Receivers, SJSU, BCS, Warrior Fans

Dave Reardon writes about the awesomeness of the UH receivers. As Ryan Grice-Mullins says:

"What can they do? You've got four receivers who can all make big plays," Grice-Mullins said. "We all made 'em, all throughout the game. Every one of us had a big play, a big moment, everyone had a touchdown. Everyone had that little catch that might have seemed little, but it was on third down. No matter who they try to move around on us it's not going to work. We proved that once again.

"All in all, we fought back and refused to lose. Refuse to lose and win all, that's our motto," Grice-Mullins added. "Make a mistake? Let it go. One snap and clear. Like Coach Jones preaches. Once you get guys believing, confidence is a beauty."

At the end of that page is this week's edition of Dave's Warriors Replay.

Stephen Tsai writes about what the coaches have planned for the bye.

McMackin said the coaches are gathering information to create tentative game plans for the next five opponents. They also will "self-scout," reviewing the first seven games to determine which areas need improvement.

From the same article, June Jones talks about the horrible conditions at San Jose.

"The conditions were the worst I'd ever been a part of," Jones said. "I felt bad for Colt. I kept trying to tell him if he doesn't get a grip on the ball, don't throw it down the field. He kept getting muddy balls. I said, 'You've got to take one of the short (patterns), and we'll take our chances (on deep routes) when you've got a good grip.' He couldn't get his footing, and he said he had no grip on the ball."

Ferd Lewis writes about the Warriors' improved play on the road.

Hard to believe that when head coach June Jones walked through the doors at Manoa in 1999 UH had lost a staggering 24 consecutive Western Athletic Conference road games. Not a lot of them close, either.

Over parts of seven years through 1998, UH was everybody's favorite opponent for special occasions. Homecomings, parents day, agriculture day, you name it and UH rarely disappointed the hosts.

Now, UH is routinely a betting favorite on the road, sometimes almost obscenely so.

Ferd Lewis then writes that Hawaii's weak schedule will hurt when the BCS rankings are released a little later today.

"They may move up or down a spot in the (coaches and media polls) but my guess is that the computers will push them to 18 or 20 in the BCS rankings remembering that the computers are one third of the rankings," said Karl Benson, commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference.

An ESPN mock up had the Warriors No. 20 entering the week. None of the computer polls has UH above No. 30 and the main reason was strength of schedule, where UH ranged from 119 to 218.

Paul Arnett writes the close SJSU game may be a factor in the rankings.

But an unbiased voter who tuned in Friday night saw a prohibitive favorite fiddling around on a muddy track, before finding a way to pull out the win. Was it an entertaining ballgame? You bet. Did it keep Hawaii in the upper tier of the only poll that matters? We'll see soon enough.

And finally, Brian McInnis and Dave Reardon talk to some UH fans who were at the SJSU game, and write about the expanding Warrior Nation.

Retired UH basketball coach Riley Wallace now works as a host for Boyd Gaming, and he coordinated events in conjunction with the Warriors' game at UNLV last month. He also senses a sea change in the Warrior fan base and its willingness to travel.

"I think it's definitely grown. This is one of the good places here. And (former UH athletic director) Hugh Yoshida started that group down in Southern California. It's very important for the future of the programs, especially football. They're going to make the trek, to the Fiesta Bowl, the Holiday Bowl, whatever. The fact is fans following the team is part of big-time sports now."