Tough one
That was a tough one for the Warriors, and it’s not going to get any easier. Idaho is quite good this year, especially at home.
So, a few things are obvious:
• Greg Salas is the Warriors’ MVP.
• The Warriors are invested fully in Bryant Moniz. They even broke out what appeared to be some new pass routes. It was impressive that Moniz was able to pick it up with only a week of practice as the No. 1 quarterback.
• Yes, let’s face it. This is a rebuilding year. Including Salas and Kealoha Pilares, who switched positions, there are new starters at three of the 22 spots. It doesn’t mean they can’t be successful. But there have been a lot of adjustments this year.
COMMENTS
Comments are closed.
tough one indeed!
too!
No excuses.
good morning tsaiko
very frustrated and disappointed ………. that it
Good morning everyone!
At least UH is starting a sophomore instead of a senior if this is a rebuilding year. Having an entirely senior OL and QB for the first 4 games is not ideal for rebuilding.
If UH wanted to go into full-on rebuilding mode then a freshman or two should get a chance at QB also. Find out who is the best of all 3 of the freshmen because at least one will transfer out eventually once that is decided…the earlier UH knows the better for the QB that will transfer out to get a chance to play elsewhere and the better for UH to free up that scholarship.
All the quotes from the game that I could find:
http://uhwarriorquotes.blogspot.com/
hiya Tsaikos.
dragged tjos pver.
October 11th, 2009 at 11:51 am
however each of us wanna say it, Coach Mack is gonna be around for awhile longer, good or bad, all crying and foamin aside.
and for me and anyone honest with themself, the problem starts with a failure to communicate, on all levels. everybody, coaches, players, trainer, waterboy, the failure to communicate affects their concentration on their job assignment.
the game starts in the mind. the game ends in the mind. if you ain’t got the mind, you’re not in the game. period.
i’m watching the rerun. it is very very painful. FSU was just doing straight blocking, no traps, no fancy stuff, man on man with our defense, and our defense got shoved around and blocked around and just plain got whipped, as a team.
and besides the weight issue, we just got out played, meaning we got outoached. period.
and like sumothers have said, i don’t mind if we lose and everybody feels good because we played a better team or we had some bad breaks or we got outplayed, but to have it go on and on and on, and the message is we’re gonna do this and that, then the problem becauses one of a
failure to communicate.
i love a dirty mouth. but i do NOT like the failure to communicate.
that affects the team’s play.
Love your team 🙂 Mine is da Warriors.
Salas is having an excellent season aside from the fumbles at the goal line.
I’ve been impressed with Rodney Bradley also, especially considering that he didn’t redshirt like the JC receivers UH recruited the previous year.
Tuiaka Tufaga has really stepped up at DT, a big position of need for UH.
Alex Dunnachie has an excellent game yesterday, really changing field position significantly a couple of times.
bhf2 – agree with you about Rolo
seeminlgy going for the HOME RUN only.
You guys should let em know what you see,
“… sometimes you’re so deep in the forest, you can’t see the trees …”
Rolo: rolovich(at)hawaii.edi
McMakin: mcmackin(at)hawaii.edu.
got these on-line from the UH Manoa directory.
Idaho’s coaching staff emphasized recruiting in Hawaii, so there will be a lot of Hawaii ties in this game. I’m impressed with their turnaround season, but hopefully they can have their first conference stumble on Saturday.
If BSU goes to a BCS bowl game, I figure Idaho will be picked to go to the bowl in Boise if they are eligible. At least their fans will be able to travel to the game.
Too many people have unrealistic expectations. Give the young men time to feel their way through this tough stretch.
Idaho made their winning TD drive at San Jose yesterday because their starting QB got benched after his second INT. One concern I have for UH is that Idaho was able to put up big yards on the ground against Tomey’s D. With shaky QB play and an excellent running game, I’m sure they will try to run the ball against UH…but UH shouldn’t be overpowered by them so maybe the matchup will be better for UH’s D.
I <3 Moniz!
GO Warriors!
Idaho is 5-1…which is amazing since they haven’t even won 5 games since 2000! Congratulations to their coaching staff and players…and I hope that things go to their head so they don’t prepare properly for UH.
Idaho had not beaten SJSU since they joined the WAC…until yesterday.
Idaho hasn’t beaten UH since they joined the WAC…hope that continues.
Alex Dunnachie was awesome! And the short ???? Kickoff was brilliant when we got the ball back. Lots of good stuff.
Moniz, though, he’s a great one in the making. Exciting days are coming!
Warriors, HEAL!!!
My major complaint about yesterday’s game was the weather…hot, humid, and the sun’s heat and glare as we sat on the mauka side of the stadium. Can’t do much about nature, but the latter miserable circumstance was man-made… the 5:05 PM start time. The atmosphere is not the same.
We’ll see how irritating around 40% of the stadium and half your sideline season ticket holders is going to translate into season ticket sales next year if this continues.. Maybe JD should take a real close look at this one.
As for the game…it could have been better. Saw some nice catches and klutzy drops, some good throws and bad. That’s par unless you are a super team. We’re still a work-in-progress. I’ll be watching next week.
Ouch, just got back from America. 70 degree swing today, 14 degrees when we left Spokane:0(
THE BEAST is back! Nominated for Defensive player of the week!
GO WARRIORS
GO WILDCATS (x2)
Congrats to the BEAST!
g’day tsaikos. The baton twirler was wonderful…The team was not. What happened to the haka, tought they said they were going to do it for the Fresno game. The team no more the mana. The first series we had and they went for the field goal, knew we were in trouble. Same with Las Vegas and La Tech, first series we went for the field goal. To me for the field goal try on first series (against a favord opponent) is already a lost game….imho…Imua Warriors. Still supporting the team…
GRM,
Your #343, on previous blog….thanks for that…..WOW!!!, it’s been a while hasn’t it??? no wonder my memory banks couldn’t retrieve that information, ha,ha!!
Bulla,
happy for the Beast, and you must be a proud father….I know I would be.
Hiya!!! SteveM,
Happy Sunday to you and yours.
Anyone notice that the pregame was off last night. Vili didn’t pump the crowd up as he normally does in the end zone – instead he stayed on the side banging the drums. The team entered the field a good 5+ minutes before kickoff, and Fresno hadn’t even come out of the locker room yet. When the team entered, the crowd got pumped. Then it just died. There was no intro of the starting offense or defense lineups….nothing until the kickoff.
Word on the street is that a one loss team might make it to the BCS championship game this year.
Howzit Tsaiko Nation!
Whew, third straight morning-after-loss hangover.
I’m watching the replay to see what I could only imagine last night from Bobby & Robert’s descriptions. Which brings up a recurring gripe: Robert is a great color guy, but Bobby’s play-by-play is really deficient for radio. He needs to focus on telling us what’s happening AS IT HAPPENS, and let Robert fill in the details. All too often it seems Bobby is behind the play and trying to catch up and figure out what happened. Okay, nuff said.
As for what happened on the field, it seems everybody had a hand in the loss. Well, almost. Kudos to Greg Salas for a stellar effort! If everybody played with his intensity and focus, the outcome would have been vastly different. I also give credit to Bryant Moniz for a great effort. It looks (on the replay) like quite a few passes slipped out of his hand — wet ball?– but I think he did pretty well under the circumstances. Alex Dunachie also did well and is beginning to live up to expectations (and just a freshman!). There were probably others, but they haven’t stood out to me.
Some say you can’t blame the players, just the coaches, but I would put it another way. Everybody is responsible for their mistakes, not just the coaches. Dropped passes, penalties, blown assignments, turnovers, missed tackles are what mostly what cost us this game. The coaches don’t play the game, so let’s cut them some slack. Yes, they need to do a better job, I agree. The whole team does.
Funniest thing I heard last night…
A Hawaii fan yells to Fresno State Fans, “Congrats Bulldogs… Go and Kick Boise’s A$$ and win the WAC.”
FSU Fan, “Uhhhhh we already lost to them a few weeks ago?”
Regarding #28
I agree Bobby Curren’s play by play is ok for TV but not for radio. He makes you wait forever before he tells you where the ball is.
I also disagree with the out coached crowd. Over the past five years we have been out recruited which is why Mack has put so much emphasis on restructuring our recruiting team. And for the “We miss JJ crowd” what highly recruited freshmen, sophomore or junior QB’s did we have in our pipeline after he left. Out coached is pee-wee football, recruiting wins championships.
Hi mctruck! …and a good day to you! You noticed I finally met up with brew808? Would like to meet you too someday!
-Moniz is our QB… Period.
-What’s Adrian Thomas’ status?
Mahalo steve and MC,
The Beast appreciates all the thoughts and prayers, and we do also.
I wished the Warriors were having more wins, just like everone else does. We will find what we look for, so let’s try and look for the good and be positive.
Go Warriors
Go Wildcats (x2)
Go Wildcats (x2)
We’ve done away with the individual intros since last season and Vili has scaled back on his pregame routine, but things did seem off last night before the game started.
However, Vili didn’t do his usual end zone stuff during timeouts where he tries to get different sections of the stadium cheering.
Odd, but fitting for the entire mood of the game.
The only time I really felt good was when it started to pour and there was this feeling amongst those that braved the rain like we all said “f**k it!” and just started making the most noise all night when we were on defense despite the fact we were down 21-0.
