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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
Broncos are what UH
should want to beTHREE is not a big number, but it is if it's your number. It is if it's the number of times in as many tries that Dan Hawkins and Boise State have left June Jones in his own private Idaho.
That's not to say that Boise State owns Hawaii. You can't say that, not yet, not even close. But it's clear that Boise State IS Hawaii. Or rather, Boise State is the team Hawaii wants to be. Should be. Thought it was.
These two programs are similar in so many ways -- the offensive juggernaut, the go-for-broke play-calling, the swaggering coaches on whom (for some) arrogance is endearing.
The Hawk has Jones' blueprint down cold, right down to the attitude.
You could envision Hawkins running a fake punt with just over four minutes left to break 50 points. You could almost hear Jones utter the infamous line that "Gandhi wouldn't take a knee."
They both stay here, big fishes that know these schools fit them best.
Oh, they're both Sons of Glanville, in spirit if not both by direct lineage.
Hawkins even kind of looks like Glanville, the old NFL, not-for-long would-be grocery-store bagger.
But thus far it has been Hawkins and his Broncos who have ripped through this weak-sister conference, these past three years, while UH has dropped occasional WAC games it shouldn't have. And it has been Jones and his Hawaii team that have gotten the national name recognition, the credit from ESPN's image makers and talking heads.
(Speaking of which, it's not as bad as booing -- not quite -- but did ESPN have to show Timmy Chang's reaction to every play? What, were they trying to catch that split second when he wore the wrong expression, maybe document any instance where he didn't have a "team-first" face? I'm sure the announcers were saying all the right things, but the images themselves were brutal. Give him a break.)
Boise doesn't sound very glamorous. Hawaii -- despite the Hurricane Fred Years -- is a name that still carries a certain zip.
But this is three straight now, and the Broncos are still undefeated -- all-time -- on ESPN.
This is what Jones envisioned, what we've all envisioned, only it's wearing orange and blue.
These guys don't care about the NFL. They have no extraneous goals. They win the conference. They just win.
Last night it was with four touchdowns from a backup tailback. Last night it was with perhaps the conference's best receiver sitting out.
It was a great effort from a Hawaii team that continues to show glimpses of what this season could have been.
Travis LaBoy might have played one of the best defensive games in Hawaii history. You couldn't run away from him, couldn't run at him. Couldn't do anything.
The Hawaii seniors went out leaving it all on the field.
But Boise was just a little bit better at it, and Ryan Dinwiddie was the clutchest character to visit Aloha Stadium since Ben Roethlisberger left us to go off and become a famous man.
Boise State finished. That's what they do, they finish you. The way UH once did, against BYU in that glorious 72-45 romp.
But since then it's been Boise, seizing that role, seizing the day. They are onward and upward, they ARE Hawaii. Or the dream of it -- what Hawaii wants to be.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com