Moving the Goalposts

UH AD Herman Frazier gives Cindy Luis an update on the 2007 schedule.

"Close."

That sums up where Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier says he is with finalizing this fall's football schedule.

The Warriors have three open dates to fill, but where some would see the situation as a last-minute scramble, Frazier says the flexibility allows for bigger-name opponents and national television exposure.

"Obviously for me to be holding out this long, it has to be BCS conference schools," Frazier said yesterday. "The reason we've held out on our schedule is because we can get better teams and there are more people assisting us, like ESPN, the WAC and the other conferences.

"If I had all the dates filled, the flexibility goes away because we can't change (the opponent). But we're talking about mostly home games."

The Western Athletic Conference schedule -- which was completed in November but not yet announced -- fills eight of the Warriors' playing dates. Two nonconference games are at home against Eastern Washington on Sept. 8 and at UNLV on Sept. 15.

Frazier said the deadline for Hawaii's complete schedule is April 30.

He also said there had been a chance that Michigan State would come back on the schedule, rather than paying the $250,000 buy-out fee. That possibility is no longer on the table, with the matter of MSU not honoring the contract -- and the $250,000 buy-out clause -- being handled by lawyers.

Frazier said he didn't want to mention specific teams or conferences at the risk of jeopardizing negotiations. It was earlier reported that until the MSU matter was resolved, there was the risk of losing at least some of the $250,000.

Hawaii has also had discussions with USC about a game this season, according to a USC spokesman. The Trojans hosted Hawaii in 2003 and played the Warriors at Aloha Stadium in 2005.

UCLA is another viable Pac-10 opponent. That school generated considerable interest when mentioned as a possible opponent for Hawaii in last month's Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

Herman definitely makes it sound like everything is hunky dory. Let's hope everything is (as I bury my head in the sand). If you read the rest of the Luis article, Frazier did a good job in balancing the athletic department budget, so maybe now he can put his full focus on this issue. In any case, it sounds like now we'll have to wait until the end of APRIL to get a final schedule. I just hope it all works out and UH plays some great teams in 2007. You can do it, Herman!

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Dave Reardon writes about former Warrior Abu Ma'afala, back in Hawaii to play in the Hula Bowl.

"I was in the hotel in San Diego (preparing for the Holiday Bowl) watching them blow up Arizona State. It was hard, because I was watching my boys play, and at the same time you want the Pac-10 to win," Ma'afala said. "It was good to see them balling like that and doing well. There was a part of me though that was thinking, 'What if?' But at the same time I was really happy that I ended up at Cal."

Ma'afala transferred after his true sophomore year because of a disagreement with UH coach June Jones about whether Ma'afala would redshirt or not the next season. Ma'afala and Jones both say there are no hard feelings, and Ma'afala proved it in 2005 by giving UH a scouting report on a common opponent.

This week, Ma'afala is home for the Hula Bowl at Aloha Stadium on Sunday. He is reunited with six former UH teammates on the Kai squad, including fellow defensive linemen Ikaika Alama-Francis and Melila Purcell.

"The last time I put on pads with them was spring '04. A lot of things changed. Ikaika's a big-name guy, Mel came back from all his injuries. Dane (Uperesa) ended up being an awesome, awesome player. And of course, Leonard (Peters). Reggie Bush said that was the best guy he played against in 2005. It's just going to be fun to be out there with them again."

Too bad things didn't work out at UH, but glad to hear he's happy to be back.

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Olin Buchanan of Rivals.com writes a Top 10 list of storylines to look out for in 2007. Here's number 4.

4. Hawaii: Unless he changes his mind soon and opts to enter the NFL Draft, QB Colt Brennan - who threw 58 touchdown passes in 2006 - will be back to lead the nation's No. 1 offense. With receivers Davone Bess and Jason Rivers also returning, the Warriors offense figures to be just as exciting in 2007. If Boise State falters, Hawaii could be next season's mid-major that is thrust into the BCS discussion. With defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville around, that could be an interesting conversation.

Do they have some inside info on Colt returning or something? Anyway, let's hope UH can beat some great teams to start off the 2007 campaign, whoever those teams may be.

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And finally, Richard Cirminiello of Collegefootballnews.com writes about the 100 stars of the bowl season. Here are some relevant excerpts.

38. WAC – It was a banner post-season for the Western Athletic Conference, which was a one-point loss by Nevada to Miami from going an unthinkable 4-0 in bowl games. Obviously, Boise State’s Fiesta Bowl upset of Oklahoma was the headliner, but don’t forget that Hawaii knocked off Arizona State and San Jose State surprised New Mexico in Albuquerque. Not too shabby for a league that didn’t even have perennial giant-killer Fresno State in the mix this year.

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21. Hawaii WR Jason Rivers – Perhaps lost in Colt Brennan’s performance was the heroics of Rivers, who roamed through the Arizona State secondary in the Hawaii Bowl as if he was completely undetectable. He pulled down 14 passes, tying a school record, for 308 yards, establishing a new NCAA bowl record, and two scores in the Warrior win.

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7. Hawaii QB Colt Brennan – In one of the great second halves in bowl history, Brennan threw five touchdown passes as part of a school-record 559-yard evening, rallying the Warriors to a 41-24 win over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl. The five touchdown strikes gave the junior 58 on the season, surpassing Houston’s David Klingler for the NCAA single-season record.