Coach Mack is good about responding to e-mails. Sometimes it takes a few days, but he responds. To sensible comments though.
I’m sure some of the ‘tards that flame other bloggers here won’t get a response though based on their inability to speak or converse above a 5th grade level.
Just can’t get a break this weekend in the football-related stuff.
Even my Fantasy Football team isn’t faring well this week.
I said that the Fresno State game, win or lose, would say a lot about how the coaches and the players would respond after a poor TV performance against Tech.
Well, the coaches appeared to get the tackling message across as there were SOME obvious improvements in attacking the FSU HB, but not much though… 🙄
However, AGAIN, I don’t see much ability to inspire aggression amongst the players come the second half…
Idaho next…
Might be a blessing to finally face a team that isn’t as “needy” for a win like LaTech and FSU last night.
Fresno State couldn’t afford to go 1-4 after last night and it showed, but we sure as hell helped them to 2-3…
Great Afternoon All!
I’d say it is Tough Three…
…and hopefully NOT COUNTING!
Tufaga had a terrific game again but it won’t get done on only one DT’s solid play.
Moniz exceeded expectations of a first start for a non-schollie guy who was #4 on the depth just last month.
Slow day.
Aughhh!
Mouton gets picked and gives up a TD catch to Reggie Wayne 👿
Athletic Justice…Mouton creates a fumble on punt coverage! 🙂
ST,
Thanks for the tickets to last night’s game. Obviously wish the game was more competitive but it was time well spent with my son. You weren’t kidding, the seats were up there. It was fun to see the plays develop from that high a perspective. Thanks again.
I had Fresno 45, UH 10 so I was pretty close. The way I see it UH is a joke. It must be the worst or close to the worst defense in the country. They just can’t stop anybody….they have no pass rush, can harrass the QB and the perimeter is defenseless because they have no quickness. Combined w/ bad special teams…fumbled punt return and blocked field goal and inconsistent offense, it spells a long season and getting even longer. Since New Mexico State beat Utah State yesterday I now say that UH will not win another game this year, thus a 2-11 season. When you have a walk on QB as your starting QB it spells big problems. I hate to say it, but the problems stem from poor recruiting, particularly on defense. If you can’t stop anybody you will lose every time. With the run and shoot, if you don’t score a bunch of points you leave your defense susceptible to opponents holding on to the ball and wearing out our defense and in the long run being tired to give up even more points.
So, unless UH score at least 35 or more points they will not win any game, period! The silver lining is that the Wahine is a joy to watch and we can at least for now get a little excited about the prospects for the basketball program. Idaho 31, UH 17.
Did anyone notice this during the game?
They were cheering “Offense, Offense.” I don’t like any type of cheering when we have possession, but I know for a fact they were not cheering for the Fresno State defense.
Lava,
my issue is that there has been a failure to communicate, from the coaches to the players, from the coaches to the fans, from the coaches among themselves. until that issue is resolved, there is more heartache to come.
imo we’ve got great talent, but we’re not using the people properly. the coaches’ eyes aren’t evaluating people for the “proper” position and schemes. that is my opinion.
you can’t take Hawaii players and put them on mainland teams and they do well there, and have the same or better talent here, and tell me that we need to improve our recruiting.
we need to improve our coaching. thats my opinion.
@al
I owe you lunch 🙁
Re: comment 6. Garrett
I totally agree with bringing in the freshmen to compete because we all know one of them is most likely to transfer. Nothing against Moniz, but we offered these guys scholies to be the future of the program. You’ve got to play em especially since u got ur walk on qb starting. Withholding all three doesn’t make sense if we truly are rebuilding. And with the way the seasons been going, it looks like we should be looking to the future. IMHO.
Jason,
Thank you for the clarification. Is there really an “offense” cheer when the cheerleaders are supposed to know to not cheer when the offense has the ball?
I also think we should give one of the freshmen quarterbacks some playing experience, get them ready for next year. This year the warrios will take their lumps :(.
Anyway at least I got wahine volleyball.
It’s usually the cheerleaders trying to get the crowd to be quiet when we’re on offense, so yeah, they do know not to make noise. I can’t understand it. Maybe I misheard, and they were cheering “defense” accidentally. But I thought it was “offense.”
If anything, Vili was worse when it came to making noise on offense. He’s better at that now, though. He doesn’t do the point-and-yell thing anymore when we have the ball.
Now, if there was an entertainment problem I wanted fixed, it was the band at the south endzone concourse playing during the National Anthem and Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī. I know they didn’t mean to, but I didn’t think that was right. Someone needs to communicate with them so they know when to stop.
I don’t think we should burn a redshirt. We have three returners with some experience in Moniz, Rausch, and Austin. Moniz is probably the best bet right now in terms of trying to get five more wins. But if we get our bowl hopes eliminated for good, then I don’t see why we can’t let all three try and battle it out, it’ll give them a shot to be ahead going into the spring. Then the redshirt freshmen can step up and try to get into the competition then.
Jason,
I would normally agree with you about not burning redshirts, and I’m really happy that GDL didn’t burn his redshirt. However, the problem is that UH gave 3 QBs scholarships last season and there is going to be a major problem with playing time in the next year or two. The way I figure it, the earlier they battle it out then the better for UH and for the players.
You are correct that the coaches shouldn’t do this too early. Moniz and Austin probably need all the reps this week to prepare for the game, and I doubt the freshmen are going to make the road trip. And I wouldn’t throw the freshmen in against BSU. But if in 2 weeks things haven’t gone UH’s way, it will be time to look towards the future.
The other consideration behind getting a freshman some practice reps (which the coaches already started with Shutter) is what happens if Moniz gets hurt? Austin is not recovered from his injury, Rausch is out with injury, so if Moniz gets hurt then UH won’t have any healthy QBs unless a freshman plays!
Austin’s ailing, but he can probably still play. His effectiveness is a question, though. Funaki is always an option, too. And if it REALLY gets bad, I might throw Jon Medeiros in there as an option before burning redshirts. If it gets to Funaki/Medeiros territory, then there’s no way in heck I’d risk true freshmen QBs; they’ll end up like David Carr in Houston.
#34- Kazz, I saw Vili doing the section cheering thing last night.
I like the idea of playing a true freshman. David Carr played 3 for 4 games at FSU as a true freshman. If you’ve proved your coaches you can make plays, let em play. It pays off down the road. Jimmy Clausen, Bo Levi etc..
Its nice to see true freshman playing this year like Barkley at USC, Brehaut at UCLA it will pay dividends 100 fold down the road. Heck, Michigan is playing 2 true freshman at QB! Let em play!
i agree with the idea to let a fresham qb play. we recruited these guys. we got a walk on soph as a qb. good guy, but if we’re rebuilding, then lets rebuild.
but mostly, lets talk straight.
Tough loss, all losses are…but
– I like the way the coaches look to remain positive on the sidelines, and focus on teaching.
– Moniz is tough. Made a lot of great passes…and a couple of bad ones, which seemed to me more a matter of experience with seeing the coverage than not knowing what’s going on. I think he will improve with experience and be a good one.
-Good to see Fonoti healthy.
-Special teams mistakes are correctable.
-Idaho is not an impossible game to win.
-We will be a better team next week than we were last night…
redshirt or stockpiling is an excellent idea if you are loaded. in our situation, we have a great need for depth and game players, so some position might not be immune from redshirting this year. i am not sure about colin k, unr qb, but did he start playing as a true fresh or is he a redshirt. same goes for boise qb, didn’t he start as a true fresh???? looking at our warriors, we will have 2 returning qbs, 3 redshirt qbs, 1 already committed qb, and possibly 2 more for next yr. a minimum of 6 and possibly 8, where do we find out who will be on the depth chart??
only a suggestion as a fan, how helpful would it be to the offense if one of the wr is used to help the right tackle position by being a “pseudo tight end”. just a suggestion from a fan.
Mac couldn’t decide on who is #2 qb back of Alexander what makes you think he can make the decision on a red shirt before the season is over. Continuing on the qb issue, how much head scratching will go on with Mac to decide on the 6 qbs in place on the depth chart to divide the snaps. Moniz and Austin are walk ons, Austin awarded a scholie, but a qb recruit was someone the coaches wanted so let one of them gain valuable experience this season. What happens if a redshirt qb wins the #1 position, no game experience, another Mac side bar quote, fans got to be patient because the qb doesn’t have any game experience and he is a rs freshman.
washington vs stanford in wvb on fox primeticket at we write, U dub up 1-0 in sets.
if the warrior’s coaching staff wants the opposition to run and force a passing game, should look at the Chicago Bears team with Coach Buddy Ryan’s 6 pack defense. Now that is a run defense!!!!!!
Sitting in the pouring rain until halftime actually felt pretty good.
My wallet is kinda funky looking though… Glad my phone survived!
ralph, am only a fan who truly loves to see our warriors become a more competitive team, but it seems that Coach Ron Lee or Coach Rolovich should step up and make their opinions known as to where each qb is on the depth chart. they are the offensive coordinators and also the qb coach. i give mo credit for being a gamer, but Coach Lee or Rolovich should have told Coach Mc, we are going to give the other qbs a chance to get game time in when the Fresno game was out of reach.
kazz, my man, what game was our small friendly wager on?? i porgot!!!!
Could have been 21-28 going into the half or 14-28 or 14-21, etc…
Salas wasn’t kidding when he said that being down that much lies on the offense, but it wasn’t our typical offense, but better decisions need to be made and called upon considering our situation with a new QB when in the redzone.
