planned to make visits to other schools.

Well, I hope Gabe makes the RIGHT choice and sticks to UH. No pressure! Nah, good luck to him in whatever he chooses, but I hope he sticks with his commit and becomes a Hawaii Warrior!!!!

Also, Colt Brennan has been voted USA Today's Player of the Week.

Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan tossed six touchdown against Utah State to earn this week's USA TODAY's Player of the Week honor. Brennan was 18-of-29 for 413 yards in a 63-10 victory that saw him pass Tim Chang for the school's single-season record for touchdown passes at 39. Brennan won the award with the support of the fall balloting and college football editor Erick Smith. Gannett News Service columnist Mike Lopresti sided with Maryland linebacker Erin Henderson.

And as I was writing this, I noticed the Advertiser is reporting that Colt Brennan has been named a semi-finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award.

University of Hawaii junior quarterback Colt Brennan is one of 18 semifinalists for the 2006 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, presented annually to the nation's beset college quarterback.
The O'Brien Selection Committee, made up of a nationwide panel of sportswriters, commentators and former O'Brien Award winners, will vote later this month to narrow the field again.

The three finalists will be announced Nov. 21 by the National College Football Awards Association in a joint effort among college football award programs.

They just keep rolling in! Excellent news.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that it was an excellent live chat with Coach Jeff Reinebold today. Thanks to the coach, and thanks again to Stephen Tsai and his crew for giving the fans a good show. Here's a link to the thread.

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.

Coach Reinebold to Chat

Coach Jeff Reinebold will be the guest for tomorrow's live chat at Stephen Tsai's Warrior Beat blog. It should start at 9:30am Hawaiian, 11:30am Pacific, 12:30pm Mountain, 1:30pm Central, 2:30pm Eastern and 3:30pm Puerto Rican. For some reason, I've been chosen in a random drawing to have my question answered first, and now I'm under pressure to ask a good question. Be there!

The UH Athletics Dept. has some Monday quotes from coach June Jones. Here's an excerpt.

On the national scene...where do we go from here?
"We're getting more recognition because we're winning, but I think because of our (time) slot, the east coast doesn't know anything about us. Our scores aren't posted in the New York Times. I think we've met our goal to get where we are with the record we have. We won on the road and now we just need to take it one game at a time and keep doing what we're doing. Everything else should take care of itself."

And finally, in some news from earlier, Dave Reardon has an update on the goings-on along the defensive line.

Guard Larry Sauafea, running back Siave Seti and tackle Adrian Thomas were moved from offense to the defensive line this morning in an effort to shore up Hawaii's injury-depleted defensive front.

In the past two weeks, six Warriors defensive linemen were knocked out of games with injuries. At least three will likely miss the remaining four games of the regular season.

I'm sure we'll hear more about it tomorrow.

Colt Colt Colt

It's all about Colt, with his Walter Camp award yesterday, and his third WAC Offensive Player of the Week Award today, but he's a humble and generous guy, and he deflects praise to his teammates in this Dave Reardon article.

"It was a collective effort of the entire team, no sacks, the receivers getting open and the defense played great," Brennan said. "Probably Nate should be co-player of the week. He definitely helped me look good."

He's also generous in Stephen Tsai's article and talks about seeing himself on ESPN.

"I was the last one going through security (at Ogden Airport)," Brennan recalled, "and everyone was in a room watching ESPN. I heard everyone cheering. I was trying to hurry through security. As I got close to the room, everybody started booing really loud. I was like, 'What's going on?' I looked at the TV, and I saw my face and some stats. And that was it. I saw one second of it."

If you want to see that ESPN clip I believe he was talking about, why lookie here, reader Charles has provided us with a link to a clip:



Thanks Charles! UPDATE: I had to change the link to a cleaner version of the same clip. The original was corrupted.

And here's another clip where Colt gets a gets a "helmet sticker" as Dave Reardon mentions in his article:



Pretty cool!

What's not cool is the injuries on the defensive line, as Stephen Tsai gives an update at the end of his article.

Defensive end Laupepa Letuli said he probably will miss up to three games after suffering torn scar tissue in his left knee. Earlier this season, he suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in that knee. He said he will undergo an MRI today.

Defensive end Rocky Savaiigaea said his sprained left ankle is "stiff." It is not known if Savaiigaea will be available for Saturday's game against visiting Louisiana Tech.

Let's hope there are no more injuries and Rocky and Laupepa's recovery goes smoothly.

Dave Reardon's Warrior Replay recounts the 5 big plays in the Utah State game. Here's an excerpt:

2. Dig this

The Setup: Hawaii 14, Utah State 3; less than 10:30 remaining, second quarter, Hawaii ball, first and 10 at own 40.

The Play: Utah State blitzes and Hawaii has the perfect antidote with a shovel pass to Nate Ilaoa. Ilaoa cuts through the remainder of the Utah State defenders, and outruns the pursuit for a 60-yard touchdown.

The Impact: Hawaii led by 11 even before fully adjusting to Utah State's defense. It would use the shovel to Ilaoa for another 60-yard gain in the third quarter, setting up Brennan's 12-yard pass to Davone Bess for a 35-10 lead.

Ilaoa: "Just a good game plan by Coach. They're packing the box with like nine guys. So we were able to get it open and pop it a couple of times."

See the above highlights to see Nate's touchdown run and Lou Holtz saying it should be illegal for a big guy to run that fast!

Speaking of ESPN, here's a quote from the St. Petersburg Times.

ESPN's Rece Davis did a commendable job filling in as host of College GameDay with Chris Fowler doing Saturday's Breeders' Cup. Davis' best line: "Look at these highlights. Watching Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan is like watching a video game." Davis is right. It's like a video game set on the "rookie" setting. Brennan has thrown 39 touchdowns with only six interceptions. But he lives in Hawaii, not South Bend, so forget the Heisman.

That last line bugs me, but Hawaii just has to keep winning against quality teams to help change the perceptions.

And finally, Ferd Lewis is somewhat giddy thinking about a PAC-10 team playing UH in the Hawaii Bowl.

When it came to who would oppose the Western Athletic Conference entry, there was generally a collective yawn because whether it was Central Florida, Tulane or anybody else you could name from C-USA — and you can name all 12 members, right? — few in Hawai'i really cared.

The games were good, but the opposing team might as well have been Taxidermy Tech for all the tickets it sold. No knock on Conference USA, you understand, because if UH was playing in a bowl game in, say, Greenville, N.C., or Hattiesburg, Miss., it might not elicit much interest, either.

