WAC Football & Basketball blog

To get you caught up on where things are now with the Hawaii program, here’s a quick recap.

The Warriors, who were going to lose their star QB and one of their three 1,000 yard receivers in the graduating Jason Rivers, lost the other two 1,000 yard receivers as well, as Davone Bess, then Ryan Grice-Mullen both decided to skip their senior seasons and enter the NFL Draft.

In the midst of it all, the man who led Hawaii’s move into prominence, decided that he’d had enough, and decided to take on another rebuilding project, as head coach June Jones resigned and took the head coaching position at SMU.

And, to top it off, after Jones’ resignation, athletic director Herman Frazier, was shown the door, as he was viewed as partly responsible for the lack of commitment and administrative issues that led to Jones’ disillusionment and decision to step down.

Things went from bad to tragic when red shirt freshman receiver Mitch Farney, who was planning to transfer to Weber State, died Tuesday night after collapsing during a pickup basketball game in Phoenix.

The New Year hasn’t been kind to the Hawaii football program, but there’s still 11 and a half months to go, so it can only go up from here.

Colt Brennan and the Warriors took a lot of hits in Tuesday’s Sugar Bowl.

In the past couple of days, the program has taken some pretty big hits off of the field.

On Friday, junior receiver Davone Bess, a three-year starter and Hawaii’s career leader in catches (293) and touchdowns (41), announced that he’ll be skipping his senior season and declaring for the NFL draft, after draft evaluators gave him a second-round grade.

Ryan Grice-Mullen, who will likely break Bess’ reception and touchdown marks next season, and along with those, surpass the other triplet, Jason Rivers, in career receiving yards, will not only have a new QB throwing it to him, with Brennan departing, but will have a new head coach as well.

June Jones, who built the Warriors’ program into a winner over the last several years, is resigning from his post due to a lack of commitment from the athletic department, and frustrations about how the athletic department was run, according to reports.

Jones took over at Hawaii following the 1998 season, when the Warriors went 0-12. He instantly turned the program around, as 1999 saw a 9-3 season, a tie for the WAC title, and a win in the Oahu Bowl.

In nine seasons, Jones went 75-41, led Hawaii to six bowls (four wins), and two WAC titles, including the Warriors’ first-ever outright conference title this season, when they went 12-1, were ranked in the top 10, and advanced to the Sugar Bowl, a 41-10 loss to Georgia in what turned out to be Jones’ last game with Hawaii.

His next destination appears to be SMU, as the school has reportedly offered him more than twice his salary at Hawaii to become their new head coach.

And, if his rebuilding job in Dallas is anywhere near as successful as it was on the island, SMU fans should be looking forward to the future.

As for Hawaii, well, if Jones did leave because of issues with the athletic department (turns out Colt Brennan wasn’t so wrong after all, eh?), then you know what they say…’you don’t know what you got until it’s gone.’

The Georgia defense just proved to be a little more than Hawaii could handle, as the Warriors saw their historic season come to a disappointing end in a 41-10 rout in the Sugar Bowl.

Hawaii inevitably got their 300+ yards passing, but it didn’t come until the end, when Georgia had the game well in hand, and Colt Brennan was on the sidelines, with backup Tyler Graunke in for the last several minutes after the Bulldogs had battered Brennan to the point of submission, sacking him eight times, with the last one by Geno Atkins early in the fourth signaling the end of Brennan’s night and collegiate career, as June Jones smartly sat him for the final 13 minutes with the result beyond doubt.

Hawaii turned the ball over six times, which is a record for a BCS game, surpassing the five by Oklahoma in the 2005 Orange Bowl and Miami in the ‘03 Fiesta Bowl.

Tonight was Hawaii’s chance to prove that they belonged on the national stage, but in the end, Georgia was the team that did the proving.

But, despite the way the night turned out, it was a great season for Hawaii, and for Brennan, who had a rough night against Georgia (22 of 38, 169 yards, 3 INT), but it was one of very few in the last few seasons.