Of course the defense needs to make more stops. Shoot, I thought we forced FSU to punt at least 5 times, but watching the replay, I think we only forced them to punt twice all night.
Idaho is a “must win” to think the Hawaii Bowl is even a possibility.
Last three opponents for us had “must win” situations, but so did we, this time, 808% we MUST win.
I “bet” that Alexander would still be the starter come the Nevada game.
You “bet” that Shane Austin would be the starter come the Nevada game.
Ummmm… unless something happens to Moniz come the Nevada away game, I think it’s a wash for you and I.
postmanke (on # 56)
Do you realize that it’s a lot harder for a freshman QB to pick up UH’s Run-and-shoot Offense as compared to the demands placed on a QB in Fresno State or USC’s system? They (QB at UH) usually will need that redshirt year to absorb, observe & assimilate the system. The only guy I can think of who would’ve been cerebral enough to absorb & implement the system effectively (within a season) would be Peyton Manning–he’s one in a thousand (if not one in a million), though.
“ShockTOBER 2009” is gonna be rough.
-away vs Idaho.
-home vs Boise State.
-away against Nevada.
With all respect to Idaho, W-E MUST WIN IN MOSCOW!!!
ok, kazz. got it.
Mack is a really nice guy, and he leads by consensus. In the world of quick decision making, by definition no can make speedy and quickness by consensus. consensus requires agreement of sorts, others involvement, and speed and quickness requires one guy one set of cahones one standout, one shot, one pitch, one time macho decision..
everybody gotta grow up. everybody gotta get betta. we need honest talk. JJ taught me about da buu liar. i am alll pauu wit da bululiar.
o wait, i a being too harsh? nope, remember, i bought 5 books, listened to da double talk fork tongue talk. Lets face facts. Mack stepped up when we coulda really really had no hope fo long time. So we owe him to help him. and dat is what I am doing right here. honest talk. like he said for himself. this is a business.
talk straight to me Mack.. talk straight to da team. talk straight to da assistant coaches. just talk straight. we’ll back you up. the players will back you up. I am asking for straight talk. honest.
I am a fan, a frustrated fan, not as frustrated as you, but i don’t cry and i don’t quit. and neither will you, will you?
Warrior Nation deserves straight talk. 👿 if you like me go 😀 again.
10 Colin Kaepernick QB 6-6 220 Jr. Turlock, Calif. (Pitman HS)
2006: Redshirted his first season at Nevada and directed the offensive scout team.
11 Moore, Kellen QB 6-0 187 So. Prosser, WA (Prosser HS)
(2007) Redshirted.
protector, what you say is probably true about the run and shoot, but if you expect the qbs to understand the system, shouldn’t you put them in actual game situation, so they can see the speed of the game. the game with fresno was lost, so why not play the other qbs and have them learn what it is to play under actual game conditions. If we are going to just stockpile and not have any of them play in actual game, we will be the losers. i don’t think we could have won the game with our other qbs, but if i was a coach, i would sure like to find out how much my qbs have learned the run and shoot system.
I agree with you Garret post#6. I believe Timmy Chang had that start as a true freshman at QB and he put out some numbers, over the years. Our QB need more practice time throwing to his wide recievers and slots, so that they are in rhythm to his style of throwing…
BigHiloFan2,
Sir! Now is the time, for us fans to really say, “F**K IT!”
When our team has hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up, or stay at rock bottom for a while.
BTW, when I say “F**K IT”, I mean it to mean that our situation is what it is and we can only rely on the coaches to move things forward and our players to keep busting their okoles every practice and in every game.
In exchange, the real fans will be there to make noise for every game.
The other option of being a huge and whiney “panty” and sulking in our sorrows is a p*ssy way out of the situation.
I’M GREEN AND WHITE AND PROUD OF IT!!!
brew, thanks. now that we have 3 redshirts qb, come next season, will they be able to compete for the #1 or 2 position or will they be in the same position as this year?????
after the long road trip and the home opener, we now know that we do have a problem with team depth. knowing that, imho, we do not take any non players to idaho. may seem harsh, but we need players and not cheerleaders for the game.
It was good to see Chizzy Demude run some plays…he had some good moves.
washington has a middle who is 6’5 but is as fluid as Kaufman. Hewitt needs to grow a couple of inches and start hitting like Danielson. Penn State, Texas and Washington front line is very tall
Teams can give out 25 new scholarships each year (though a team might get more commits than that because they can play the grayshirt game). However, teams are limited to 85 scholarships total.
If every player was recruited as a freshman and redshirted, that would mean that they would be on scholarship for 5 years. Sometimes UH gets a player for a sixth year also.
In that scenario, if UH took 25 freshman each year and each stayed for 5 years, that would require 125 scholarships. Of course that would never happen, but remember that 2 or 3 of the 85 scholarship total goes to walk-ons each year, so UH can give out 25 scholarships to recruits and 2 or 3 scholarships to walk-ons–the walk-on program can add another 5 or 10 scholarship players on a team at a time…teams quickly run out of scholarships if everyone redshirts.
Offensive linemen are probably the best candidates for grayshirt and redshirts because of the need to learn that complicated position and the benefit of the weight training and conditioning program. There are times that a stud recruit starts immediately as a true freshman, but in general I’d prefer that all OL redshirt.
It is nice for QBs to redshirt, probably the second best position to redshirt after OL. However, all 3 freshmen redshirt and they only run the scout team this year (and they all split reps between the 3 of them and Austin, so they barely get any scout team time), when will they get a chance to be show what they can do? Eventually one of them will distinguish himself (or Spain or Moniz will get the starting job), but then one or two others will transfer out. If it takes 1 or 2 years after the redshirt year to figure that out, then UH is using a scholarship on a player that will never play for the team. And if a player is going to transfer out, it is best for him to do it as early as possible.
Letting all 3 freshmen QBs redshirt and then sit behind Moniz and/or Rausch for another year after that does nobody any real good. The players lose eligibility time and UH loses the chance to get another OL or DL on scholarship.
We are coming into the last week of fundraising before the Susan G Komen race for the Cure walk on Sunday October 18. My mom is a breast cancer survivor and she usually participates in this walk but will be on a trip. I will be taking her place and joining the HawaiiMoms team for the 5K walk.
I have already surpassed the “goal” but that doesn’t mean that donations have to end. If you have not done so yet, please consider giving what you can to this great cause. No amount is too small to fight breast cancer.
Below is the link to make donations. Thank you.
http://race.komenhawaii.org/site/TRpg=personal&fr_id=1030&px=1122044
Let us assume (hope) that Moniz, Austin, or Rausch prove himself and get on such a roll that the team ends the season well. That would make that QB the #1 QB next year, and one of the others would be the #2 QB. That means that *all* three freshmen QBs would get zero reps with the offense except for “mental reps”. How are they going to develop to their potential?
Anyway, I’ll drop this subject now and hope that things work out for the best. I just worry because I see a huge group of QBs coming back next year and that will limit their reps and limits the number of scholarships available for other positions.
Free play link time. Please ignore my next 5 posts if you do not want to read the off-topic stuff.
It is sad that 8.8 million children die before they turn 5, with 40% of them in India, Nigeria and Congo. 93% of the children who die before their 5th birthday are from Asia or Africa.
Unemployed man searched all around using a $4 metal detector, ignoring taunts from passing cars and others around him. People stopped making fun of him when he discovered the largest and most valuable hoard of Saxon gold in history!
Newly discovered dinosaur has been revealed to be a man-sized miniature T. rex that lived tens of millions of years earlier than the T. rex.
Regarding #83
I agree but for a different reason. With three true freshman QB’s why recruit another freshman QB?
Tufts College felt it necessary to ban having sex in the dorms if a person’s roommate was present.
Deputy who was fired in Florida because of his problems with alcohol sued the sheriff, saying that they discriminated against him because his alcoholism is a disability.
Free play links pau.
Protector,
It’s obvious you can’t expect much from a true freshman to make an immediate impact or expect to win in any system regardless of the complexity. Can some true freshman play in a run shoot offense yes, does the program expect to win? absolutely not. Will they eventually win and will it pay dividends? it’s being proven right now ~ Case in point will be Bo Levi. ONE WORD – GODSPEED!
You have to realize that nowadays some of these kids are ‘breast fed’ the run and shoot. You would be very surprise how well some of these recruits have an amazing grasp of the offense.
I would love to see Rich Rodriguez’s spread option offense playbook vs ours. He’s got 2 true freshman there that are making a pretty descent impact. So can they play? absolutely! If you think you’re going to be successful in their freshman year than you’re nuts!
great wvb match, tied at 2-2, washington and stanford. it is about this time that bpew asks me, do you know that this is yesterday’s match, right, but i didn’t see it yesterday.
OldDiver,
I didn’t even want to bring up Spain because he’s not going to see any reps in the offense for several years because there will be too many people ahead of him. I don’t see how he’ll even get many scout team reps because the freshmen already have that job locked up and have to split the reps between them.
I remember that a QB recruit (which I assume is Spain) was at yesterday’s game. I hope that the game didn’t hurt UH in his eyes.