Not so with the Pac-10, this year's contracted supplier of the opposition, however. The Pac-10 has teams that have been heard of and seen on television. They have alumni here. No need to run to the library to find out what the Green Wave is or refresh the memory on a Golden Hurricane. The nickname recognition game is real easy when it is a Bruin, Sun Devil or Husky.

And if the Warriors come into the bowl at 11-2 like many think they have a chance to, you'd at least like them to play somebody you've heard of if you are going to be spending Christmas Eve afternoon watching them. Even the sixth-place team from the Pac-10 has more cachet here than the best C-USA team. So it was practically providential that when the Hawai'i Bowl worked out a deal with the conferences to rotate in the Pac-10 this is the year it starts.

I just hope Hawaii gets to blow out a good team rather than a mediocre team. Eh, jus joke cuz! GO WARRIORS!!!!

Rankings, Etc.

UH is getting more votes. Not "actually" ranked yet but getting oh so close. In the polls, Hawaii is:

• Ranked 28th (40 votes) in the USA Today Coaches Poll
• Ranked 29th (11 votes) in the AP Poll
• Ranked 30th in the BCS poll
• Ranked 31st in CFN's poll.
• Ranked 29th in the CBS Sportsline poll
• Ranked 28th (56 votes) in the Harris Interactive Poll

In other poll news, you can vote for Colt Brennan as USA Today's Player of the Week here. Do it!

If you want to see how a Utah TV station covered yesterday's game, you can see the story and video at this KUTV.com page.

And finally, Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post has a section on the Warriors in his college football wrap up.

One of the most exciting teams in the nation plays five time zones away from the East Coast and never will be taken seriously in the college football landscape, especially when year after year it plays a bowl game in its hometown.

Those are the pitfalls when you are Hawaii. Still, the Warriors possess the most potent offense in the country and have the perfect gunslinger at quarterback.

Colt Brennan leads the nation in passing efficiency (190.0) and touchdown passes (39) and has completed 73 percent of his passes. Brennan threw for 413 yards and six touchdowns in Saturday's 63-10 victory at Utah State, setting school records for touchdown passes in a season and pass attempts without an interception (182).

Brennan could become the second college quarterback in history to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a season, joining Houston's David Klingler.

Unfortunately, that section I emphasized in bold highlights how UH is perceived around much of the nation. Right now a lot of college football fans, coaches, writers, etc. do not take the Warriors seriously, for whatever reason, whether it's the offense, strength of schedule, being in the WAC, etc. Well, the only thing UH can do is to just keep winning, especially against quality teams. The opponents on the rest of the schedule will get progressively better leading up to the Hawaii Bowl, so let's hope Hawaii wins out and makes a statement! GO WARRIORS!!!!

Hawaiʻi vs Utah State Newspaper Wrap-Ups

Dave Reardon writes in his wrap-up about the Warriors' secret weapon that's not really much of a secret, the shovel pass.

"The first couple of steps, it looks like a pass," Brennan said. "Everybody's saying 'Pass, pass, pass,' then I shovel it to Nate real quick. It puts defenses in a bind, especially when you've got O-linemen who move the way ours do and Nate doing his thing. It's just a great play and I'm glad we capitalized on it."

A big key to the play's success is the offensive linemen selling it as a longer pass.

"We have to act like its pass blocking, then have the right timing to get downfield and block," left guard Hercules Satele said. "We didn't practice that play during the week because we didn't think we were gonna run it that much. But it worked out and Nate took it to the house the first time and then another long one."

Ilaoa now has 13 touchdowns for the season.

Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune also has an article about the effectiveness of the shovel.

“That's the one that really got us,” Utah State coach Brent Guy said after the Warriors rolled to a 63-10 victory at Romney Stadium.
“That was their best play.”
Hawaii's Colt Brennan completed 18 of 29 passes for 413 yards and six touchdowns.
Three of Brennan's completions - and one by backup Tyler Graunke - were shovel passes that ended up gaining a total of 180 yards.
One shovel went for a touchdown, two set up touchdowns and another moved Hawaii away from its own goal line and started a scoring drive.
“They kept us off-balance with pass, pass, pass, shovel,” said Utah State cornerback Drew Pearson. “They did a good job of setting up their plays.”

The thing is defenses can't really key on it or Colt will just pass it. This offense is unstoppable right now.

Steve Luhm also has a wrap-up highlighting how Utah State tried to prepare defensively for the Warrior offense.

"We had a different game plan," Guy said. "Everybody has pretty much laid off them in a zone and let them work the ball down the field. . . . We wanted to give them a different look."
Different look, same result.
The Warriors, who led 28-10 in the third quarter before reeling off 35 straight points, handed Utah State its worst loss since 1989.
Brennan hit four receivers for touchdowns, including a 29-yarder to Ryan Grice-Mullen only 89 seconds into the game.
Call it foreshadowing.
"To be honest, I'm surprised how they played us," Brennan said. "It's a good idea, probably. But when you do that - press the line of scrimmage like they did - it matches athletes against athletes, and our athletes are unbelievable."

Stephen Tsai's wrap-up also discusses the shovel pass, Utah's defensive scheme, as well as Michael Lafaele keying on the running back, funny quotes from Glanville, and this great quote from Ryan Grice-Mullins at the end of this Q&A style excerpt:

Q: How will the Warriors celebrate being invited to a bowl?

A: "Not very long," Leonard said. "We don't want to celebrate and say, 'That's the end of our season.' We have four more games. We want to win out."

Well, maybe sophomore Grice-Mullins can enjoy it a little longer.

"My last winning season was when I was a sophomore in high school," Grice-Mullins said. "My junior year, we were 1-9. My senior year, we were 0-10. Last year, 5-7. It's sweet to go to a bowl, but I'm so happy to have a winning season."

I think this is a start of many many winning seasons for UH!

Ferd Lewis has a short profile of Nate Ilaoa and his performance yesterday.

Then, there was peer pressure stoking his two pass scampers of 60 yards and a 33-yard run.

"If I let one of these (defenders) catch me from behind, I'm going to hear about it from my teammates," Ilaoa said. "In the huddle they'll ask me, 'can you go 50, 60 yards?' And, I'll tell them, 'I've got enough to get me there, I just need a little help from you holding your blocks' 'cause it is a team effort."

Running backs coach Wes Suan said, "back in (camp) he'd tell us, all he needed to run fast was to have someone chasing him."

Ferd's column also has more about the ridiculous offense.

