The Seniors, Estes a Rimington Finalist, Wisconsin

Stephen Tsai pays tribute to the seniors. And via the Warrior Beat, he pays special tribute to this senior:



Jason Kaneshiro profiles senior John Estes.

Estes continued to progress even as he adjusted to an ever-changing line of position coaches, from Wes Suan to Dennis McKnight to Brian Smith and finally Shaw this season.

Shaw coached a Rimington Award winner while at Minnesota and saw similarities between Estes and Greg Eslinger when he arrived in Manoa for spring practice.

"He's everything people told me he was when I got here," Shaw said. "He's tremendously reliable, trustworthy, hard-working, all those intangibles that really make a guy a great player instead of just a good player. He doesn't cut corners, he's a good calm leader."

And Estes was just today named a finalist for the Rimington Award.

Hawaii senior John Estes is among six finalists for the Rimington Award, presented annually to the nation’s top center.
Joining Estes on the list released today are Chris Hall (Texas), Jake Kirkpatrick (TCU), Maurkice Pouncey (Florida), Matthew Tennant (Boston College) and J.D. Walton (Baylor).
The winner will be announced during the ESPNU/Home Depot College Football Awards show on Dec. 10.

Kaneshiro talks to Gordy Shaw about his history preparing for Wisconsin.

Gordy Shaw tends to see red when Wisconsin comes to town.

Coaching at neighboring Minnesota for 14 years, Shaw developed frosty feelings for the Badgers in their annual battles for Paul Bunyan's Axe.

So preparing for Hawaii's regular-season finale as the Warriors' offensive line coach has rekindled some of those feelings from his Big Ten days.

"It's been an interesting week," Shaw said. "I've probably had over 50 e-mails from ex-players I coached at Minnesota saying, 'Go get 'em coach. We know what you're like in a Wisconsin week.' I've toned it down a bit."

Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel profiles a Wisconsin defensive end that Gordy Shaw is probably paying close attention to.

O'Brien Schofield expects to receive the same level of personal attention in Hawaii that he was given at Northwestern.

"I was getting double-teamed that whole game, even triple-teamed," Wisconsin's senior defensive end said, referring to UW's 33-31 loss at Northwestern on Nov. 21. "I didn't have a one-on-one that whole game. They did a good job game-planning against me. It was a physical game.

"I felt that at times I wasn't a factor because of how well they were game-planning for me. . . .  It was hard. I had two people mirroring me the whole time."

Kaneshiro has some news and notes about the 100th anniversary gala, Greg Salas nearing Ashley Lelie's school record for yards in a season, and freshmen Mike Wadsworth and Aulola Tonga preparing to go on their missions.

Both are planning on going on Mormon missions next year and will likely learn of their destinations after the spring semester.

"I've looked forward to it since I was a little kid," said Wadsworth, who has 11 tackles and recovered a fumble.

"Special teams is really fun and just being able to get a little reps in practice, I have a good grasp on the defense so when I come back I'll have a head start."

Ferd Lewis writes that UH hopes to have 40,000 people in the stands for tomorrow's game.

Ben Breiner of The Daily Cardinal previews the game.

On paper it should be easy-going for a Wisconsin rushing attack that matches the Big Ten’s top rusher in powerful senior running back John Clay against Hawaii’s run defense which allows 193.58 yard per game, 104th in the country.

Despite the numbers, however, senior left tackle Gabe Carimi expects a stiff test from the Warriors front.

“What this Hawaii team is, they’re real dense guys, really thick, heavy and they’re going to be hard to move,” Carimi said. “They do a decent job of pass rushing. I think they’re a lot better with their run stop.”

That's some bulletin board material for the UH d-line. He's calling you guys dense!

Michael Bleach of The Badger Herald previews the game as well.

Jim Polzin of Madison.com has some Badger news and notes.

Polzin highlights the Wisconsin secondary, which has had an up and down year.

"As soon as you feel pretty good about a game or two games, about the kids understanding the concepts and practicing hard and moving forward and being ready to take that next step, then you face a game to where they take another step back," Cooks said. "Now you're back to square one."

That's where Cooks' players find themselves after the Badgers' 33-31 loss to Northwestern on Nov. 21. The Wildcats had 364 passing yards and became the fourth team this season to have at least three passing touchdowns against UW, which ranks 76th nationally in pass efficiency defense.

The cornerbacks aren't solely to blame for those issues, but they're clearly the weakest link on the team.

Cooks' biggest issue with Smith, Brinkley and backup Antonio Fenelus has been a lack of consistency. The young corners - Smith and Fenelus - are sophomores, Brinkley - a junior - will be good in one game and bad in the next.

Polzin has a blog entry about the team's trip to Pearl Harbor, a bus breaking down, and practice.

UWBadgers.com has an article about the Pearl Harbor visit.

ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg has a Q&A with Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema.

And Ferd Lewis takes a look at some bowl possibilities for WAC teams depending on the outcome of tomorrow's game.