Where does Hawaii go from here? Well, Graunke likely takes the reins for the 2008 season, and he and the Warriors will have quite the season-opening test, as they’ll be going to Gainesville to take on Heisman winner Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators at the Swamp.

Graunke shouldn’t be too fazed by the atmosphere, as he started at USC in 2005, and he’s also had three other starts in his career. Jason Rivers is done, but Graunke will have Ryan Grice-Mullen and Davone Bess to throw to, and he’s sure to have other reliable targets as well. Besides those guys, the Warriors will return several more key players on both sides of the ball, and they‘ll have an excellent chance to repeat as WAC champions.

So, this may just be the beginning for Hawaii, so even though they came out on the short end tonight, maybe things will go much, much better the next time, which could be in the not-so-distant future.

It’s been a disastrous night for Hawaii in New Orleans, as the Big Easy has been anything but to the Warriors, as Georgia is running away with the Sugar Bowl, up 31-3 late in the third quarter. Colt Brennan has been sacked seven times, with one leading to a fumble that was recovered by Georgia and returned for their latest touchdown, and he’s also been picked off three times, the last one coming moments ago after Hawaii had moved into Georgia territory.

Georgia has had their way on both sides of the ball, and Hawaii has helped them out with several mistakes (turnovers and penalties).

The Bulldogs just capitalized on Brennan’s third interception, scoring on Thomas Brown’s second touchdown run of the night to go up 38-3 with less than two minutes to go in the third.

The deficit may be too big for the Warriors to overcome now, but hopefully they’ll at least make the score respectable and put their best foot forward for the last 16+ minutes, so that they can go out with their heads held high. They got a big kick return into Georgia territory, so that’s a start.

Before Hawaii can get ready for their pivotal clash with Boise St., the Warriors (9-0, 6-0) have to get past a huge obstacle on Friday night, as they travel to Nevada, where they haven’t won in three previous tries.

Nevada’s chances for the upset are more than fair, as the Wolf Pack (5-4, 3-2) come into the game on a hot streak, with three straight wins, and with a rising star in dual-threat QB Colin Kaepernick and the WAC’s leading rusher in Luke Lippincott, have the offense to keep up with Colt Brennan and Hawaii.

Brennan was cleared to play in Friday’s game after getting a concussion (fortunately, that was all that it was, because it didn‘t look pretty at all) in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 37-30 win over Fresno St. If he has any issues, the Warriors have a reliable backup to turn to in Tyler Graunke, who started against Charleston Southern and has seen action in a number of other games.

If Nevada can pull off the upset, it would make them bowl-eligible, and greatly help their bowl chances. The WAC has only three guaranteed berths, and Fresno St. (6-4, 5-2) seems locked into that third spot, but the Wolf Pack would look pretty attractive to one of the bowls who might need to find a replacement for one of their conference tie-ins that don’t get enough bowl-eligible teams to fill their slots.

If Hawaii wins, it will keep their BCS hopes alive heading into next week’s showdown with the Broncos, which will not only decide the WAC champion, but potentially if the conference will have a BCS representative for the second straight season.

The Broncos (9-1, 6-0) appear to have a much easier task ahead of them this week, as they host in-state rival Idaho, who’s 1-9 overall and winless in conference play at 0-6. BSU has been scoring a lot of points lately, but now that Ian Johnson is back and healthy, that makes their offense all the more difficult to slow down.

In the other two games on the schedule, San Jose St. (4-6, 3-3) travels to Louisiana Tech (4-6, 3-3) in a battle for fifth place, and New Mexico St. (4-7, 1-5) looks to keep 0-10 (and 0-6 in WAC play) Utah St. out of the win column in an all-Aggie battle in Las Cruces on Saturday. San Jose St. QB Adam Tafralis will try to reach career marks of 7,000 yards and 50 touchdowns (he’s currently at 6,837 yards and 49 touchdowns in his four seasons at SJSU), while New Mexico St.’s Chase Holbrook will look to reach the 8,000 yard and 60 touchdown mark (he’s currently at 7,795 yards and 58 touchdowns in two seasons)

Hawaii’s BCS hopes will be decided in a four-game stretch to end the season, and that stretch starts with a visit from Fresno St. The Bulldogs (6-3, 5-1) will come to the island intent to ruin Colt Brennan and the Warriors’ dreams, but it won’t be easy.

