WARRIOR FOOTBALL
Jones won’t relax until the season is over with
It was almost lost in all the drama of the latest heart-stopping victory by Hawaii. Last Friday's 28-26 win at Nevada gave the Warriors double figures in victories for just the fifth time in school history.
A 10-0 record certainly has a nice ring to it. However, 13-0 -- including a WAC championship and a win in a BCS bowl game -- sounds even nicer.
But UH coach June Jones is among those who can't sit back and enjoy the ride. Simply, there's still too much traffic ahead.
"You don't really have time to do that. You're getting ready for Boise State," said Jones, when asked if he'd taken a moment to savor the flavor. "I'm sure I'll do that after Washington, before the bowl game. Right now you're just getting plugged into what you're doing."
With a victory tonight against the Broncos, Jones would match the win total of last year's team and would also clinch at least matching the best UH record against an all-collegiate schedule.
(The 1992 Rainbows went 11-2, and in 1925 they finished 10-0 with only three games against college teams.)
In addition to a probable move closer to a BCS game, a victory tonight would achieve a long-elusive goal for the Warriors: a Western Athletic Conference championship. Hawaii is the league's senior member, but has only two shared football titles since entry in 1979.
"If we wanted to win the WAC, we knew we had to beat Boise and that's where we're at," Jones said. "They do a great job executing. They're good in all phases of the game and we're going to have to play our best game to beat them."
The Warriors have some nagging injuries, but nothing that should keep any starters out of play. A relatively soft schedule and two recent bye weeks have helped the overall team health. Because they played last Friday, they've had one more day to prepare than the Broncos.
"The kids have been really focused and we've had two, three really good days of concentration, meetings, everything," Jones said this week. "They're staying focused pretty good."