Colt POTW, UH D, Replay, 14th, ESPN? Keao

Colt Brennan is the WAC's offensive player of the week.

Brennan, a senior from Irvine, Calif. (Saddleback CC), completed 29-of-46 passes for 425 yards and six touchdowns in Hawai‘i’s 50-13 win over New Mexico State. He also rushed four times for 13 yards. It was the fourth time this season he has thrown for more than 400 yards. The six touchdown passes gives him 119 in his career, two shy of tying the NCAA record of 121 set by Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer.

Stephen Tsai writes that safety Keao Monteilh may be out for the season with a shoulder injury.

But Monteilh has been told he probably suffered a fracture in his left socket.

"If that's the case, I'm probably out for the season," he said.

Monteilh said the recovery period for a socket injury is "six to eight weeks."

McMackin said: "It's a shame. It's disappointing. He's had such a great year. He's sort of the quarterback of our secondary. He makes the calls. He gets everybody organized. He's real valuable. He plays the nickel. He plays the safety."

Let's hope for the best. And let's hope that NMSU QB Chase Holbrook's injury isn't too serious either. Teddy Feinberg of the Las Cruces Sun-News writes that he may miss this week's game due to a head injury suffered during the UH game. Feinberg also has a game review by NMSU coach Hal Mumme, who talks about facing the UH defense.

Mumme said that Hawaii ran exotic blitz packages and even dropped defensive ends into coverage to curtail NMSU's penchant for throwing screen passes to its wide receivers. The Warriors came off a bye week prior to Saturday's game and Mumme said that the added time off was apparent in Hawaii's preparation for the Aggies.

"I thought they were better than they looked on film," Mumme said of the Warriors. "They did have 15 days to get well and we had four. They're definitely a great team and have great speed. Their front was a lot more physical than I gave them credit for. I don't know if some of that was because we played like we were asleep, but they still played well."

Dave Reardon writes about the UH defense's game plan and performance against NMSU.

The Warriors did exactly what they planned to do on defense: limit big plays and cause turnovers.

"Coach's scheme was to limit the drag routes and pressure the quarterback," said linebacker Solomon Elimimian, who was in on nine tackles and broke up two passes -- including a tip that turned into a Keao Monteilh interception. "We got a couple hits on him and it affected him. Everybody arrived at the ball.

"We felt we knew what they were going to do, and we adjusted properly."

Also from the article: coverage of the BCS rankings, Colt's AT&T award nomination, and this week's Warrior Replay. Here's #4, the "bloggers' choice":

4. Revving up the RGM

The Setup: Hawaii 16, New Mexico State 0, around 3:30 remaining, second quarter, Hawaii ball, first and 10 at New Mexico State 42.
The Play: Brennan swings a short pass to SB Ryan Grice-Mullins in the right flat. Grice-Mullins secures the ball and jets to the outside, down the sideline for a 42-yard touchdown. WR C.J. Hawthorne enables the TD with a sustained block downfield.
The Impact: Grice-Mullins was open all night, but dropped three passes in the first half. He still ended up with a career outing, catching 13 passes for 195 yards and three TDs.
Grice-Mullins: "Once I'm on the field, I believe no one can guard me one-on-one. I know that is how all of our receivers are."

Ferd Lewis writes about Hawaii's new BCS ranking.

"All the attrition has helped Hawai'i tremendously," said Jerry Palm, whose Web site, www.CollegeBCS.com, closely parallels the BCS standings. "They are much higher in the (BCS standings) than they had any right to expect, even by the end of the season, let alone the end of October."

Two weeks ago Palm estimated UH's chances of cracking the top 12 at "50/50" by season's end. Yesterday, he said, "Now, they have a pretty good chance of getting in, if they win out."

Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson said, "we have to be pretty pleased where they are at this point. If they continue to win and have convincing victories, they are going to get there (12th).

There's also a very very interesting note at the bottom of that article.

ESPN eyeing UH-FSU game
Advertiser Staff

The Western Athletic Conference said it expects ESPN to ask today to add the Nov. 10 Hawai'i-Fresno State football game to its cable schedule.
If agreed upon, it would mean all five of the unbeaten Warriors' final games, including postseason, will be televised nationally.

Lots of logistics I'm sure, with Oceanic and everything. Maybe they can compromise and have Jim Leahey call the game, awww yeah. That would be too cool.

Back to the BCS ranking, Ferd cautions not to pop the champagne just yet.

But it would be premature — not to mention practically kicking the shins of fate — to start planning that January trip to the Sugar Bowl or Fiesta Bowl just yet.

While UH has rocketed up in the BCS standings, there remains much still to be negotiated. For one thing, while none of UH's victims currently is .500 or better, three of the final four are. And while the Warriors have benefitted hugely from teams above them getting knocked off, the danger from here on out comes from teams below suddenly leapfrogging them. Three from last week — Georgia, Michigan and Connecticut — did. A couple more, Texas and Alabama, are poised to do it this week while UH is idle. USC, Florida and Wisconsin also lurk, strength of schedule decidedly in their favor.

One game at a time...