"Nate," Brennan said, "made me look good. A lot of that was all Nate. I got (credit) for 60 yards (on a second-quarter touchdown pass) but it wasn't more than 5 yards."

Actually, they've made each other, not to mention their whole supporting cast, look good. Their growing synergy and the 7-2 Warriors' ability to make it all work with precision, as much as anything, is responsible for UH's sixth straight victory and the bowl berth it has clinched.

Now to the bad news. Dave Reardon's Notebook has news on the injuries incurred in yesterday's game.

Tackle Kahai LaCount (chest), tackle/end Rocky Savaiigaea (ankle) and end Laupepa Letuli (knee) were knocked out of yesterday's 63-10 victory at Utah State with injuries, and Savaiigaea and Letuli look like they might miss some games.

Three defensive ends -- Renolds Fruean, Keala Watson and Amani Purcell -- were lost, possibly for the season, in last week's 68-10 win against Idaho.

"That's the only (negative) thing," UH coach June Jones said. "We lost a bunch of D-linemen again. We're down to, I don't know what we're gonna do. Actually, we're probably going to have to switch some more guys. We've lost six or seven guys on the D-line alone."

Former nose tackle Siave Seti, who was moved to running back in spring practice, will probably be switched back to the other side of the line, defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said. Second-string offensive guard Larry Sauafea practiced on defense two years ago, but probably won't be moved since he's a top reserve now.

The good news is Ikaika Alama-Francis is back to full strength.

After having sat out last week's victory over Idaho due to back spasms, Alama-Francis sacked Utah State quarterback Riley Nelson early in the second quarter.

Alama-Francis had two tackles for losses and five tackles overall.

"I felt really good, 100 percent," Alama-Francis said. "I needed that week off to get my back back and all that."

Let's hope Rocky and Laupepa get a good prognosis. I can't believe all these injuries along the defensive line. Let's hope if anything, all these injured players will be good to go against whoever our Hawaiʻi Bowl opponent is.

GO WARRIORS!!!!

P.S. Sorry if there are formatting issues with this post. Just trying something new.

LATE UPDATE: The Advertiser reports that Colt Brennan got another award.

Hawai'i junior quarterback Colt Brennan has been named the National Offensive Player of the Week by the Walter Camp Football Foundation following his performance against Utah State on Saturday in Logan, Utah.

Congratulations once again to Colt!

Stats After Week 10 - More Ridiculous

From the NCAA and ESPN

Hawaii is:

• 1st in the nation in scoring offense with 47.33 points per game.
• 1st in the nation in passing offense with 429 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in total offense with 534 yards per game.
• 2nd in the nation in third down efficiency with a conversion percentage of 56.5%
  
• 69th in the nation in scoring defense with 23.2 points allowed per game.
• 99th in the nation in total defense with 395.33 yards allowed per game.
• 45th in the nation in turnover margin with 0.22 per game. Just a month ago, UH was ranked 117th in this category, so there's been a great improvement.
  
• T-3rd in the nation in tackles for loss allowed with 3.67 per game.

Colt Brennan is:

• 1st in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 190.0. HOLY CRAP!
  
• 1st in the nation in total offense with 394.8 yards per game.
• 1st in the nation in points responsible for with 28.00 points per game.
• 1st in the nation in touchdown passes with 39.

Nate Ilaoa is:

• T-9th in the nation in scoring with 8.67 points per game.
• 19th in the nation in all-purpose yards with 131.33 yards per game.

Davone Bess is:

• 7th in the nation in receptions with 6.89 per game.
• 23rd in the nation in receiving yards with 77.56 per game.

Ross Dickerson is:

• 6th in the nation in kickoff returns with 32.87 yards per return.
• T-34th in the nation in all-purpose yards with 118 yards per game.

NOTE: These aren't permalinks, so as the week changes, so will the stats.

Hawaii 63, Utah State 10

So much for the altitude and the cold being factors. Well maybe it was since Colt only completed 62% of his passes, haha. I hope Rocky and Laupepa are okay. That's just amazingly bad luck if these two are out for the rest of the regular season like Amani Purcell, Keala Watson and Renolds Freuan. Hope to hear good news tomorrow.

The good news right now is that the Warriors are going bowling! UH just accepted an invitation to the Hawaii Bowl. Just gotta find out who the opponent is. Should be a good game in any case. GO WARRIORS!!!

Stats from today's game:

Colt Brennan was 18 of 29 for 413 yards, with 6 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Nate Ilaoa rushed 6 times for 55 yards and 1 touchdown. He also caught 6 passes for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns!

Ryan Grice-Mullins caught 4 passes for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Jason Rivers caught 3 passes for 51 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Adam Leonard finished with 11 tackles, a QB hurry, a pass defended and a fumble recovery.

LiveBlogging: Hawaii at Utah State

All times Game Clock!

FINAL SCORE: Hawaii 63, Utah State 10

1st Quarter:

15:00 - Hawaii will receive!

15:00 - Utah State kicks off, sort of a pooch, and Blaze Soares as one of the uplineman takes it to the 29.

14:40 - On 1st down from the UH 29, Colt Brennan completes a short pass to Ryan Grice-Mullins. RGM breaks a couple tackles and takes it into USU territory and is bumped out around the 45!

14:15 - On 1st down from the USU 43, Colt, under pressure, misfires on a short pass to Nate Ilaoa.

14:10 - On 2nd down from the USU 43, Colt passes to Ian Sample along the right sideline, but he can't hold on.

14:05 - On 3rd and 10 from the USU 43, Colt Brennan dances around and finally finds Ross Dickerson for a first down!!!

13:40 - On 1st down from the USU 29, Colt Brennan finds Ryan Grice-Mullins crossing over the middle and RGM takes it in for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!

13:27 - Dan Kelly's PAT attempt hits the upright, but it goes in, hahaha. Yikes. Anyway, Hawaii 7, Utah State 0.

13:27 - Dan Kelly kicks off and USU downs it in the end zone.

13:15 - On 1st down from the USU 20, Marcus Cross takes a handoff for a couple yards.

12:57 - There was an incidental facemask on Solomon Elimimian, so it's first down and 3 on the USU 27.

12:35 - Handoff to Cross, who takes it to the 29. 2nd down and short.

12:07 - On 2nd and short from the USU 29, freshman QB Riley Nelson completes a pass as he gets hit and the receiver takes it to the Hawaii 47.

11:40 - Handoff to Cross, and he's immediately gang-tackled by a bunch of Warriors for little or no gain.

