WARRIOR FOOTBALL
Hawaii’s loose ship sailing true
Coach June Jones doesn't let the stress of a football season get in the way of a good time
A group of players turned their backs to the action on the field and smiled gleefully as a fan took a picture of them during Hawaii football practice on Thursday.
"That's something you only see when a team is winning," a bystander said.
Well, with this program, that's not necessarily true.
June Jones has always run a fairly loose ship, and the tension has rarely gotten in the way of occasional frivolity at practice, even during the two losing seasons of Jones' eight at Manoa.
"We do have more fun in practice than probably anybody in America," defensive backs coach Rich Miano said. "Although you do have to know and do what you're supposed to do."
The Warriors have met those standards, and with this possibly being Jones' best team, the games have been kind of fun, too.
UH has won its last six and is knocking on the door of the Top 25 at 7-2 (5-1 WAC). The offense leads the nation in yards and scoring, and the notion of quarterback Colt Brennan as a Heisman candidate isn't being automatically scoffed at.
Hawaii tries to keep the good times rolling tonight against Louisiana Tech (3-6, 1-3 WAC) in the first of a five-game home stretch drive that includes the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl.
The Warriors will be motivated because of what happened last year. The Bulldogs didn't just beat the Warriors in Ruston, La., they punished them, 46-14, and it was as bad as the score sounds.
"They kicked the dog out of us last year," Jones said. "I thought that physically they were the only team, both sides of the ball, that kind of whipped us (during a 5-7 season)."
Turnabout is likely tonight, as UH is favored by more than five touchdowns. The Warriors have averaged 60.2 points in their last four games (three on the road), and allowed 10 in each of the last two.
And the Bulldogs limp into Aloha Stadium with an injury-depleted defense. Starting tackle Josh Muse is questionable with a shoulder injury, and at least four defensive backs among the first eight might be out.
"Our secondary is extremely banged up, but the other guys have got to come through," LaTech coach Jack Bicknell said. "It's nothing you can really cry about."
The Warriors have health woes, too. Backup defensive ends Keala Watson, Renolds Fruean, Laupepa Letuli and Amani Purcell are out. None was a starter, but UH rotates its defensive linemen to keep the first three fresh.
"It's a little bit worrisome," Jones said. UH moved three backup offensive players to the defensive line to replace the depth.
Starting free safety and tri-captain Leonard Peters insists he will play tonight despite a shaky knee. Peters practiced Thursday but was unable to cut.
He could probably sit this one out if he wanted, but Peters doesn't consider it an option.
"Being on a streak can be the most dangerous thing. Most people would tend to relax. But we just keep telling the young kids to keep up the same attitude. It doesn't matter what anyone's record is."
Brennan -- who handled about a half-dozen national media interviews this week -- also said the Warriors are guarding against becoming distracted, complacent or uptight. He was worried it might happen last week.
"I felt really tired and I was kind of nervous before the Utah State game," Brennan said. "I thought we might come out slow and let them play with us."
That wasn't the case, as Hawaii scored on its first two possessions and Brennan finished with six TD passes in three quarters.
And he and his teammates are also motivated because of last year's listless performance in Ruston.
"(Last year's LaTech loss) was the most embarrassing," he said. "It kind of hurt us. We had just played Boise and lost a tough one to them and made the quick turnaround to get on a plane to Louisiana," Brennan said. "I remember walking out onto the field and just not feelin' it."
Jones has his team right where he wants it. And if that means an unscheduled photo-op during practice, so be it, as long as it doesn't interfere with getting the work done.
"We've been talking about getting to this stretch with wins under our belts," he said. "Now we've kind of met our midseason goal, to get here. And now we've got to take it one at a time. If we practice the way we've practiced and we focus the way we've focused, we could take them one at a time and have some fun."
Hawaii
7-2, 5-1 WAC
PROBABLE STARTERS
Offense
|
| X |
84 |
Jason Rivers |
6-2 |
192 |
Jr.
|
| H |
7 |
Davone Bess |
5-10 |
195 |
So.
|
| LT |
70 |
Tala Esera |
6-4 |
308 |
Sr.
|
| LG |
65 |
Hercules Satele |
6-2 |
288 |
Jr.
|
| C |
64 |
Samson Satele |
6-3 |
298 |
Sr.
|
| RG |
55 |
John Estes |
6-2 |
290 |
Fr.
|
| RT |
72 |
Dane Uperesa |
6-4 |
310 |
Sr.
|
| Y |
1 |
Ryan Grice-Mullins |
5-11 |
179 |
So.
|
| Z |
3 |
Ian Sample |
5-10 |
196 |
Sr.
