Monday, October 25, 1999
Don’t talk bowls
to Rainbows, yet
Coach June Jones wants his
team to focus on getting past
Texas ChristianThis Week: TCU still dangerous
By Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinDon't ask June Jones what he thinks about the conference race or whether Hawaii is bowl bound in the month of December. It's just not something he's comfortable talking about at this point in the season.
Barring some unforeseen malady, the Rainbows will take part in the postseason parade for the first time since their WAC championship season of 1992. That year, Hawaii finished 11-2, capped off with a Holiday Bowl victory over Illinois.
But it's those unforeseen breakdowns on the side of the road that keep Jones from exchanging high fives with his players in the locker room or shouting out loud that he'll be spending Christmas Day at Aloha Stadium.
Granted, he's responsible for the belief system that is pervasive among the UH players, who bounced back from a disappointing loss to Rice two weeks ago with a convincing 35-21 road win Saturday against Tulsa.
And while his players and their families are already making plans to spend the holidays in the island chain, Jones isn't willing to accept any bowl invitations just yet.
He still has to get two more wins against the toughest stretch of games Hawaii has faced this season. Starting with Texas Christian this Saturday at Aloha Stadium and closing out with Washington State five games into the future, the Rainbows can ill-afford to start believing in the radio talk-show hype, television babble and endless press clippings claiming Hawaii has arrived.
Tulsa fires coach Rader
Associated PressTULSA, Okla. -- The University of Tulsa fired head football coach Dave Rader today and named defensive coordinator Pat Henderson as his interim replacement.
Rader had coached at Tulsa for 12 years. He had a 49-80-1 record.
The Golden Hurricane are in the middle of their eighth consecutive losing season.
"This has been a difficult year for our players, as well as our coaches, fans and the university," athletic director Judy MacLeod said.
"The minute we start believing in anybody other than the guy next to us in the trenches, is when we can start getting ourselves into trouble," a pensive Jones said. "We've been successful with the one-game-at-a-time approach and there's no reason we should stop that now."
It's hard to argue with success, but perhaps harder still to ignore all the well-meaning administrators and fans busy patting the Rainbows on the back.
At this point, winning the Western Athletic Conference outright will be a tall order. For one, Rice will have to stumble and fall, not once, but twice over the final three weeks of the season.
The Owls travel to SMU and Fresno State the next two weekends before closing out the 1999 campaign at home with Texas-El Paso. Hawaii has home encounters with WAC powers TCU and Fresno State, and an away-game against nemesis San Jose State.
"It's not in our hands, so all we can do is go out each week and try to keep winning," UH senior quarterback Dan Robinson said. "We pretty much have to run the table and hope Rice stumbles along the way.
"But to be honest, I'm not worrying about that right now. We have to take care of business first and foremost, and then see where that takes us. We got a big road win over Tulsa. Now, we have to get ready for a good TCU team."
Good, perhaps, but beaten down after the 42-21 loss at Rice this past weekend. TCU is all but out of the race. Lose one more game and the Horned Frogs can forget about making bowl appearances in back-to-back seasons.
"They're still a very dangerous football team," UH defensive coordinator Greg McMackin warned. "They have one of the best running backs (LaDainian Tomlinson) in the country and like Rice, they are good at running the option."
If Rice wins the WAC, then it's likely the Owls are headed to the Mobile Bowl to play the No. 2 team from Conference USA. It would be the Owls' first postseason appearance in 38 years.
Should Fresno State finish high in the standings, then in all likelihood the Bulldogs are bound for the Las Vegas Bowl to play the second choice of the Mountain West Conference.
That leaves Hawaii in the Christmas Day doubleheader. Whether the Rainbows play in the Aloha or Oahu bowl will depend first on the Rainbows winning a minimum of seven games. A 7-5 record would likely put them against the fifth choice of the Pac-10 in the Oahu Bowl, but should the Rainbows finish 10-2, they may secure a coveted spot in the much-watched Aloha Bowl.
"It depends on a lot of things," Bowl Games Hawaii chief executive officer Lenny Klompus said. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens over the next few weekends. There are a lot of variables out there."
Obviously, Hawaii would prefer the Aloha Bowl because of that game's ties with ABC-TV. Recruiting would be a whole lot easier if 30 million viewers tuned in to see the new-look Rainbows. But even if that's not in the cards, playing in the Oahu Bowl on ESPN will still draw more viewers than the Las Vegas or Mobile bowls.
"I know it sounds like a cliche, but all I'm worried about right now is TCU," Jones said. "They are my primary concern because they are next up on the schedule. If we keep taking each game one at a time and continue to have the success we've had, then the rest of that stuff takes care of itself."
THIS WEEK
Disappointing TCU
By Paul Arnett
still dangerous
Star-BulletinHawaii hosts Texas Christian this weekend, a team Rainbows head coach June Jones picked to win the Western Athletic Conference in the summer preseason coaches poll conducted by the Dallas Morning News.
The Horned Frogs are coming off a disappointing 42-21 loss at Rice. The Owls are alone in first place with a 4-0 mark. TCU slipped to a disappointing 2-2, all but eliminating head coach Dennis Franchione's team from the league chase.
"But this is still a very capable football team," Jones said. "They're going to come in here and play us very tough. They run a similar offense to what Rice likes to do. They have a very capable quarterback and one of the best running backs around."
"This is going to be a difficult team to defend,'' UH defensive coordinator Greg McMackin said. "LaDainian Tomlinson may be the best running back we've seen this season"
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Ka Leo O Hawaii
