Iceman, Graunke, Nevada, Showdown

Dave Reardon takes us into the coaches' locker room after the game, talks to coaches and players about big plays and strategies, and has this week's Warrior Replay, which has been renamed Warrior Report. Here's #4:

4. Forced to punt

The Setup: Nevada 26, Hawaii 25, around 2:30 remaining, fourth quarter, Nevada ball, third and 4 at Hawaii 36.
The Play: RB Brandon Fragger is given the ball up the middle. He is met immediately by S Desmond Thomas, who holds him to a 1-yard gain. It is Thomas' game-high 11th tackle.
The Impact: Nevada punts and Hawaii takes over at its own 12 with 2:16 left. Graunke drives the team downfield in a well-executed 2-minute drill to set up Dan Kelly's winning field goal.
Thomas: "I'm just going to fill that hole, and praise God, I made the play."

Dane Kelly talks to the Star-Bulletin about being the Iceman.

This time Kelly smacked it true, a kick that would've easily been good from at least 60 yards.

Hawaii wins, 28-26, thanks to the Iceman.

"It's an old nickname from back when I played club soccer. It's stuck with me from the time I was a freshman in high school. It died when I came to the rock, the islands, because no one else knew it," Kelly said.

It's back now.

Stephen Tsai highlights Tyler Graunke's great performance, and gives us a look at how he was announced as the starter to the rest of the team.

The night before the game, head coach June Jones summoned the players for a special meeting. It was then that Jones announced that Brennan, who had suffered a concussion in the previous game, would not start and only be used for a handful of specific plays. Jones then handed the offense to Graunke, a fourth-year junior who had made two UH starts.

In an act of team unity, each player went up and expressed his faith in Graunke.

"That was one of the coolest things ever," Graunke said. "I'm sure the fans were concerned, but our team has full confidence in me and Inoke (Funaki, the third-string quarterback). After that little team talk, I felt unbelievably special. This is a special team. We're 10-0 for a damn good reason, because we're a bunch of great football players who play together."

Awesome.

Ferd Lewis looks ahead to the gigantic UH-BSU showdown and what it means for the WAC.

It sets in motion this week's long-awaited showdown of unbeaten UH (10-0) and once-beaten Boise State (10-1), not only a battle for the conference championship but a milestone moment of arrival for the WAC. UH's win, coupled with the Broncos' 58-14 victory over Idaho yesterday, sets the table for what should be, after the polls come out today, the first collision of two top-15 WAC teams in 13 years. Not since the breakup of the old 16-team conference after the 1998 season has it had two teams even meeting while in top-20 positions.

And Paul Arnett has a column comparing this season to the great 1992 season.