Colt's ESPN Article, Silence, McMackin

Here's the online version of Chad Nielsen's ESPN the Magazine cover story on Colt Brennan.

He gave up NFL millions for this? A twin foam mattress without sheets on a bare tile floor? It looks like a dog's bed, except no dog lives in this cozy plank house. Instead, Colt Brennan, college football's most complete quarterback, lounges here, waiting out the early August heat in Kahuku, a two-stoplight town in rural Hawaii.

Brennan is watching a Steelers-Eagles preseason game on a grainy TV, listening for Hawaiian names. That could have been him getting beaten up as an NFL rookie.

Read the whole thing! Awesome article.

Stephen Tsai writes about the UH offense practicing the silent count in anticipation of playing in the echoey Kibbie Barn.

"It's all about the timing," center John Estes said. "I snap it when it's a certain time. It's a certain rhythm we use."

In practices earlier in the season, Estes said, "Sometimes I'd snap it faster than I should. But we worked on it, and our timing is better."

Left guard Hercules Satele said: "It's a matter of trust. You have to trust the center will snap the ball on time. This is a precaution in case in gets loud. But we're ready."

Also from the article:

• Colt talks about his ankle.


• Ryan Mouton talks about the kickoff return for TD he promised Colt.


• Jason Rivers was held out of practice due to his stiff back.


• Safeties Erik Robinson and Spencer Smith will be on the travel roster to Idaho.

Dave Reardon talks to Greg McMackin about the upcoming game.

"They're getting the most out of their athletes," he said. "They played well against USC (a 38-10 loss) and they were ahead of Washington State. They got their win against Cal Poly, and they should've won last week against Northern Illinois, but that was an accident game. They had all kinds of accidents go against them."

"I think they're better than LaTech. They held and grabbed face masks," he said of the Bulldogs. "(Idaho's) offensive front is as good as any we've played yet."

Billy Hull and Dave Reardon's Sports Notebook has news that Leon Wright-Jackson has been told to cut loose.

During a recent tape session, Hawaii coach June Jones noticed the sophomore running back trying to stick to the offense too much on some of his runs.

"He told me to just run wild," Wright-Jackson said. "If I see something else, hit it as hard as possible and get upfield."

Yeah baby. That's exciting to hear. Also from the Notebook:

• More details about the silent snap count.


• Dennis McKnight discusses the offensive line's performance.


• Blaze Soares and Ryan Keomaka are set to make the trip.


• J. David Miller's "Hawaii Warrior Football" book is ready for pre-order at WarriorsRespond.com. I'm hoping that I'll get an e-mail from warriorshaka.com about the pre-pre-orders we submitted all those months ago!

And finally, Chawan with a news compilation from last night. KHON's Kanoa Leahey reports about Colt's ankle and ESPN cover story; KITV's Rob DeMello reports on the ankle as well as the good news about Ryan Mouton's knee; KGMB's Liz Chun talks to Colt about playing at Idaho and she has a report from the Janevia Taylor fundraiser. And KHNL's Stephanie Lum has report from the fundraiser, while KHNL's Stephen Florino reports about Colt's ankle and has a preview.