11:00 - On 2nd and 9 from the UH 46, Nelson completes a pass to the tight end, who is bumped out of bounds at the UH 33.

10:50 - On 1st and 10 from the UH 33, Riley Nelson on the QB keeper and he fumbles!!! UH recovers!!! I think they're gonna review it.

10:40 - Okay, on 2nd and 9 from the 32, USU throws incomplete. Apparently they overruled really quickly and it's still USU ball. 3rd down.

10:15 - On 3rd and 9, screen pass to Cross, and he's tackled at the 29 by Jacob Patek and Michael Lafaele.

9:26 - They attempt a 46 yard field goal and it is good. That's USU's first field goal of the year! Hawaii 7, Utah State 3

9:22 - Utah State kicks off and Ross Dickerson takes it out to the 26.

9:05 - On 1st down from the UH 20, Colt Brennan hands off to Nate Ilaoa, and he powers his way to the 27 yard line.

8:15 - On 2nd down, Nate Ilaoa sprints and then runs over a defender all the way into USU territory!!!!

7:57 - On 1st down from the USU 34, Colt Brennan finds Ian Sample in the end zone, but he drops it. He had to twist to reach the ball in the air.

7:42 - On 2nd down from the USU 34, Brennan finds Davone Bess on the left sideline for a first down! Nice pass!

7:34 - On 1st down from the USU 24, Brennan completes a pass to Nate Ilaoa, who was flat on his back when he caught it for a 1 yard loss. Think he slipped as Brennan threw.

6:35 - On 2nd down and 11 from the USU 25, Brennan throws incomplete to Chad Mock deep along the right sideline.

6:25 - On 3rd and 11 from the USU 25, Brennan can't find an open receiver, then just runs it all the way to the 13 yard line for a FIRST DOWN!!!

6:10 - On 1st down from the USU 13, Brennan throws a screen to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it into the endzone for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!!

6:09 - Dan Kelly's PAT attempt doesn't hit the upright and IT'S GOOD! Hawaii 14, Utah State 3

6:05 - Dan Kelly kicks off deep into the endzone, where it is downed.

5:55 - On 1st down from the USU 20, handoff the Marcus Cross, who takes it to the 23.

5:20 - On 2nd down from the USU 23, short pass and it's taken to the USU 28.

4:30 - On 3rd and 2, Riley Nelson completes a pass and the USU receiver takes it to the 30. 1st down.

4:00 - On 1st and 10 from the USU 30, Riley Nelson keeps it and takes it to the 35.

3:22 - On 2nd down from the USU 35, Nelson passes incomplete off the hands of the tight end.

3:10 - On 3rd and 5, the pass is nearly intercepted by AJ Martinez on a Nelson overthrow!

3:00 - USU punts and Myron Newberry takes it out and it looks like a fumble! But he's ruled down around the 32.

2:40 - On 1st down from the UH 31, penalty on UH. False start.

2:30 - On 1st down and 15 from the 26, no gain on a rush. I did not see the play.

2:02 - On 2nd down, Brennan completes a 14 yard pass to Davone Bess to the UH 39. 3rd and short.

1:20 - On 3rd and 2, Brennan's pass is off Dickerson's hands! Gotta punt.

1:14 - Kurt Milne punts and the returner fumbles! But it's recovered by USU, and now there's flags.

1:10 - Penalty on USU, block on the back, so they'll start way back.

0:44 - On 1st down from the USU 9, Antraun McDaniel takes it out to the 15.

0:10 - On 2nd down, McDaniel is dropped back at the USU 14 on a sweep.

0:00 - End of quarter.


2nd Quarter:

15:00 - On 3rd down and 5 from the USU 14, Riley Nelson throws it over the middle to nobody at all. Gotta punt!

14:50 - USU punts it away, and it's fair caught by Myron Newberry at the UH 48. Another timeout!

14:44 - On 1st down from the UH 48, Colt Brennan completes a pass to Ross Dickerson to the Utah State 48.

13:50 - On 2nd and 6, Brennan tries to hit Bess on the sideline, but slightly overthrown.

13:43 - On 3rd and 6 from the USU 48, Brennan throws incomplete. Ian Sample fell down on the play. My goodness, they gotta punt again.

13:40 - Kurt Milne punts and it is fair caught at the USU 21.

13:34 - On 1st down from the USU 21, Riley Nelson completes a quick 5 yard pass.

12:50 - On 2nd and 5, short gain on a running play. 3rd down.

12:20 - On 3rd and 4 from the USU 27, Riley Nelson on the option keeper out to the USU 31 for a first down.

11:52 - On 1st down from the USU 31, Nelson is SACKED by Ikaika Alama-Francis!!!!

11:05 - On 2nd down from the USU 23, pass is broken up by Adam Leonard. Looked like it was almost an interception!

10:52 - On 3rd and 18 from the USU 23, Nelson throws incomplete under pressure by Adam Leonard! Gotta punt!

10:44 - USU punts and Myron Newberry catches it but is hit immediately and is down at the UH 40.

10:20 - On 1st down, shovel pass to Nate Ilaoa, and he TAKES IT 60 YARDS FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!

10:12 - Dan Kelly's PAT attempt is good! Hawaii 21, Utah State 3

10:08 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it is downed in the end zone.

9:44 - On 1st down from the USU 20, Marcus Cross is stopped by Adam Leonard for a short gain.

9:10 - On 2nd down and 8 from the USU 22, Brad Kalilimoku drops Cross on an option for a 2 yard loss!!!

8:55 - On 3rd and 10 from the USU 20, Riley Nelson makes a nice run for a first down out to the USU 31.

7:55 - On 1st down from the USU 31, McDaniel takes it a couple yards before he's stopped by Jacob Patek.

7:15 - On 2nd and 8 from the USU 33, pass complete out to the 43 for a first down. Stop made by Leonard Peters.]

6:55 - Nelson on a QB keeper takes it to the 48.

6:15 - On 2nd and 6 from the USU 48, McDaniel FUMBLES!!!!! HAWAII RECOVERS!!!! Lawrence Wilson with the recovery. NICE!

5:55 - On 1st and 10 from the USU 48, Nate Ilaoa takes the hand off and rumbles his way to the USU 35 for a first down!

5:25 - On 1st down from the USU 35, Brennan finds Jason Rivers over the middle and he waltzes his way into the end zone for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!!

5:15 - Dan Kelly's PAT attempt is right down the middle! Hawaii 28, Utah State 3

5:10 - Dan Kelly kicks it off and it's taken out to the 24.