Garret, mental reps is basically how you are taught, but somewhere along the way, you are put in real situations to see how much you learned. It is called testing. You can have have great tutoring (coaching), excel at mental excercise (practice or homework), but flunk in testing (actual game). Each teacher (coach) evaluates their students (players) progress and grades their test. Sounds so simple, but it is applicable for football?????? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!
unlike Al, no one told or posted the scores LOL. so i’m not refreshing until after this 5th set
Boy, Fresno was strong huh? From watching our previous losses, I came to this game with hopes of winning, but yet deep down knowing that we didn’t stand a chance. A win would’ve been SweeT! lol
Do you think, my thinking that we are not gonna win, is a cop-out move? I figure i do it so i dont get really angry at our team and can enjoy the simplicity of “football”. Phew! fresno was nice to watch for me. Their plays and players were great to watch! We made them look good! lol,
Yeah Garret, it doesn’t make sense. but when you’re a new coach trying to build a team for the next 4 to 5 years. You’re like kid in a candy store looking for a QB and you’re going to load up. They may have gone overboard on the QB’s. I bet we lose a couple to transfers. Baring injury, Moniz already seems that he has enough mojo that he can solidify the job for the next 3 years. Where does that leave the red shirts?
Do we want a win against boise?
Dumb question but… Win vs boise, or support their BCS run and consider the money we would get from that?
I *always* want UH to beat BSU! The $500k would be nice, but UH would have a lot better attendance the rest of the season if they beat BSU, which would make up for at least some of that money. Plus, we need UH to get to 7 wins and so every win is huge.
What really concerns me about the team is the inability to tackle. Seems like people are in the right positions but we can’t get the opponent to the ground. Our tackling is horrendous. We don’t wrap up and drive through the guy. We just throw shoulders around.
Cal is in 8th place in the pac 10, 2-3, 9-6 over all.
postmanke,
And if Manley takes the offer on the table, what happens with Spain and him? I said it back when UH took 3 QBs last year that it would discourage Manley from going to UH and I think that is a factor in him not wanting to take UH’s offer. Manley’s quote in the paper today about how he’d go to UH if they want him to play QB seems to indicate that he’s seen the depth chart and how many of the QBs on the roster won’t get to play.
Washington is no longer undefeated. U Dub was 3, and UH 4, maybe, UH will be #3 ranked this week.
Pono, I keep hearing coaches refer to “gang tackling” when you hear that you have to think if the tackling fundamentals are being taught. Wonder if they practice too much of the ‘strip the Travis Laboy was one of the best tacklers ever at UH. His wrap up willy was awesome!
Size advantage and physical ability.
Second home game, twice i stare at our players being pushed to their limit because they are fighting someone bigger and stronger. The defense actually matched up very well in size and ability i think, the play calling of the fresno offense was just too much. There were countless run plays that always had a lead blocker/pulling lineman in front of them. A lot of times defenses are dead/done on a play because of bad play calling. Was it just me or did I not see a whole lot of speed on our defensive side of the ball?
Kazz,
howzit howzit. jus cuz yo helmet wuz mo shiny dan mine neva mean yo mo green dan me. 😀
i’m begga dan yu so i can get mo p*$$d dan yu. 😆
an jus because i mo habut dan yu no mean i not tryin fo motivate da
F+T outta da coaches!
i will shut up wen day doo dare jobs an motivate da F+K outta da players samoa, so da mental mistakes no go off like day wen last nite. .
not that it matter’s but Mike Sanford is probably gone within the week. It would be nice to see UNLV land an up and coming coach like Tuner Gill.
Turner Gill
think of it this way……
any win these days would be an upset at least we could be the “spoilers”.
st, is right, that this is a rebuilding year.
As the season goes along, I think we’ll really see how much of this is on the coaches and the lack of depth.
A lot of kids being born under fire this season, especially the first timers on defense like L. Satele, Jake Heun, Corey Parades, Haku, etc…
EXACTLY!!!
The timing of the injuries to Rausch and Alexander is not favorable to the players and the coaches that have to make the decisions.
Moniz has the physical tools, to waffle between Moniz, S. Austin, Rausch (when he’s ready), and/or Funaki (who hasn’t even played a single snap at QB since 2008) would be reverting back to the QB issues we had last season.
We’re already FAR behind the curve of the 2008 team and morale isn’t great, or at least doesn’t appear to be.
We don’t need to be lookin for last season answers for this year’s questions.
Barring injury or a severe drop in performance, stick with Moniz!!!
Bruddah D,
No it was not just you, I have heard that comment (not on the blog) at least 2 dozen times already. I think everyone agree our D is pretty slow…especially the D-line….real slow.
Ralph,
What you think?
-Stanford is better tonight than they were when we swept them last month?
-Washington isn’t really the “#3” team in the country?
hey tsaikos,
out of curiosity. did coach say that even if Rausch gets better and can play that he will continue with Moniz?
If this was last Wednesday, then I’d agree 808% with you. They seemed faster and a little better this week, but obviously not enough or even close to make it a game.
Hmmm… the thing is, we’re supposed to be faster at home than on the road.
I-D-A-H-O is the focus… (sighs)…
Right now we’re playimg like a team that has lost its confinence.
The lack of tackling is the first sign, panic mistakes, overanxious fumbles etc. are to follow, interspersed with the occacional good play. We have talent, but they are shell shocked,
Our Coaches really need to earn their keep, by rebuilding this team back up in the mental department and instill some confidence into their psyche.
Like any sport, no confidence, no wins. I hope our coaches have enough mojo to turn up the Warrior spirit again.
Look at Idaho, the main difference betwen 1-5 and 5-1 is confidence, they finally seemed to have found some of it.
Congrats to the Kekoa Ohana – and welcome to great-granddaughter Millia Hanakeawe!
I didn’t see that particular quote, BUT, if that is what Coach Mack said then you can look at it in two ways:
1) Rausch is a Jr. this season and will have one more season to go after this year. Not to mention the more amount of practice snaps he’s had over Moniz. Yes, Moniz played a full game, which is more than Rausch has had over one and a half seasons, but Rausch has had a little more time with the first team unit collectively speaking…
2) One must wonder where Rausch will be physically and mentally once he is cleared 100% to play and when will that be in conjunction with where our record stands in salvaging a winning season.
Example, will Rausch be ready by next week (after the Idaho road trip)? If so, do you really want to put in a QB that hasn’t played a game snap all year long over the other QB that has had two games to start by then… against Boise State nonetheless.
It goes back to the “wishy-washiness” of the QB decisions last season.
Not to digress, but that’s what bugged me to the point of silence with all the “Funaki at QB talk because he beat Fresno State last season”. NOTHING against Funaki, but if he was taking snaps at QB during practice then that’s one thing, but they coaches converted him to HB. When you get down to the heart of the issue, the issue is QB play.
With all that in mind, I would have a hard time ousting Brent Rausch from starting this season, but at the same time, I would have a hard time saying that Rausch should automatically start over Bryant Moniz.
Kazz, dont say my name on here but wanted to let you know who i was….
Remember that crazy green stuff we drank at my place back in the day?
It was C-R-A-Z-Y!
had fun on saturday bro, cya!
Everyone realizes that the team is not doing well right now. All I care about is that they play with PRIDE. If they ever show they have given up on themselves, then there will be a lot of people giving up on them.
iwwthm,
If Coach Mack really said that, he must be looney. He always has this tendency to make these sweeping statements and than locking himself into a corner.
Rausch is probably rusty right now, but he is still the most experienced QB on the roster at this time. We never get the fullscoop what’s going on with injured players anyways.Play the best right now, whoever that is.
We’re stockpiling QB maybe to find another Colt? Lol.
Kazz,
Good points. I dont know if Rausch can be redshirted but if can that might be a good idea. That way he will have next year and the year after to play.
*disclaimer*
coach MAC did NOT NOT NOT NOT say that ( at least to my knoweldge). its hearsay that was told to me that Moniz would be the auto start.
postmanke:
October 11th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
not that it matter’s but Mike Sanford is probably gone within the week. It would be nice to see UNLV land an up and coming coach like Turner Gill.
postmanke: How about UNLV hiring Rich Miano – give him some HC experience. After that … ???
😆DEY U GO!!! NICE TO SEE YOU POST ON HERE!!!😆
I thought the UH D and FSU O observations “sounded” familiar.
Again, dey u go!
Rausch is pretty adamant that he is not going to redshirt
I think Rausch can RS.
If the Warriors beat Idaho with Moniz at QB he will start against Boise. It would make no sense otherwise. Rausch would only be an option if Moniz doesn’t show improvement and the coaches feel he gives us a better chance to win games. And who knows Austin may play and not give up the position. Timing and luck can work for you or against you.
FloridaTed,
The coaches better not be worried about finding the “next” Colton Brennan. There won’t be… EVER.
However, there can be the next badass QB for UH that can take us to the “promised land”.
(***Anyone can interpret “promised land”.***)
Kazz when Stanford came to town, Alix had an injured shoulder, couldn’t take a full swing and too many swings. now she is healthier she is averaging in the pass few games about 53 swings and 20+ kills per game. Won’t be the same. Washington is good, so is a healthy Stanford. UH got to play big at the net and pass better to compete and Mafua has got to use the middle.
***Unless this question hasn’t already been answered…***
WHERE IS ZACH MASCH?
Push come to shove, we may not have a choice but to “support” their BCS run, unless we can do something about it in two weeks.
