Full Court Press
IT'S all about timing. ....... June Jones knows this on a personal and professional level as well as anyone. Comeback Cougars may
meet their matchWhen the clock ticks down to zero as someone catches your Hail Mary, you come back from that end zone a changed person. The miraculous survival left him a lot like Spock from the movie "Star Trek IV."
The Vulcan is back from the dead and Dr. McCoy is trying to engage him in conversation as to what it's like crossing over. As McCoy so aptly puts it to his longtime rival, "You really have gone where no man's gone before, can't you tell me what it felt like?"
But instead of sharing his experience on a philosophical level, Spock replies, "It would be impossible to discuss the situation without a common frame of reference."
Mystical thoughts aside, Jones' near-death experience jarred his team to the core. Associate head coach George Lumpkin seized the moment, telling the players the first day of spring that if they wanted to do something for their fallen leader, be a better player at the end of spring than they were today.
The message was simple. It was pure. It was the perfect tonic for healing. Little by little, yard by yard, the Warriors took their first steps toward an 8-3 season. Unlike last year's 3-9 campaign, they haven't been fortune's fools.
Fresno State lost to Boise State the week before losing here, and it took a spectacular catch in the end zone by Ashley Lelie to bring UH football back to life. True to his word, Pat Hill's Bulldogs haven't lost since and are on their way to the Silicon Valley Football Classic.
A penalty on a missed kick against feisty Miami (Ohio) allowed a glorious second chance to tumble through the uprights for place-kicker Justin Ayat. But these things have to happen for a team to win eight or nine games. Just ask No. 1-ranked Miami. Timing is everything.
Take this Saturday's game as an example. Several times this year, Brigham Young has rallied from its death bed to win late, preserving a 12-0 record, a top-10 ranking and the possible BCS bid that accompanies an unbeaten run such as this.
But two things are working against the Cougars. They are coming off a tough road trip to Mississippi State where BYU pulled out a last-second 41-38 victory. As happy as that made BYU head coach Gary Crowton, the loss of Doak Walker finalist Luke Staley to a broken leg could prove fatal.
True, BYU quarterback Brandon Doman is a miracle worker. For a guy who completed only 51 passes last year, this Salt Lake City senior has made the most of his second chance. Not unlike UH senior quarterback Nick Rolovich, who was penciled in last spring to sit this one out come fall. The season-ending injury to Tim Chang brought Rolovich back to life.
ALL THESE second chances set up an interesting Saturday morning at Aloha Stadium where a sellout crowd is a must. Some 11 years ago, the Cougars threw Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer in a pool, only to have Garrett Gabriel singing in the rain that evening to the tune of 59-28.
Knowing Jones, he'd prefer something more dramatic, like some improbable come-from-behind win. Truth be told, BYU has a thing for that kind of finish as well. For Jones, they have a common frame of reference. And for the sometimes mystical head coach that's just how he likes it.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
Email Paul: parnett@starbulletin.com.