4:35 - On 1st down from the USU 24, Nelson on a keeper out to the USU 33.

3:55 - On 2nd and short, Ikaika Alama-Francis with a quick stop for a 1 yard loss!

3:28 - On 3rd and short, Nelson completes a pass over the middle for a 1st down.

3:00 - Before the ball is snapped, false start on USU.

2:45 - On 1st down from the USU 41, Riley Nelson on the keeper, but he's immediately stopped by Sol Elimimian for no gain!

2:02 - On 2nd down, Nelson completes a long pass over the middle for a first down into UH territory.

1:40 - On 1st down from the UH 19, Nelson on the keeper to the UH 15.

1:15 - On 2nd down, short gain to the 12. 3rd and short.

1:09 - Timeout Utah State.

1:09 - On 3rd and about 3 from the UH 12, Riley Nelson, under pressure completes a pass to the line of scrimmage. Should've been sacked or intercepted! Oh well, 4th down!

0:27 - Utah State takes a timeout.

0:14 - They're going for a field goal, and there's a penalty on USU for delay of game. There's no time left on the clock. Nevermind.

0:01 - Utah State takes a timeout with one second left.

0:00 - Utah State's kick is NO GOOD and the first half is over. Hawaii 28, Utah State 3


HALFTIME - Here are some stats at the half:

Colt Brennan is 10 of 17 for 205 yards with FOUR touchdowns and no interceptions

Nate Ilaoa has 4 rushes for 53 yards and has caught 3 passes for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns!

Adam Leonard already has 9 tackles at the half.

Be back in 15 minutes!


2nd Half:

3rd Quarter:

15:00 - Dan Kelly kicks it off out of the end zone for a touchback.

14:35 - On 1st and 10 from the USU 20, Riley Nelson completes a short pass to the sideline, and there's a missed tackle, which turns it into a 30 yard gain.

14:05 - On 1st down from the 50, Riley Nelson on the keeper. It looks like he's down around the UH 43, but his knee never touches and he just runs it all the way into the end zone for a touchdown. And the play is under review...

14:05 - Aha! The play is reversed after review! USU will have the ball on the UH 43.

13:55 - Nelson on another keeper, and he takes it to the UH 39 for a first down.

13:35 - On 1st down from the UH 39, swing pass is taken to the UH 26 for another first down.

13:11 - Before the play, false start on Utah State.

12:50 - On 1st and 15 from the UH 30, Nelson completes a pass on the right sideline, and the receiver takes it all the way to the UH 5 yard line.

12:40 - On 1st and goal from the UH 5, option pitch to McDaniel who is bumped out of bounds at the 1.

12:30 - On 2nd and goal from the 1, McDaniel up the middle for a touchdown.

12:28 - The PAT is good. Hawaii 28, Utah State 10

12:20 - Utah State kicks a pooch, and it's taken by Chad Mock out to the 28.

12:05 - On 1st down from the UH 28, shovel pass to Nate Ilaoa, who takes it ALL THE WAY TO THE UTAH STATE 12 YARD LINE!!!!

11:30 - On 1st down from the USU 12, Colt Brennan passes to Davone Bess in the end zone for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!

11:26 - PAT is good. Hawaii 35, Utah State 10

11:24 - Dan Kelly kicks it out of the end zone for another touchback.

11:05 - On 1st down from the USU 20, Nelson throws incomplete.

10:56 - On 2nd down, Riley Nelson on a keeper to the USU 24. 3rd down.

10:10 - On 3rd and 6 from the USU 24, Riley Nelson completes a pass on an amazing catch to the 46. And there's roughing the passer on UH tacked on.

9:45 - On 1st down from the UH 39, Utah tries some double reverse and they take it to the sideline where they're bumped out at the UH 34.

9:15 - Riley Nelson on a keeper, and HE FUMBLES!!!! Adam Leonard RECOVERS!!! UH ball!

8:55 - On 1st down from the UH 32, Colt Brennan passes to Ross Dickerson, who takes it to the 50 yard line!

8:39 - Personal foul at the end of the play on Utah State, so the ball will be on the USU 35.

8:25 - On 1st down from the USU 35, Colt Brennan passes a bubble screen to Malcolm Lane, and he takes it to the USU 18 yard line!!!

7:50 - On 1st down from the USU 18, Colt has all day and then passes to Ryan Grice-Mullins in the back of the end zone for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!

7:45 - PAT is good, right down the middle. Hawaii 41, Utah State 10

7:45 - Apparently, a Utah State player was ejected on that personal foul penalty. I didn't see what happened. Also, Colt Brennan now has 6 touchdown passes!

7:42 - Dan Kelly kicks into the back of the end zone for a touchback.

7:20 - On 1st and 10 from the 20, handoff to McDaniel to the 23.

6:45 - On 2nd and 7 from the 23, Riley Nelson throws it out of bounds after scrambling. Mel Purcell is down. Let's hope he's okay. Check that, it's Rocky Savaiigaea who is injured. Geez, the defensive line is taking a hit. Rocky is being helped off the field.

6:27 - On a really quick play, Utah State gets a first down to the USU 32.

6:10 - On 1st down from the 32, Riley Nelson throws a pick to Ryan Keomaka, who takes it all the way back to the USU 31!!!!

5:15 - On 1st down from the USU 31, Nate Ilaoa takes the hand off and he gets dropped back at the 32.

5:00 - On 2nd down, Colt Brennan sits back and throws incomplete. Too high for Bess.

4:50 - On 3rd down and 11 from the 32, Brennan throws incomplete. 4th down.

4:45 - On 4th down, they're going for it. Brennan is hit and his pass is picked off, but behind the line of scrimmage. Brennan is slow in getting up. Looks like he's okay.

4:30 - On 1st down from the USU 27, Riley Nelson throws a quick sideline pass for a 6 yard gain.

4:15 - On 2nd down from the 33, false start on USU.

4:05 - On 2nd and 9, Riley Nelson completes a pass to the 33. Nice tackle by Keomaka!

3:27 - On 3rd and 4 from the USU 33, Riley Nelson runs for a first down to the USU 40.

3:21 - On 1st down from the USU 40, Nelson passes incomplete.

3:18 - On 2nd down from the USU 40, McDaniel takes it to the 43. 3rd down.

2:40 - On 3rd and 7 from the USU 43, Nelson throws deep, but the receiver falls down. 4th down!

2:30 - USU punts and Myron Newberry takes it to the USU 10 yard line! But there's a flag on the play. Darn.