BUT until then… ONWARD TO MOSCOW!!!
during the VB game the commentators commented that the middle blocker is like the center in bb, plays a position, only if someone passes to the center is he or she involved. The color analyst imputed that the setter must also have confidence in the middle to set her. Washington and Stanford uses the middle very well, UH is high left and hope Danielson and Ferrell puts it away, and Aneli gets at least one rotation on the left otherwise she is on the right.
With Coach Mc Mackin I’m somewhat flubbergusted how inept our defense is playing, Its not like we have no talent there, but I really expected them to play a lot tougher. I have yet to see the great defensive guru in action.
It like something is missing with these years team, but I can’t figure it out what it may be.
i dont want to start a “rausch vs. moniz” thing. i just wanted to know where Raush stood.
moniz played one game and he is tecnically our 3rd string qb. its unrealistic to expect him to be on point that fast. and seriously i could care less if the coaches say he is just as good as colt brennan, i mean everything with a grain of salt and you dont expect a coach to talk down a player.
however since it will and probably already has gone in that direction……
keeping things in perspective so I myself dont get ticked of. I have to realize we are not Ohio St. or LSU where our 2nd and 3rd stringers are 3/4star quarterbacks. Just gotta work with what we have and hope for the best. I hate to say it but with all the *luck* we have been having, its spray and pray time.
gosh and before i get nailed for a misquote
add #135
the colt brennan thing was a joke, was just being facetious. they never said that about moniz.
Well, Good night gang, some good discussion, good fun, asta manana.
watch the coach Mac show tonight, he may answer some of your questions.
We really need to reestablish some kind of running game. It has to be a real first down threat or more. We really need those short bursts that can give the other side nightmares. Only then can a rather decent QB with a pretty accurate arm pick apart the opposing defense. You almost want Pilares back there again with ability to block as well as run and evade.
Oh yeah.. we need the defense to get back the ball. BUT when they do, the offense has to make it count — which they didn’t do last night.
Gotta be depth, injuries, etc… You name the issues, we’ve got ’em.
I mean Geordon Hanohano is out, Vaughn Meatoga, Elliott Purcell, Fetaiagogo Fonoti, and Paipai Falemalu are NOT 100% and haven’t been in a while.
We were all hoping that David Hafoka would add to the depth at DT, but his absence continues to be felt and the much-praised Zach Masch is either red-shirting or not playing for whatever reason…
As for our linebackers, we had Brashon Satele is out before the season even began and for whatever reason Mana Lolotai is not in the rotation at LB, OR he is and I’m just not seeing it and we’re not getting all that he could offer. Jake Heun could have provided us some cushion at LB allowing Blaze to remain outside (his natural postion), but the injuries elsewhere caused a shift.
Then, to be honest Rocky Savaiigaea has been quite thus far while Tuika Tufaga has been BEASTLY!!!
Now imagine the perfect scenario in which we would have been able to look at a depth chart like this with ALL players mentioned above to be able to be used in rotation like we’ve been able to utilize in the previous two seasons with Coach Mack as HC or DC in 2007.
I think we’d be looking at a 5-1 or 4-2 record thus far.
Honestly that is my opinion.
Don’t get me wrong, you can coach depth, but you can’t out coach injuries or whip up D1 starters of EVERYONE in the lineup.
I mean, let’s be honest, of the 80+ kids on ALL D1 programs, not all of them can provide you quality starting “material”, ESPECIALLY when a lot of them are freshmen or JUCO transfers. Well unless you are Florida or whatever, and we are not Florida.
So from what I’ve seen after two rough back to back beatings I see that the depth is an issue, an issue created from a MASSIVE graduating class last season as a result of poor recruiting methods seasons ago, compiled with injuries to key talent.
iwonderwhytheyhateme:
If Rausch hasn’t been throwing or working out for the past few weeks I would think that he’s not in shape to lead the team. Even if he’s cleared for practice, he’ll still need a couple of weeks to get back into sync and maybe even more time to get back into shape. I dunno. I suppose the coaches will reconsider everything once he’s cleared and throwing again, but until then, it’s Moniz.
At this stage of the game, I’d almost like to see the two with their own receiving and rb squads. Go in, run three plays without a huddle or till the next first down. Then switch out..run three plays without a huddle… repeat all night long.
Does anyone remember the feeling that the young and inexperienced defense of this season “may” gel by the 5th or 6th game this season?
Well, if Coach Mack’s quotes are TRUE about how there was a “good feeling” towards the end of the game, then we shall see… Unless he was talking about the late TDs and the “good feeling” was amongst the offense…
Speaking of the offense, the short passes to Chizzy in the flats seemed to work quite well last last night…
Hard to judge things when we’re down by that much and the opposing team has their 2nd and 3rd defensive units on the field against half our starters and some of our 2nd units though.
Would not be surprised if we see Chizzy and Joe Avery this Saturday against Idaho though.
I also hope Moniz will utilize his slots a little more. In the beginning of the game, depending on his reads and what the defense was showing of course, Moniz was quite content in making out-route tosses to Royce Pollard, only late in the game did we see some attempts at some reads in the middle of the field.
Hot humid nights in the trenches. I wonder what the team would be like if the players acted like disgruntled fans and started pointing fingers at each other and the coaches?
Hmmm…so what do you do when you’re under duress in the trenches of a less than desireable situation?
Not so friendly fire can be more damaging than the opponent. Every one needs to do a better job…that’s obvious, but what the whole team needs more than anything right now is for the fans to have their back.
The coaches, the players, “The Team” will stick together and work hard. Will the fans? Do the fans have enough fortitude to endure the growing pains of a season they all knew would be tough? Can the fans realize that the pain they feel is but a drop in the bucket compared to the hurt the entire team feels after a tough game?
All fans start a season with optimism. The best fans end the season with the team…in the trenches.
Go Warriors!
Go Warriors!
Go Warriors!
Does UH practice in the sun?
With the weather getting cold in the mainland, teams would FRY in our sunlight at mid day!!! This past saturday was a perfect example of how hot it can get!
Main thing is that they get tired before we do….
Id be able to sacrafice a few tailgates if we can get some wins! i think…
I reluctantly have to share Florida Ted’s puzzlement about why our D isn’t more effective. I felt Coach Mack would be able to adjust for practically anything. I half thought that we’re not giving enough credit to the opponents efficiency, but it’s not a stong enough argument. I see some improvement & I hope it continues, because the obstacles seem to be significant. Though the new kids are talented, I mourn the loss of Ryan Mouton. If he was here, we wouldn’t have lost to UNLV and we’re 3-2 at the minimum. If he couldn’t outjump the receiver, he would’ve stripped the ball away (he was that fast & coordinated). The injuries on the D-Line have seriously curtailed the pass rush & that’s responsible for the losses more than anything else. I know this team will improve. I don’t know if it’ll be quick enough to meet the challenges & satisfy the detractors.
Every day. 7 or 8am for two hours.
Is it possible to use the tropics to our advantage? Or is that illegal?
I’m very late in finding out Adrian Thomas suffered an injury which led to him being replaced by Hansen.
I’m pretty sure Thomas’ parents wouldn’t have appreciated Thomas being left in while he’s hurt.
Hey Kazz (on # 143)
I noticed the same thing you did. I just thought it was because Pollard was the one getting open & I figured (because of the scouting) that they were double covering Salas & Pilares. Who would’ve thought Pilares would drop 2 balls in the hands on the same drive, though.
If you consider sending the visiting team to Germaine’s Luau the night before the game, then no. 😆
I was talking about this with one of my buddies in the game and he mentioned that the outs to the wideouts tend to be “easier” throws than to slots, which I think we all can understand, especially for a new QB and also in consideration he mentioned that the RWO is also in a more “natural” postion to throw for a right-handed QB.
In time Moniz will get better to use all his weapons.
I posted this under Ferd’s column earlier:
Oh ye of short memories.
After arguably the best recent years of UH Football we watched our perfect season coach leave for lack of a contract and the kind of support the program needed to continue the momentum.
Coach Mack stayed to provide continuity and was, imho, the best choice we had at that moment. He is still this fan’s choice.
If we as fans are embarrassed, it is a reflection of our own selves and not the reality of what our football program is doing to prepare young men for life. Adversity is one of the greatest teachers there is. To achieve victory over adversity, one must become unified and put the success of the group ahead of self-aggrandizement. It requires courage, tenacity, patience, and LOVE.
If we fans want to HELP our team. This is the time to manifest MORE LOVE and not throw the coaches and players under the bus. Fault-finding and naysaying just reflects back on the writer and does not remedy the situation.
GO WARRIORS!
10/11/2009 6:14:10 p.m.
zach masch is redshirting this year.
hafoka was injured in the spring and won’t be playing this year either.
next year we get zach back, hafoka in the trenches as well. manupuna transfers in from portland state but, the really big one. kaniela tuipulotu gets in the game after sitting out the mandatory year after transferring from arizona. while we will miss tufaga and rocky, we reload here along with returnees meatoga, correa, and hanohano.
Kazz
I thought that Moniz (or any UH QB) had to go systematically through the progressions, regardless of the difficulty of the throw, and hit the open man?
Can any coaches / former coaches out there (familiar with UH’s system)
comment / enlighten please?
protector…the loss of brashton satele is becoming more and more evident each game. since his injury, we have tried lolotai, kiesel-kauhane, soares, and the like. we still don’t have the right piece of the puzzle for mlb. i was hoping that gdl would get in the game but, his hammy prevented that from happening.
i won’t be surprised if the next two candidates are paredes or heun.