|
| QB |
15 |
Colt Brennan |
6-3 |
196 |
Jr.
|
| RB |
4 |
Nate Ilaoa |
5-9 |
254 |
Sr.
|
Defense
|
| DE |
98 |
Melila Purcell |
6-5 |
276 |
Sr.
|
| DT |
67 |
Mike Lafaele |
6-0 |
302 |
Jr.
|
| DE |
91 |
Ikaika Alama-Francis |
6-6 |
285 |
Sr.
|
| STUB |
8 |
Tyson Kafentzis |
6-1 |
230 |
So.
|
| MAC |
44 |
Adam Leonard |
6-0 |
236 |
So.
|
| BUCK |
41 |
Solomon Elimimian |
6-0 |
224 |
So.
|
| WILL |
26 |
Micah Lau |
5-9 |
218 |
Jr.
|
| CB |
38 |
Myron Newberry |
5-8 |
164 |
Jr.
|
| FS |
42 |
Leonard Peters |
6-1 |
211 |
Sr.
|
| SS |
31 |
Jake Patek |
6-0 |
202 |
Jr.
|
| CB 23 |
Gerard Lewis |
5-9 |
168 |
Jr.
|
Specialists
|
| P |
25 |
Kurt Milne |
6-0 |
205 |
Sr.
|
| PK |
86 |
Dan Kelly |
6-3 |
202 |
So.
|
| PR |
38 |
Myron Newberry |
5-8 |
164 |
Jr.
|
| KR |
89 |
Malcolm Lane |
6-1 |
181 |
Fr.
|
|
82 |
Ross Dickerson |
5-10 |
198 |
Sr.
|
| SS |
48 |
David Farmer |
6-0 |
231 |
So.
|
| LS |
57 |
Jake Ingram |
6-4 |
268 |
So.
|
| Hold |
11 |
Inoke Funaki |
5-11 |
195 |
Fr. |
SCHEDULE
| Date |
Opp. |
Result
|
| Sept. 2 |
at Alabama |
L, 25-17 |
|
| Sept. 16 |
UNLV |
W, 42-13
|
| Sept. 23 |
at Boise State |
L, 41-34
|
| Sept. 30 |
Eastern Illinois |
W, 44-9 |
|
| Oct. 7 |
Nevada |
W, 41-34
|
| Oct. 14 |
at Fresno State |
W, 68-37
|
| Oct. 21 |
at New Mexico State |
W, 49-30
|
| Oct. 28 |
Idaho |
W, 68-10
|
| Nov. 4 |
at Utah State |
W, 63-10
|
| Today |
Louisiana Tech
|
| Nov. 18 |
San Jose State
|
| Nov. 25 |
Purdue
|
| Dec. 2 |
Oregon State |
Louisiana Tech
3-6, 1-3 WAC
PROBABLE STARTERS
Offense
|
| WR |
81 |
Josh Wheeler |
6-4 |
203 |
So.
|
| WR |
82 |
Eric Newman |
6-0 |
190 |
Sr.
|
| LT |
73 |
Tyler Miller |
6-7 |
305 |
Jr.
|
| LG |
66 |
David Accardo |
6-5 |
316 |
So.
|
| C |
51 |
Jacob Peeler |
6-3 |
277 |
Sr.
|
| RG |
63 |
Ryan Considine |
6-5 |
297 |
Jr.
|
| RT |
77 |
Bill Jones |
6-6 |
311 |
So.
|
| TE |
89 |
Anthony James |
6-6 |
257 |
Sr.
|
| WR |
7 |
Jonathan Holland |
6-0 |
191 |
Sr.
|
| QB |
10 |
Zac Champion |
6-1 |
210 |
Jr.
|
| RB |
23 |
Patrick Jackson |
5-10 |
195 |
So.
|
Defense
|
| DE |
41 |
Chris Pugh |
6-3 |
225 |
Jr.
|
| DT |
92 |
Josh Muse |
6-3 |
301 |
Jr.
|
| DT |
98 |
Ben McGilton |
6-3 |
246 |
Jr.
|
| DE |
5 |
D'Anthony Smith |
6-2 |
288 |
Fr.
|
| SAM |
37 |
Quin Harris |
6-3 |
227 |
So.
|
| MLB |
58 |
Brannon Jackson |
6-2 |
260 |
Jr.
|
| WILL |
45 |
Marquis McBeath |
5-11 |
219 |
Jr.
|
| CB |
1 |
Tony Moss |
5-10 |
183 |
Sr.
|
| DOG |
29 |
Mark Dillard |
5-11 |
222 |
Jr.