1:55 - On 1st down from the 15 yard line, shovel pass to Nate Ilaoa, who ALMOST breaks one again! But he's tripped up at the UH 35.

1:20 - On 1st down, short pass to Reagan Mauia to the UH 37.

0:45 - On 2nd down and 8 from the UH 37, Colt Brennan's bubble screen pass is batted down. 3rd down.

0:30 - On 3rd down from the UH 37, Brennan finds Grice-Mullins deep to the right hash mark and he can't be brought down!!!! But finally he's dropped at the USU 3 yard line. He caught the ball at the USU 27 and he had defenders hanging onto him all the way!

0:02 - On 1st and goal from the 3, Brennan options to Nate Ilaoa and walks into the end zone for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!

0:00 - PAT is good, right down the middle. Hawaii 49, Utah State 10 End of 3rd quarter!


4th Quarter:

15:00 - Dan Kelly kicks off and US brings it out to the 22 yard line.

14:25 - On 1st down from the 22, Riley Nelson on the keeper and he's gang tackled on the 31. And there's a fumble! Hawaii recovers!

13:50 - On 1st down from the USU 31, Tyler Graunke, who's now in the game, throws incomplete to Mike Washington.

13:40 - On 2nd and 10 from the USU 31, Graunke on a bubble screen to Jason Rivers, who takes it to the USU 16.

13:10 - On 1st down, Graunke throws complete to Chad Mock, but there's a penalty flag.

13:07 - It was illegal formation on UH, gotta replay the down.

12:44 - On 1st down from the 21, Graunke throws complete, but out of bounds. 2nd down.

12:38 - On 2nd down from the 21, Graunke throws to Chad Mock in the end zone, but it's incomplete.

12:34 - On 3rd and 15 from the USU 21, Graunke throws complete to Michael Washington all the way to the USU 1 or 2 yard line!

12:08 - On 1st and goal from the 1, Graunke passes to Jason Rivers in the corner for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!

12:03 - Dan Kelly kicks it right down the middle yet again for the PAT. Hawaii 56, USU 10. No missed PAT yet!

12:00 - Dan Kelly kicks off into the end zone, and it's taken out to the USU 18.

11:38 - McDaniel takes it out to the 23.

11:07 - On 2nd down, McDaniel takes it to the 29 for a 1st down.

10:45 - On 1st down from the USU 29, Nelson on a short pass to McDaniel to the 34.

10:32 - On 2nd and 5 from the USU 34, McDaniel takes it out to the USU 40 for another 1st down.

10:09 - Nelson throws incomplete on 1st down.

10:00 - On 2nd down, tackle for loss by a bunch of Warriors.

9:25 - On 3rd and long, Nelson throws it out of bounds, under pressure. And there's an intentional grounding flag. So 4th down and loss of yards.

9:15 - USU punts and Newberry muffs the punt and USU recovers. But there's a penalty. Timeout.

9:11 - Looks like UH will have the ball back. Not sure what the penalty was.

9:11 - Oh well, in any case, UH will have the ball.

9:08 - On 1st down from the USU 49, Tyler Graunke hands off the Reagan Mauia, who takes it to the USU 45 yard line.

8:20 - On 2nd down, Mauia powers his way to the 41. 3rd down.

7:45 - On 3rd and 2 from the USU 41, Graunke passes incomplete to Michael Washington. 4th down.

7:30 - On 4th and 2, UH goes for it, Graunke completes a pass to Aaron Bain for a first down to the USU 33.

7:05 - On 1st down from the US 33, shovel pass to The Juggernaut and he runs all the way to the USU 4 yard line!!!

6:30 - On 1st and goal, Graunke options it to David Farmer, who takes it in for a TOUCHDOWN!!!!

6:29 - Dan Kelly's PAT is good! Hawaii 63, Utah State 10

6:29 - I have a feeling the crowd will start chanting "MERCY!" like at the end of Braveheart.

6:29 - I'm sorry, that was mean.

6:20 - Dan Kelly kicks off and it's taken out to the 24. Flag on USU.

6:00 - On 1st down from the USU 11, handoff is taken to the 14.

5:25 - Pass is incomplete on 2nd down.

5:20 - On 3rd and 7, pass is incomplete. They gotta be going for it.

5:15 - USU punts instead and CJ Hawthorne calls for a fair catch.

4:35 - David Farmer takes the hand off from the UH 47 to the USU 49.

4:00 - David Farmer loses 2 on the hand off. 3rd down.

3:35 - On 3rd down from the UH 49, Inoke Funaki takes it on the keeper to the USU 46 yard line.

2:35 - On 4th down from the USU 46, Funaki on the keeper to the USU 43, but there's a flag. Holding on UH. 10 yard penalty.

2:20 - And it looks like UH will punt.

1:55 - Kurt Milne punts and the returner is taken out at the 24.

1:35 - Penalty on USU. Illegal substitution.

1:20 - Hand off is taken for a couple yards.

0:55 - On 2nd down, another hand off for a couple yards. Clock runs down....

0:38 - And now another UH player is down. And it's Laupepa Letuli. I really hope he's okay. Geez.

0:38 - Letuli is being helped off the field. Savaiigaea and now him. Just run out the clock!

0:20 - Handoff taken out to the 30, and the clock runs down.

0:00 - END OF GAME. Hawaii 63, Utah State 10

And finally, Hawaii is being officially invited to play in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl!

Ways to Follow the Hawaii at Utah State Game

In Hawaii:

Watch it on K5

Listen to it on 1420 AM


In Utah:

Watch it on KJZZ

Listen to it on 610 AM in Logan

Listen to it on 1230 or 1320 AM in Salt Lake City


Outside of Hawaii or Utah:

Watch it on ESPN Gameplan


Everywhere:

Streaming video from WAC.tv

Streaming audio from Sports Radio 1420

Live stats via CSTV GameTracker

And I'll probably be liveblogging it.

Game starts in 3 hours. GO WARRIORS!!!!

GameDay: Hawaii at Utah State

Dave Reardon's gameday preview highlights this key matchup:

Hawaii vs. Mother Nature

As of last night it looked like the weather might not be too brutal for the visitors from the islands; a high of 55 degrees was expected for the 1 p.m. Mountain time kickoff, with a chance of rain in the morning and a slight possibility in the afternoon, adding up to a 40 percent likelihood of precipitation for the day.

But the skies can change quickly here, and the Warriors don't have the best history in inclement weather, losing at Boise and Reno in recent years in cold and wet conditions.

