Huskies v Warriors

Stephen Tsai gets some reactions to the news that the Warriors will host the Huskies.

"That's awesome," UH quarterback Colt Brennan said. "I can't wait. I'm glad we've got a big-name school on our schedule. Hopefully, they'll have a good year, and by the end of the year it'll be a good matchup. Either way, it's going to draw a lot of attention, and I'm definitely excited. I've got a lot of respect for Washington and (its) program. I can't wait to play."

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The game will have added meaning for a future Warrior. Running back Leon Jackson, who will join the Warriors this summer, said he looks forward to playing against his hometown team.

"I'm going to be psyched up for that game," said Jackson, who was a USA Today Super 25 Player as a Pasco High School senior in 2004.

Jackson played at Nebraska as a freshman in 2005. He is attending a junior college in Washington this semester.

Inside linebacker Adam Leonard, a Seattle resident who led the Warriors with 114 tackles last season, said he did not receive a scholarship offer from the Huskies. Leonard was a highly recruited prospect before suffering a torn knee ligament during his senior season in 2004.

"I wasn't good enough to play for U-Dub, I guess," Leonard said. "With the coaching change, they let me slip away. By the time (Ty Willingham) got there, they were basically done with recruiting. They didn't have a scholarship. I don't think they looked at me."

I'm already looking forward to December 1st. The Manimal and Action Jackson gonna have HUGE games! Colt, however will have an average game, 400 yards, 5 touchdowns, whatevers. I'm so glad he's coming back that I'm already taking him for granted.

Dave Reardon also writes about the game and discusses other possible matchups in 07.

That leaves two more openings on the Warriors' nonconference schedule. Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier said they will be Division I, and is leaning toward home games after Brennan announced Wednesday he will return for his senior season rather than go pro.

"Anytime we can be home it's a big advantage. It helps us a lot," Brennan said. "I prefer to be home, but I also don't mind playing at great venues like we have at Michigan State and Alabama."

A big road victory could move the Warriors up in the rankings. There also has been some informal talk about a game at Louisville that would match Brennan against Cardinals quarterback Brian Brohm, also a Heisman candidate.

Louisville on the road, and as Tsai mentions in his article, possibly USC to open up the season, would be an incredibly tough, yet awesome schedule. We'll see how it goes. Reardon also has a side graphic that lists UH future OOC opponents through 2011. Let's hope none of the teams will panty out like Michigan State did. Anyway, with apologies and also thanks to Reardon, I'm gonna "borrow" the info from that graphic and put it on the right column of this blog, especially since the nationalchamps.net link I have up doesn't have everything yet.

Here's an excerpt from a Seattle Times article by Bob Condotta.

Washington football coach Tyrone Willingham turned down a chance for the Huskies to play at Hawaii to end the 2006 regular season, saying he thought UW wouldn't need the extra game because it would be playing in a bowl.

Friday, the Huskies announced they have reached a tentative agreement to end the 2007 regular season at Hawaii, with a game scheduled for Dec. 1 the week after the Apple Cup, now set for Nov. 24.

But set aside the cynical assumption — that Willingham thinks the Huskies don't have a bowl in them next season.

The coach instead said he simply thinks UW will be more ready to handle such a game next season.

You know who else should have a HUGE game against the Huskies? Malcolm Lane! UH has Tyrone Willingham to thank for hooking up Coach Jeff Reinebold with Lane's prep highlight DVD.

“I contacted all the big schools — Washington, Nebraska, schools like that,” said Lane, who sent out DVDs showcasing his abilities. “They said they liked what they saw, but that they had already used up all their scholarships.”

However, Dan Miles, a Hohenfels-based coach for Team USA Football, used his connection with University of Washington coach Tyrone Willingham to get a copy of Lane’s DVD into the coach’s hands, Lane said. Although Willingham had already used his scholarships, Lane said, he passed the DVD on to Jeff Reinebold, an assistant at Hawaii.

Reinebold was impressed.

“I looked at the tape and thought, ‘This is a no-brainer,’” Reinebold said in a story in Tuesday’s electronic edition of the Honolulu Advertiser. “If he’s as fast as he looked on tape, we had a great prospect.”

Lane will have the offense down pat by next year, especially by the time December rolls around. Oh, and even though it's an old article, give a hand to Jeff Reinebold again!