|
| FS |
34 |
Antonio Baker |
5-11 |
200 |
Fr.
|
| CB |
35 |
Weldon Brown |
5-10 |
186 |
So.
|
|
20 |
Sandy Ray Collins |
5-10 |
187 |
Sr.
|
Specialists
|
| PK |
31 |
Danny Horwedel |
6-2 |
200 |
Jr.
|
| P |
15 |
Chris Keagle |
5-11 |
225 |
So.
|
| KR |
23 |
Patrick Jackson |
5-10 |
195 |
So.
|
|
35 |
Weldon Brown |
5-10 |
186 |
So.
|
| PR |
80 |
Chris Riser |
5-7 |
170 |
Sr.
|
| Snap |
52 |
Thomas Graham |
5-9 |
243 |
Fr.
|
| Hold |
17 |
Bryan Carroll |
6-0 |
175 |
Sr. |
SCHEDULE
| Date |
Opp. |
Result
|
| Sept. 2 |
at Nebraska |
L, 49-10 |
|
| Sept. 16 |
Nicholls State |
W, 31-21
|
| Sept. 23 |
at Texas A&M |
L, 45-14
|
| Sept. 30 |
at Clemson |
L, 51-0
|
| Oct. 7 |
at Boise State |
L, 45-14
|
| Oct. 14 |
Idaho |
L, 24-14
|
| Oct. 21 |
Utah State |
W, 48-35
|
| Oct. 28 |
at San Jose State |
L, 44-10
|
| Nov. 4 |
at North Texas |
W, 34-31
|
| Today |
at Hawaii
|
| Nov. 18 |
Nevada
|
| Nov. 25 |
Fresno State
|
| Dec. 2 |
at New Mexico State |
How They Compare
Other Key Statistics
| LA Tech |
Category |
Hawaii
|
|
17.3 |
First downs/game |
25.9
|
|
6.9 |
Rushing first downs/game |
5.6
|
|
9.2 |
Passing first downs/game |
19.2
|
|
1.2 |
First downs by penalty/game |
1.1
|
|
2.1 |
Turnovers lost |
1.9
|
|
2.4 |
Turnovers gained |
2.1
|
|
7-62 |
Interceptions-return yards |
9-172
|
|
37.3 |
Punting avg |
39.0
|
|
46-397 |
Penalties-yards |
67-567
|
|
21-15 |
Fumbles-lost |
15-11
|
|
32% |
Third-down-conversion rate |
56%
|
|
29% |
Fourth-down-conversion rate |
38% |
Individual Leaders
Rushing
|
|
A |
Yds |
Avg |
TD
|
| Patrick Jackson, LT |
97 |
472 |
4.6 |
5
|
| Daniel Porter, LT |
67 |
434 |
6.1 |
2
|
| Nate Ilaoa, UH |
81 |
586 |
7.2 |
9
|
| Colt Brennan, UH |
46 |
206 |
4.5 |
2
|
Passing
|
|
A |
C |
I |
Yds |
TD
|
| Zac Champion, LT |
251 |
135 |
9 |
1,842 |
12
|
| Michael Mosley, LT |
26 |
7 |
1 |
67 |
0
|
| Colt Brennan, UH |
340 |
248 |
6 |
3,347 |
39
|
| Tyler Graunke, UH |
38 |
28 |
0 |
386 |
3
|
Receiving
|
|
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TD
|
| Eric Newman, LT |
34 |
424 |
12.5 |
2
|
| Johnathan Holland, LT |
23 |
396 |
17.2 |
2
|
| Davone Bess, UH |
62 |
698 |
11.3 |
9
|
| Nate Ilaoa, UH |
44 |
596 |
13.5 |
4
|
Tackles
|
|
S |
A |
Tot |
FL/S
|
| Quin Harris, LT |
32 |
45 |
77 |
4.5/1
|
| Marquis McBeath, LT |
13 |
49 |
62 |
3/.5
|
| Brannon Jackson, LT |
20 |
34 |
54 |
2.5/0
|
| Robert Crosby, LT |
20 |
30 |
50 |
1/0
|
| Antonio Baker, LT |
20 |
26 |
46 |
1.5/0 |
|
| Adam Leonard, UH |
43 |
35 |
78 |
2.5/1
|
| Leonard Peters, UH |
31 |
25 |
56 |
1/0
|
| Solomon Elimimian, UH |
20 |
24 |
44 |
2/0
|
| Melila Purcell, UH |
20 |
17 |
37 |
9/4
|
| Jake Patek, UH |
21 |
15 |
36 |
1/0 |