In short Coach Mack says that the team has some spark at the end of last night. According to Coach Mack, the team honestly felt like they played with more fire than last Wednesday.
Blaze agreed and as he said, “the score did not indicate it”.
If we are not “supposed” to win games and we don’t it’s one thing, if we get out classed by talent, that’s another, if we lose because we didn’t play with any heart then that is unforgivable.
From what I saw last night:
-The team made it apparent they were intent on securing their tackling. Had we tackled like how we did against Tech last week then Ryan Matthews would have ran for over 250+ yards by himself.
-Saw a little more urgency.
-Saw Fresno State wasn’t ready to have a 1-4 record.
-Saw a new QB in the starting role having to play catch up.
Overall, I have no real fears as a fan about Idaho, other than where to watch the game… 😎
Congrats to Idaho’s success and all and I hope for the sake of our conference it continues for years to come, but damnit you guys are goin’ DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN!!! 😆
Thanks Al, I had a hard time finding anything on Masch.
That’s the plan, but from the coaches’ playbook to the players hands during game speed defenders things happen.
After 6 years of trying to truly understand the run and shoot, all I’ve learned is:
-The play is called.
-You’ve got four different reads that go in four different directions, BUT then you’ve got 2-3 options as to where those FOUR different receivers are gonna go.
-QBs and WRs that are on the same page in this offense are successful and the balls are being thrown to “spots” on the field as opposed to the open man, like in a base spread with “fixed” routes. This is the “supernatural” level of understanding we had in 06-07 amongst the QB and the WRs.
Overall, I think we can all agree, that this offense is tricky. 😎
Kazz
Thanks for the info.
I agree with you that the (Idaho) Vandals got to go DOWN!!
(Even if I do love my seasoned curly fries).
I say use Huen or Paipai in the middle.
I agree with others that Blaze is MOST effective on the outside.
Hmmm can make “fries” with taro?
Unfortunately, the question then will be, who shall play the ends without Paipai or Jake there?
Right now, the situation on defense because of the injuries is like “robbing Peter for pay Kimo”, but still you owe Santos for all the kala you lost at pipito last week! 😯
given the short study, i thought that moniz displayed a lot of poise. it did show that the lack of reps minimized the efficiency level. however, it did portend a promising future.
although pollard is improving each game, about now we really do miss malcolm lane’s presence.
austin hansen was injected in ro the game to replace an injured thomas. my question is; where was lacount? i thought that he had been competing with thomas for the position.
paipai never played mlb. at kahuku was an olb/de.
heun did play some mlb in the spring and at jc.
Hey al,
Isn’t Jovonte Taylor almost recovered from his injury? He was the starter before Pollard, right?
I hope Hansen settles down by the next game. He must’ve had a bad case of nerves when he was put in there. Have you heard if Thomas had a significant injury?
i think taylor got injured again. he went in to replace pollard as the kick returner after pollard exercised poor judgment in fielding that obvious out of bounds kick off. taylor made a nice return. later, pollard was back returning kicks and taylor was not heard of thereafter.
not sure what either guys ails are.
Jovonte played a few and even replaced Pollard after Pollard’s kick return error where he shld have let the ball bounce out of bounds.
For the most part I think they’re slowly working Taylor back in to see if Pollard can outright win the RWO position.
McMackin being a defensive guru is a smokescreen which is being exposed when the offense cannot put up touchdowns. The premise has been for the offense to be able to score TDs which is supposed to force the other team off their offensive gameplan. This is why the defense was secondary to JJ because his philosophy was that all the defense needed to do was make a few key stops; to bend but not break and allow his offense to score points and win the game. When it worked, the results looked good. When it didn’t, the result was mulligans like Portland State and Florida Atlantic or complete utter blowouts like in 2004: UTEP 51-20, Boise 69-3, Fresno 70-14. And JJ would get highly irritated when criticized about not stressing a bit more defense since he stubbornly believed his way was the right way because he felt that his offense had the ability to score everytime they had the ball.
As for the whole QB situation, I am still scratching my head from last season when Rausch went from being named the starter for the Florida game ahead of Alexander, Funaki, and Graunke (once he returned) all the way down to where Funaki got the starting job when Alexander was yanked. All we heard was praise than suddenly, nothing after he strained his arm. Then we went to a platoon system for the Nevada game with Funaki as the starter and with the better passing QB’s waiting in the wings. Graunke came in on their next offensive possesion but was picked off in his first and only series. Funaki played out the rest of the half. Alexander got the first series in the next half and the platoon continued with Funaki until the 4th quarter when it was Alexander the rest of the way. Yet, where was Rausch, the original #1 QB? His only appearance the rest of the season was in mopup duties two games later at NMSU.
This season, Rausch is the #2 and if this coaching staff is consistent, I expect him to now disappear behind the two guys that he was in front of. I know that last seasons QB shuffle “traumatized” McMackin since he was labeled wishy-washy and indecisive but it is interesting when you have your #2 falling all the way behind the two guys he was in front of. Even with the single game experience, is Moniz now that far ahead of Rausch? And if we’re going to go into rebuild mode, I do agree that we also need to look at the freshman and see which one of them have learned the most and to duke it out. At this juncture, I am highly skeptical of buying into the “hype” the coaching staff puts behind a player when you look at the Rausch situation.
Royce Pollard and our other returners should be ok after last night.
There were a lot of mental errors in that regard on Saturday including Ryan Henry’s punt return fumble. I under stand that Henry was tryin to give the offense a little better yardage, but he’s been a good punt returner for us so far so he too will learn and move on.
As to the ones (mainly at WSN) calling for Mack’s head at this juncture, they are wasting their time. This is Hawaii after all where proactive leadership is usually lacking and where action only takes place after the fact. Many wanted to wait and see with Herman Frazier. Some of us wanted HF out even before the 2005 football season began when all his promises of getting certain things done like the football offices and the Cooke Field turf never resulted in anything but excuses. There comes a point where words need to be put into actions and positive results displayed. UH is going to do the same with Mack because in his case, they really can’t afford (money wise) to do anything else so early into his contract.
Alternatively, there is nothing wrong with offering critical feedback when it is called for regarding the coaching staff. I’ve not said anything up to this point this season but after last weeks quotes of “that is not Hawaii Warrior football” and then seeing this weeks performance…. This wait and see mentality is one reason why Hawaii will wallow in mediocrity because by the time accountability is called for, the major damage has already been done. Look around this entire state to see what I mean and if you can’t see it, then take those blinders off. If one needs a easier example; Herman Frazier.
The fulltime UH coaching staff are paid good money to do a job. One is ensuring their athletes are students first and graduate and I commend McMackin for making this a top priority. Too many programs make winning at all costs a higher goal to the detriment of everything else. The second is to field a competitive team which as the coaches have stated, play for not just the state of Hawaii but all of Polynesia. This is where I am critical about what the staff is doing. CFB is a business at the coaching level and at some point, there has to be accountable results for the product they put on the field.
Know why Boise gets a ton of respect? Because they perform and execute and part of that comes about from their coaching staff who teach those techniques, motivate, and lead these players. Fans saying they are embarrassed by what they are seeing is one thing. When you have UH players making comments that their performance was embarrassing two games in row, something else is amiss higher up in the chain of command. Unfortunately, the “leader” at the top seems to be in denial when you watch and listen to the Fresno post game interview. Stating the obvious that Fresno is a good team does not serve as a good enough excuse for Hawaii’s own execution problems on both sides of the ball. While there were bits and pieces of positives, the total result still comes across with the UH football team looking like a bottom dwelling FBS program. Is that what this coaching staff wants to be representative of Hawaii and Polynesia? How do you sell such a lousy product when it comes to revenue generating opportunities? There comes a critical juncture where even the most diehard fan will in protest, not throw their hard earned money down the drain.
If the head coaches main retort to those critical of how he does things is “to get their own team and coach it to how they see fit” (words he used last season aimed at those who were criticizing his decision making), he is missing the big picture of what he as the leader of the states only NCAA FBS program represents. Those who are okay with this or feel that the we need to cut the coaching staff some slack are pretty much ceding that they are okay with mediocrity instead of striving to compete at the highest levels, to look competent at it, and to therefore gain the sort of respect that gets lavished on other non-BCS schools like BYU, Utah, TCU, Boise, and Fresno.
To reiterate, McMackin stated he has a simple philosophy which applies to his players (and by default, should apply also to himself and the coaching staff): Don’t embarrass the program.
A strong leader leads by example. Unfortunately, the head coach has violated this on numerous occasions in terms of the programs perception at the national level due to his own interview gaffs on national television not to mention, twice on national tv, having the team look unprepared and unmotivated to play in onesided losses.
Watching and listening to his postgame interview was painful. If you are going to refer to some game stats, try not to hold the paper up like that. He even says Idaho’s head coach name wrong calling him Robb Agny instead of Robb Akey. Then he initially draws a blank trying to recall the OC’s name Steve Axman. It is moments like these which makes you wonder how he can quickly and decisively manage all aspects of game on the sideline and communicate them clearly and effectively when half the time in his interviews, he is all over the place in trying to convey an articulate sentence. Furthermore, it’s an embarrassment to see/hear the head coach of the program fumbling around incoherently like this. What kind of impression would this leave with most viewers if this interview was shown on ESPN? It is a total combination of the small stuff which makes UH the laughing stock of NCAA football in many peoples eyes.