UH quarterback Colt Brennan -- who went to prep school in Boston and had a year at Colorado -- doesn't see a problem.

"I'm very acclimated to playing in cold weather. It has more of a football feeling in cold weather. But I've never played a game in the snow, so I'm hoping for cold but fair."

Davone Bess gets existential about it in this Stephen Tsai article:

Slotback Davone Bess said: "We tend to get spoiled sometimes playing out in the Islands. This is a reality check. The world can be a cold place."

Oh indeed good sir, such is the world... and such is life. Okay, so maybe I took that quote out of context, but I use it to underscore my somewhat melancholy mood this morning. The fools!

Punt returner Chad Owens, a former University of Hawai'i standout, was waived Friday by the Jacksonville Jaguars, who replaced him on the roster by signing running back Rich Alexis from the practice squad.

Owens, also a receiver, played in four games and returned nine punts for 56 yards, a 6.2-yard average. Coach Jack Del Rio called him "indecisive" after he returned two punts for 5 yards against Houston two weeks ago.

So quick with the hook! And they didn't even give him a chance to be a receiver. Let's hope some team who recognizes his value picks him up. Good luck to Chad.

Back to today's game, the Salt Lake Tribune has a game preview that spends most of its time marveling at Colt Brennan.

"It's amazing that they've thrown the ball 353 times and only had five interceptions," Guy said. "That's one 'interception" every 70 passes, and that's just an unbelievable number."

Idaho coach Dennis Erickson witnessed Hawaii's precision on offense last week, when the Warriors crushed the Vandals, 68-10.

"Hawaii is an awfully good football team," Erickson said. "Against us, they didn't punt until the fourth quarter. Talk about shell-shocked."

What makes Hawaii so difficult to stop?

"I think you can put it all on Brennan," Erickson said. "He's throwing the ball so accurately. He just sees things."

Just so it doesn't turn into another Colt lovefest, Stephen Tsai's gameday preview has an interesting mini-profile on freshman Utah State QB Riley Nelson.

After averaging 179.5 yards in the first four games, the Aggies are averaging 311.5 since Nelson became the starter. Nelson, a graduate of Logan High School, was a Parade high school All-America quarterback last year, when he accounted for a national-record 84 touchdowns (53 passing, 31 rushing). USU was the only school to offer him a scholarship before the start of his high school senior year. He remembered that faith when he received an offer from Utah and a conditional one from Brigham Young. "It came down to Utah and Utah State," Nelson said. But, really, it was no decision at all. Two of his great grandfathers played at USU. His grandfather was a USU player, coach and athletic director. His father played at USU. "I grew up an Aggie fan," Nelson said. "My blood is navy blue."

Interim offensive coordinator Greg Stevens customized the schemes to match Nelson's quick release and nimble footwork. Nelson has completed 60 percent of his passes, and already is the team's second-leading rusher with 169 yards. "Everyone who plays football wants the chance to start," Nelson said. "I was given that chance. I didn't want to blow it."

Hopefully Nelson will be one of the building blocks to lead Utah State back to being a winning program. Today's blowout loss to Hawaii should be a great learning experience.

And this being the final road game of the year, Ferd Lewis talks about the Warriors' performance on the road this year.

To date, this has been a team with a sharp road focus and determination rarely seen in UH squads of recent vintage. Indeed, there is a certain confidence if not swagger with this team. Not a foolish bravado but a sense of mission and attention to business that few recent Warrior teams have taken on the road with them. The kind that has carried them to a 2-2 record away from home so far this season and suggests that playing at 4,500 feet or in temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s will not render them beaten before kickoff.

A lot of it, you suspect, is senior leadership. With so many fifth- and sixth-year seniors, they have seen it all and learned from it. Guys like Leonard Peters, Nate Ilaoa, Samson Satele, Tala Esera, Ikaika Alama-Francis and Melila Purcell, who experienced the disappointments of last year's 5-7 season and have bigger things in mind for this one. Indeed, there is a lot invested in this season and, after a 6-2 (4-1 Western Athletic Conference) start, the Warriors are beginning to see what the payoff could look like and how huge it could be.

I hope future UH teams can keep this Road Warrior mentality. It's been great to see. But first, let's hope they continue it today, because if they win they'll get an invite from the Hawaii Bowl!

GO WARRIORS!!!!

Distribution of Balls

Jason Kaneshiro writes about Colt Brennan's sharing of the wealth when it comes to his receivers. For his O-line, it's pizza, for his receivers, it's the rock.

Davone Bess continues to be the Warriors' busiest receiver, ranking fourth in the nation with 7.38 receptions per game for an average of 82.9 yards, good for 14th nationally.

Ross Dickerson (64.8 ypg), Jason Rivers (64 ypg) and Ian Sample (60.5 ypg) are also among the WAC's most productive receivers. Chad Mock, who started seven games last year and one this season, has 16 receptions for 226 yards.

Ryan Grice-Mullins led the Warriors in receptions last season and was putting up big numbers again before an ankle injury sidelined him for four games. Dickerson moved from outside receiver to replace Grice-Mullins in the slot and caught 28 passes for 362 yards and five touchdowns in those four games.

...

"Colt has a good feel for all the receivers now and a good understanding," Lee said. "I think right now the guys, Colt and all the receivers, have a really good understanding of coverages and our system. They know where they have to be, they know when to do certain things."

It must give defenses fits, not being able to key on a #1 receiver, because they're all #1!

Stephen Tsai writes about the defensive line rotation UH will have going on during the Utah State game.

Because of Logan's breathtaking high altitude — 4,400 feet above sea level — the Warriors planned to rotate three sets of defensive lines for their 3-4 schemes.

The starters are ends Melila Purcell III and Ikaika Alama-Francis and nose tackle Michael Lafaele. The run-stopping unit is composed of Lawrence Wilson, Rocky Savaiigaea and Kahai LaCount. Reinebold said he had hoped (Victor) Clore would be on the third unit, made up of pass-rushers.

Without Clore, the Warriors will use Laupepa Letuli, who moved from offensive guard to defensive end on Monday, in an expanded role.

"We'll start him out on long downs, in pass-rush situations, where it a little bit easier to see some of the blocking stuff," Reinebold said of Letuli, a second-year freshman. "We'll have a more experienced guy in there on first downs."

Reinebold said Letuli, David Veikune and, possibly, Karl Noa will form the pass-rushing unit. Noa did not play last week because of a strained leg.

