The Graunke, The Futon, The Blaze, The Heisman

With Colt Brennan on crutches, Tyler Graunke took the first team reps yesterday. He talks to Stephen Tsai about having to be ready at any time.

Even when Brennan returns, Graunke said, "I have to keep pushing him. Not just for him, but for me, too. He can go down at any play, and the coach could throw me in there any play randomly. I have to be ready to go, and know what to do on the field. I have to be mentally prepared. I have to be physically prepared. I've been here a long time. I know my reads."

Also from the article, Greg McMackin talks about getting Ryan Mouton more playing time.

"We think he's one of our better players," McMackin said. "We're trying to get him on the field more."

McMackin said Mouton is impressive because of "his quickness, his football savvy and great attitude. He knows where the ball is. He's a good tackler. He's a hard-nosed, well-rounded football player."

Tsai also writes about Tuika Tufaga joining the team, as well as Aloha Stadium enforcing illegal tailgating rules.

Dave Reardon profiles Tyler Graunke, who talks about running the first team.

"I have my own group of receivers and my own group of linemen. Today, I got thrown in there with the 1's and it feels good," Graunke said. "Put everybody on my back and let's go, let's do it. I get to be a leader and get to show everybody what I can do."

And Colt had some praise for his fellow QB.

"Typical Tyler," said Brennan when asked to evaluate his backup's practice performance. "He always goes in there and does well.

"If I'm ready to go Saturday, my intention is to get in there and get my reps and then let the younger guys go. I won't really know until Thursday or Friday, but I have every intention of playing. But whether I play or not, I expect Tyler to have a big game."

Also from the article, Herman Frazier talks about next year's schedule.

"We've got to fine-tune a couple of other things," Frazier said. "There's two teams still involved and we expect to get that done very quickly. For the most part, with the offers we had on the table they've pretty much been accepted. We just have to work out some kinks."

Quickly moving on from that topic, Dave Reardon writes about Blaze Soares, who's been recovering from injury and is eager to hit somebody.

"I think (playing against a I-AA opponent) is perfect for me, it'll let me get all my rust (off)," Soares said. "I can get back into the mode. I might have plenty mistakes but it's going to be a good game to build on for me.

"That's my goal, to play Saturday. I've got a lot of football stored up in me."

Awww yeah, I feel sorry for all the unsuspecting fools in his path. Also from Reardon's article:

• La Tech coach Derek Dooley says he never swore at Davone Bess. Bess still says he did.


• Erik Robinson practiced yesterday after his paperwork issues were cleared up.


• Jason Rivers sat out practice with a stiff back.

And Ferd Lewis writes about how important winning the Heisman Trophy is to Colt Brennan.

"The Heisman, that's the least of my worries. If I came out in the first quarter and we won every game, I'd do that. I mean if my numbers were bad (for Heisman purposes), that wouldn't matter as long as we won."

Great to hear. And Ferd sums it up excellently:

There's a lot to be said about somebody who isn't going to get blinded by the pursuit of individual glory to the detriment of his team. Even when it is the most prized individual honor in sports and a multi-million-dollar marketing boon to its winner.

Now, that's the kind of guy you'd like to see handed the Heisman Trophy come December.