Furthermore, the Hawaii football program gets no respect because of a history of a lack of strong leadership that builds upon past successes. In the state of Hawaii, investing in the future seems to be more of a foreign concept because bottomline, we have people put into leadership positions that have no vision, are not innovative, and think cheap. They take the small successes by various individuals foregranted. This is why our infrastructure (roads, sewer, No Aloha Stadium, etc) has to be to the point of falling apart before action is taken. In the meantime, we perform bandaid fixes which puts us further into a hole in the future (case in point, the rust bucket stadium). When Boise went to the Fiesta Bowl, the money they received went to build a larger/modern press box and luxury box seats (which provide a revenue stream for future improvements). When Hawaii went to the Sugar Bowl, the money they received went to cover a budget deficit thanks to the previous AD. The difference is like night and day.
I had my concerns about Mack’s leadership abilities last season but gave him the benefit of the doubt. While not the swiftest speaker, it always concerned me that his decision making abilities at the macro level mirrored that characteristic. The fact that he still sometimes telegraphs what they plan to do in interviews adds fuel to the fire about his thought processes as a head coach. His preseason gaff and some of the continuing issues from last season (like clock management, in-game adjustment, etc) have not been promising signs this season. His over the top emotional apology may have done it in for some players on the team with regards to leadership. If Dan Kelly felt the way he did, there are likely a few others still on the team who felt/feel the same. Riddle me this. How can a team effectively be on the same page if you have a few who have not fully bought into McMackin and his staff?
Remember, one of the key reasons Mack came into the picture for the HC position was that he would maintain the status quo of continuing what June Jones had started. We all heard the grandiose claims about how he and Ron Lee were also Mouse Davis disciples of the R&S along with JJ and how they ran it at Oregon Tech. At the time, this sounded great (in theory) because the thinking was that we would be reloading instead of having to go through a major transition with the current players having to relearn a new system. While the key starters were gone, we still had players who had been learning the system either as backups or on the scout team.
Of course in retrospect, that was easier said than done because the reality is what JJ has been running over the years has been a continuing evolution of an offense which exists primarily in his head. This makes play calling and adjustment second nature for him come game time; something I doubt Rolo, Ron Lee, or Mack are even close to come game time. So when JJ left, the 4-wide as he ran it went with him and UH was left with what Ron Lee and McMackin knew. Rolo brings a different perspective since like JJ, he played the position. But compared to JJ, he is still green in terms of the actual game time playing calling and adjustments.
The reality is the 2008 transition turned out to be more difficult than anticipated because Ron Lee’s version of the R&S differed from what JJ had been running which itself, had been modified to accomodate Colt Brennan’s strengths. The returning players had to unlearn and relearn certain techniques. However, it is not as drastic as say going from a run based offense to a pass oriented run where the skill sets are completely different. UH is still recruiting the same type of skill players so it is more of a matter of being able to coach them up. The million dollar question is whether or not this staff has what it takes to inspire and motivate their players to put the whole thing together on the football field. What you see on the sidelines game time makes you wonder if everyone is really on the same page and again, speaks to the sort of management and leadership style of the head coach. I guess what will be telling if guys like Tormey stick around in the future since nothing can be more frustrating having been a former head coach working for one who does not have it all upstairs in terms of being able to manage everything.
McMackin should’ve taken a page out from Dick Tomey when SJSU got blanked by Stanford a few years ago. Tomey gave no excuses about the teams inept on-field performance and simply said “we suck as a team” and ordered everyone to 6AM practice the next morning else they be fired (if they were coaches) or else be let go from the team if they were players. Stating the obvious (that we need to keep improving) after every loss isn’t going to cut it when some of these issues are basic fundamentals that should not be occurring going halfway into the season during conference play. I fail to see how this 48 hour period helps to motivate the players any for the next game when they need to get back to fixing the fundamentals. I suppose this continual sum of the little pieces is why I have virtually no confidence left in Mack’s ability to lead the program to the next level because we’re potentially on track from going from BCS buster to busting the bottom half of the WAC in just two short years.
Robb Akey is going to have his boys ready to play. I’ve always enjoyed listening to him during the WAC teleconference calls because even last season, he always came across sounding enthusiastic and upbeat which makes it understandable why he was a great recruiter at Washington State and why players want to play for him. His main issue was getting the players to believe that he wasn’t going to be the next coach to just jump ship. Nick Holt spent two seasons before returning to USC as DC after the 2006 season, then Dennis Erickson returned and then left for Arizona State 10 months later; both told players they were going to be there for the longhaul. Akey’s other challenge was changing the culture and getting the players to believe they could start winning. This season, they’ve discovered how it feels like to win by playing all 4 quarters. Akey has probably turned that corner of getting the players to buy into what the coaches have been selling them since he took over. Idaho has been owned by Hawaii since they joined the WAC and they know that UH is ripe for the picking. Additionally, the players with Hawaii ties are going to have extra motivation. A victory will also make them bowl eligible so they are going to be way up for this game.
Does McMackin have what it takes to get everyone on the same page, to get them motivated, to get them mentally prepared, to get them to execute the gameplan? The results of the Idaho game will be even more telling as to how an effective a leader he is.
McMackin’s career resume in college and in the NFL speaks for itself as a defensive “guru”.
Last season most of us supported him and I felt that he was still feeling his way around the head coaching responsibilites when it came to game management.
This season same thing but with even less returners to look to.
#170,#172
BEAUTIFUL!!!!
THANKYOU!!! You brought tears to my eyes!!!!
If there really was a “good feeling” amongst the players after last nights game, then we shall see this Saturday.
We’ll see how good Idaho truly is and how much we’ve learned from the last two weeks.
Good morning!
Congratulations to the proud great-grandparents!
Remember, your job is to spoil, spoil, spoil!!!
Wafan ~ Watching my Grandson changing HazMat diapers for the 1st time on our Great Grandaughter was great fun. It reminded me of when he made his 1st ‘pick’ as a db. That same surprised look as he managed to step in to take the pass from the receiver. Then, the now what moment!…and finally realizing that he had to take careful control of what ended up in his hands. Just one of those precious *Kodak* moments!
Silky’s voice at 170 and especially 172 spoke for me too.
I also kept thinking bacfk to Florida Ted’s earlier posts, especially dis one
October 11th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Right now we’re playimg like a team that has lost its confinence.
The lack of tackling is the first sign, panic mistakes, overanxious fumbles etc. are to follow, interspersed with the occacional good play. We have talent, but they are shell shocked,
Our Coaches really need to earn their keep, by rebuilding this team back up in the mental department and instill some confidence into their psyche.
Like any sport, no confidence, no wins. I hope our coaches have enough mojo to turn up the Warrior spirit again.
Look at Idaho, the main difference betwen 1-5 and 5-1 is confidence, they finally seemed to have found some of it.
Haka is right. when da team is down, we gotta get down with them, into the trenches, get their backs.
Warriors, I got your back! That is why I’m getting on Coaches’ backs!
It starts at the top. Coach Mack. Silky may be right, but the fact is that we’re locked in with Coach Mack for the next 3 years. Meanwhile, we’ve got I D A H O next week.
The bottom line is this: DO YOUR JOB COACH! YOU CAN DO IT. PUT ONE MAN IN CHARGE OF OFFENSE. THAT IS NOT YOU! PUT ONE MAN IN CHARGE OF DEFENSE. THAT IS NOT YOU.
Then, evaluate yhourself after the I D A H O game about how you did
in choosing your leaders.
Same thing with Moniz. Choosing 24 quarterbacks, then redshirting 14 and then wishy washy on who you going use, dat no can. i no we no mo 24 an we not redshirting 14, but the 8 and 3 is the same thing.
and if you want me to believe that you are truly inspiring, then you’ll show me the results by getting Rausch to put some meat on his bones.
Inspiring is as inspiring does, sir.
Remember, when all is said and done, this team is supposed to represent Hawaii.
dare is a difference between “next man up.”
and “next guy’s turn”
i mean, i pull fo da home guy, but mo dan dat, i pullin fo da guy dat will get da job done! and gettin da job done means da guy who stay performing. da bottom line is da win.
have a nice day Tsaikos.
Not sure why guys like Moniz and Kia get full investing to build confidence but guys like Wright-Jackson get pulled when doing well. Because of being down 14-0 in the 1st? That’s unneeded panic, and pretty bad to make your new QB throw all the time.
Rebuilding year? I heard that last season too. There’s always going to be rebuilding but what concerns me is that the team isn’t building. It’s regressing and the only thing consistent is inconsistency.
The big problem I see is the lack of fire. Aside from a few players, I don’t feel much life from the team or the coaches. No one is inspiring and no one is inspired. Seriously, I feel close to nothing and that’s huge.
Media personnel need to ask the tough questions. A coach getting paid $1.1M needs to give concrete answers for once. Too many reporters are too concerned with their reputation and relationships to demand answers from someone within the circle. Let’s not fool ourselves by blinding ourselves to the problems. Yes, there are positives but supporting fans need to know why that money isn’t producing consistent, progressing results.
@ Silky Voice of the Gorn
You are the voice of reason. Good posts. People need to pay attention to these.
ST,
Minor correction to your article, I think that Moniz started at Fresno City and that is NCAA FCS.