I hope Letuli, who is a freshman, has a great game. If he stays as D-line or goes back to O-line later, this will be great experience.

Dave Reardon writes an interesting profile on the Utah State football team and the atmosphere in Logan.

(Utah State head coach Brent) Guy has reason to believe he can turn things around. He was an assistant here before, when things were better. They actually won a bowl game, in 1993, when Guy was on John L. Smith's staff. Then he went to Boise State and Arizona State, places where they usually win, before Utah State hired him for his first head-coaching position last year. He's 4-15 so far, but Lewis says he's on the right track.

"He knows everything about the situation, and he's seen the mistakes made by others," says Lewis, who has been the voice of the Aggies more than 20 years, and went to school here. "Most guys tried for the quick fix of JC transfers. He's gonna build with young kids."

Young kids like true freshman quarterback Riley Nelson, a record-setting star at Logan High School who decided to stay home, and is starting already.

Guy believes Utah State can be another Boise State. One similarity is the need for a wide recruiting base.

It'll be great for the conference once the "lower tier" teams start "playing up", which is still a lame phrase. It's already happening with Idaho, SJSU and New Mexico State, so it's good all around.

But to stay in the NCAA's good graces, Ferd Lewis writes that Utah State needs to get their average attendance up.

Indeed, attendance numbers are a Utah State concern because the Aggies need to make the NCAA-mandated minimum season average threshold of 15,000 in either turnstile or paid attendance. Tomorrow is a key game if the Aggies are going to get there. If the UH and Nov. 25 regular-season home finale against New Mexico State don't bump that figure up to 15,000, then the Aggies head into 2007, the second year of a rolling two-year NCAA certification cycle, forced to meet the minimum

Speaking of attendance, Bobby Curran writes of Hawaii's own attendance woes, though not as bad as USU's.

There are two scary parts to this success.

The first is that as good as the Warriors have been, they can get better - and probably will.

The second is that at last Saturday’s homecoming game there were still fewer than 30,000 fans at the stadium. The crowd that attended was excellent. They were loud, and when Idaho had the ball in the red zone, they were positively disruptive. I have long believed that the attendance is most influenced by the product on the field.

Now I’m not so sure.

This is starting to look like the best team in school history. It is certainly the most exciting. I can’t remember a Hawaii team with so many excellent players. Colt Brennan is the best QB ever to wear a Hawaii uniform, and I’m not sure it’s even close. Nate Ilaoa does things with the football that almost seem impossible. The offensive line features at least two players who are destined for the NFL, and the receiving corps is magical.

This is definitely a special, special team. GO WARRIORS!!!!

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This is probably the AP article Dave Reardon referred to on Monday. It's written by Jaymes Song.

So far, no team has managed to slow Brennan, including No. 14 Boise State. Brennan threw for 388 yards and five touchdowns in Hawaii's 41-34 loss on the road last month.

Brennan said he's getting a stronger grasp of June Jones' run-and-shoot offense in his second season.

"I don't think it will ever be 100 percent, knowing coach Jones," he said. "He doesn't ever let us think we're perfect, and I like that because it makes us that much better."

In Hawaii's five-game winning streak, he has thrown 24 touchdowns and one interception. His current streak of 158 passes without a pick is second to Notre Dame's Brady Quinn (169).

Offensive

Dave Reardon profiles the Warriors' awesome offensive line. Coach McKnight gives some mad individual props to the starters in a sidebar, while an NFL scout and Coach Jones have good things to say as well:

A veteran NFL scout said the group might be the best in college football, and that all three seniors -- Esera, Satele and Uperesa -- will be drafted.

"Texas might be close. But I certainly don't see any better at pass blocking," the scout said.

Coach June Jones has sent five offensive linemen to the NFL in his previous seven seasons at UH. He says this group is the best overall.

"They're physical pass blockers. Normally you think of that as a passive thing," Jones said. "But they're initiators and they're very aggressive in their approach to blocking. And they finish the plays, playing the play longer than the opponent. I think this is the best, going by the way the whole group plays."

Not enough good things can be said about them. And there's not enough pizza Colt can feed them. Their motto should be "Go for broke so Colt goes broke!" That's right.

Stephen Tsai writes about the altitude and cold that the Warriors will need to deal with up in Logan, Utah.

Of greater concern is the combination of cool weather and Logan's elevation (4,400 feet above sea level). Jones said the thin air is "not a factor if you're in good shape, but it is a factor if you're not in good shape."

After practices this week, the Warriors have run several sets of 55-yard sprints. During Monday's sprints, assistant coach Rich Miano, who participated in the workout, repeatedly yelled out: "High altitude."

"I think we're in good shape," Jones said, even offering praise to a past target, 250-pound Ilaoa. "He's been in better shape than he's been in for a year. Hopefully, he'll be able to give everything he has."

Ilaoa said: "I feel good. I'll be all right. For a lot of the first-year guys, it'll be, 'Oh, my, why is it so hard to breathe?' But after a while, everybody should be fine."

Someone who should also be fine is Ikaika Alama-Francis, who declares himself fit to play in the article, which is great news.

And finally, in the breaking news category, Stephen Tsai reports that linebacker Kevin Konrath of Brother Rice High School in Chicago has committed to becoming a Warrior in 2007.

Konrath said he received the initial offer without having met the UH coaches or visiting the campus. He said UH assistant coach Jeff Reinebold found his recruiting video tape on an Internet scouting service.

Reinebold called Konrath's coach.

"My coach asked me, 'Do you want a chance to go Hawai'i?'" Konrath recalled.

"I was like, 'Of course.' It was a chance to go to paradise and play in a good program."

Right on. Congratulations to Kevin and the Warriors.

UPDATE: The Star-Bulletin actually broke the Kevin Konrath story this morning. Here's an excerpt:

“Yes, I’ve committed. I can tell Hawaii’s the right program for me. I like the pro experience of the coaches, the facilities look nice and it looks like a great stadium,” said Konrath, in a phone interview with the Star-Bulletin this morning.

“Hawaii was always definitely at the top of my list. It looks like something special is going on there. They’re tearing everybody up and they’re a program on the rise.”

Konrath is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound middle linebacker who is projected to play outside linebacker or defensive end in college. He is a third-year starter, has won several all-league and all-area honors, and was described as “a monster on defense” in an Oct. 6 Chicago Sun-Times article.

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Hawaii will be on national TV on December 2nd when we play Oregon State.

By then, UH's Heisman campaign for Colt Brennan may be in high gear.

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