The thing is, UH isn’t in the middle of a rebuilding effort. Teams rebuild by playing freshmen, but UH last year and this year relied on seniors and JC players at most key positions. Rebuilding with JC players doesn’t work the same because rebuilding takes 2 years or so of playing together before a team is ready to turn things around and the JC players will be gone then. JC players are big boosts in need areas for good teams and band-aids for other teams, but they are not what rebuilding teams rely on.
The starting OL was all seniors to start the season. The QB was a senior to start the season. How many freshmen or sophomores are playing at receiver? How many DBs are freshmen or sophomores? How many LBs? The Warriors are not rebuilding, they are trying to do their best until future recruiting classes and the redshirts can help out in future seasons…then the rebuilding will start. I have lots of patience and will remain a loyal fan, but I hope that those discontented now are okay with the growing pains in the future.
An example of a rebuilding job is what UH’s former coach is doing–freshmen or sophomores at more than half the 2-deep chart, 9 of the top 10 OL are freshmen or sophomores, true freshmen contributing on D, etc. I expect Navy to kill them this week and they lost to Washington State (a team UH beat pretty badly this season) because they had no idea how to hold a lead, but next year they will be better because they are relying on so many young players.
This discussion in WSN includes a member of the Hawaii media shedding some light on the context behind Mac’s statement that UH had to stop running the ball with LWJ when the score was 14-0.
Good morning Tsaikos.
This is a very good point made in SportsHawaii by Irse:
This is good news for those who have ESPN360:
I just sped-read the stuff on SportsHawaii and WSN…things are much more negative in other places. I’m not sure if I should stop posting the highlights of other forums like my 3 posts above.
Off to work now…
Post #172 was on point.
I listen to people’s arguments, mostly coming from the warm and fuzzes, about giving Coach Mack some slack because he’s rebuilding. And the team has had a lot of injuries this year.
For me I just want to throw up when I hear this.
Then I hear people say give him five years and I want to throw up more.
Witnessing how Coach Mack is running the team is sickening to watch and has nothing to do with rebuilding.
Why?
It’s my opinion Coach Mack and the Warriors are more handicapped in the way he coaches and manages the team than being short on talent and players as the team rebuilds.
Twenty eight months ago he came in to build a house, so to speak, and took stewardship of the team.
And in doing so he hired a staff basically composed of all his friends.
That was the first crack in the foundation.
Then the coach and his staff go after recruits that are non qualifiers (we’ve read on this blog where some didn’t have the qualifying SAT/ACT scores) on signing day, which sets the program back further behind (I’d say probaly 6-7 recruits behind).
Another crack in the foundation.
On the subject of recruits: The coaches this past summer goes after/and recruits– rush ends that are doing 5.1 40 times, which wouldn’t (IMO) allow to compete competitively in the WAC.
Another crack in the foundation.
The coaches image during this duration, mainly how he is perceived by the public and his own players, has been compromised. How the coach talks and communicates has taken it’s toll on supporters, but the biggest effect is how it might not be attractive to future recruits. Or in gaining respect from his current players.
Basically the coach has a penchant for putting his foot in his mouth. Coming across as an unpolished speaker, and more like a bumpkin than anything else.
Another crack in the foundation. This one a little deeper than the rest, and perhaps the most unforgiving.
The coaches lack of organization on the sideline has been evident last year, and a few times this year when it came to issues of managing the clock, making the correct decisions of when on going for one point or two. And making adjustments on the fly.
Another crack in the foundation.
Personally, I’ve taken a first hand look at the way the team practices.
I’ve witnessed very little stretching, zero calisthenics, very little agility drills. And when the team did the short warm ups of 3/4 speed runs of 20 yards at the beginning of practice I observed about roughly 5-10 players seemingly doing 17 yards of the 20 yards and walking the rest.
For coaches to witness this. Condone this undisciplined players is bothersome.
Furthermore, the team is soft. And the old adage of how the team practices is how the team plays is true. In this last week leading up to the Fresno game the team practiced in shorts Monday and Thursday. And let me tell you something the band exerts more energy and practices harder than this. You ask about contact during practice, like tackling…pfffft…the coaching methodology is that they are afraid the players will get hurt.
How the coaches are soft on the players in practice is another crack in the foundation and affects how the players perform in games.
It is my opinion by observing the players and coaches in practice (last Monday) is that overall morale of the team is down. This was before the Fresno game. So I can imagine what it’s like now.
During last Monday’s practice I watched Miano come onto the practice field about 20 minutes before the 400 pm practice and I watched him jog around the track a few times, never raising his head to greet any of his players. There was somberness in his body language, and I don’t know if this is foretelling of symptoms that things are amiss with this Warriors team and Coach Mack’s reins of the team. But to me it seemed eerie and strange, like something is not going right with the team. I always remember Miano as a chatterbox, and he seemed to be down.
At spring practices I observed at least 90% of the players working on techniques and exercises with 20 minutes to go before practice. Now it seems like more than half the team is sitting down and joking around before practice.
A lot of level headed people with respect to the Warrior team would have a lot of patience with the direction Coach Mack is leading the team as he rebuilds if they didn’t see the whole house caving in along the way. Like I’ve noted the foundation is cracked and that is the fault of the one at the top.
In general, I’m with you royvic – with the exception of your comments about their practice habits (only because I have seen any practices).
royvic,
if what you say is true, and i assume that it is because you observed the practice sessions…..this is a sad state of affairs.
it is common knowledge that ‘you play how you practice’.
bottom line, practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.
everybody just needs to do their job, coaches coach, players play, and fans cheer…..do that and we’ll see some improvement.
end of my comment at 192 should read (only because I have NOT seen any practices).
Aloha Kakahiaka!
Morning peanut gallery.
Bulla, was able to watch the 4th quarter, right as Jr. sacked the EWU QB. Was his 3rd sacked mentioned be the commentator, followed by, “Eastman should be Defensive player of the game”
Wow! What an impressive personal comeback and Big win for the team.
Chalk another one up for Weber State.
Btw, The game this week is being broadcasted on the Altitude channel.
GTood morning Tsaikos.
Royvic 191
I feel what you saw, and what is bothersome for me is that my feeling is happenin in Hilo.
I been feeling that distance between Miano and McMackin.
i been feelikng that distance between McMackin and his players.
But Royvic and whoever is thinking that Mack is holding us back, you got $5M to buy out McMackin? Hawaii got $5M to buy out McMackin right now? cuz like i was told Saturday nite, thats what its gonna take to get rid of him right now.
and before i go off too far, the man and the asst coaches gotta no this:
you gotta get down off your high horses and close the door and talk to each other. these QB recruiting is nonsense. show me some bruddaz. some talankaz, not aggats. you get choke RS frosh.
an fo crissake, show sumoa smarts dan me an da wife.
Miano, I am pulling for you. you take care of yourself. it shows on your body. plus you take the time to teach your dbs. so teach em samoa. and PLEASE don’t let Mana sit way way way back in da back, and da odda dbs sitting 50 yards off da ball. you supposed to be speed and quickness, andnow i feel Mel stay holdin you back cuz our dbs no look so speed and quick.
imho McMackin stay spending too much time coaching Rolovich. need to spend more time letting Miano take over the D and act like the associate head coach in play as well as pay. and hold Rich accountable, meaning Rich gets to speak for himself.
cuz if the asst coaches are seeing what we’re seeing in the public speaking department, then i think i’m beginning to understand what the problem is.
and that is, we not only have a speaker that says da bad stuffs like me, but we got a bad speaker.
maybe he can blame da players for playing bad, but he no can blame nobody else but hisself for talkin bad.
and if da problem is da odda way around, and he’s good and da asst coaches not gettin da job done in coachin up da players and in recruitin up da players, den make sure us fans no where da problem is.
because right now it just seems that us fans and the coach are in the dark, we ain’t got a clue.
and I’ll say whatever i think i need to say to get the coach and the coaches and the players all off their butts and play like they wanna play for us.
because like somebody said up above, if you give up on yourselves then expect summa us to give up on you.
i ain’t giving up on you. thats why i’m yelling at you. tuff love!
Maverick,
mahalo for the kind words. WSU played great as a team, the D was hungry and The Beast was blessed to have 3 sacks and 4 TFL,s, he was having fun, no really, it was like watching him play pop warner again.
He was ‘in the zone’, and despite the triple teams, he still make plays. The Beast is just thankful to be playing and APPRECIATES ALL of the good thoughts and prayers from his Tsaiko untys and uncles.
Good luck to the Warriors, gotta believe!
GO WARRIORS
GO WILDCATS (X2)
200
This is a rebuilding year ? I thought last year was a
rebuilding year ?? Is next year a rebuilding a year also ?I am still a warrior fan but lets stop making excuses for the team & coaching staff. Injuries and replacing starters are all part of the college game. Frankly I am a disappointed in the coaching staff. That said go Warriors, beat Idaho.
why do we always have to be in a rebuilding year everytime we start a new qb? (takes 1 year to get up to speed)
its a flaw in the offensive system.
what’s going to happen now that we can’t get the high quality skill position guys to come to hawaii?
recruiting the local guys is ok….but imo we still need the skill guys to come from the mainland….
To coach mac do not forget Ikaika Mahoe one of the best d lineman you have that can suit up right right now explain coach mac a waste of football talent sitting on sideline . He would have help his teammates .
Hang in there Bows!
[…] Tough one […]