Boise St. will look to keep Utah St. winless, as the Broncos take a trip to Logan to take the 0-9 Aggies. Utah St. has been competitive in several of their defeats, so the trip will be anything but a vacation for the Broncos.

New Mexico St. pays a visit to San Jose St., looking for their fifth win of the season, while the Spartans will look to snap a three-game losing streak.

There is one non-conference tilt, as Louisiana Tech will pay a visit to Baton Rouge to face the #2 Tigers. Will the Bulldogs give their in-state foes a hard time, or will they be easily brushed aside as LSU makes a run towards the BCS national championship game?

It’s been a crazy season thus far, and along with all of the upsets and surprise contenders that have emerged, the Heisman race isn’t decided as of yet heading into the final few weeks of the regular season.

Oregon’s Dennis Dixon looks to be at the top of the list right now, and would seem to be the pick if the Ducks finish out the season strong. Arkansas’ Darren McFadden, the preseason favorite after finishing runner-up to Ohio St. QB Troy Smith last season, and Florida sophomore QB Tim Tebow are in the running, even though their teams are all but out of it in their conference races.

There are several other QBs who could make a run, including four in the Big 12 (as mentioned …), Ohio St.’s Todd Boeckman, who could make it two Buckeye signal-callers in a row to win the award, and Kentucky’s Andre Woodson, who might be out of it after his Wildcats lost their last two games. Boston College’s Matt Ryan was considered the frontrunner until the Eagles lost at home to Florida St. last week, and is now, like the others, trying to chase down Dixon.

But, if things become more wide open in the final few weeks, does Hawaii’s Colt Brennan have a shot at winning the award, or at least getting an invitation to New York for the ceremony?

Brennan had a rough couple of games this season, throwing five interceptions against Idaho and four against San Jose St., and he has also dealt with injuries as well, which kept him on the bench for a game against Charleston Southern.

But, he got his hopes back on track by throwing for 425 yards and six touchdowns in a 50-13 win over New Mexico St. in Hawaii’s last game. On the season, Brennan has thrown for 2,820 yards and 26 touchdowns. That comes out to more than 400 yards and nearly four touchdowns per game, which is pretty remarkable, considering he has played a half in two games (vs. Northern Colorado and Utah St.) and has only played three quarters against UNLV.

The 11 interceptions hurt, and so do the fact that the Warriors haven’t played a tough schedule up to this point, and also that he hasn‘t gotten the same national TV exposure as many of the other candidates.

But, Brennan has a chance to make his case in the last few games, starting with Saturday’s game against Fresno St., where he will set an NCAA record in career touchdown passes if he throws three against the Bulldogs. That game, along with Hawaii’s games against Nevada, Boise St., and Washington, will be nationally-televised (ESPN/ESPN2), so if anyone needs their visible proof of Brennan’s credentials, they’ll get it. It’ll require being up a little late, but if he plays like he has for most of his college career, he will be worth staying up for.

He’s definitely a long shot, but if Brennan plays at his best in the last four games, and the Warriors stay unbeaten and clinch a BCS berth, he could get rewarded for a great season and one of the greatest three-year runs in college football history.

The week for Nevada athletics, and Reno in general didn’t get off to a good start. Tyrone Hanson, a sophomore forward from New York, was kicked off of the team on Tuesday by Wolf Pack coach Mark Fox, after going to a party last Saturday night/early Sunday morning where he was severely beaten up and knocked unconscious and three people were fatally shot.

His indiscretion wasn’t that he got beaten up or that he broke any laws, but that he had been instructed not to go out that night, but went out anyway. That apparently was the final straw for Fox, who had already held Hanson out of a practice earlier that day due to a violation of team rules.

On the other hand, football coach Chris Ault said he that he would likely not discipline any of his players that attended the party.

One of his football players, however, does have some ties to the events that happened at the party, as the brother of offensive lineman Charles Manu is one of the suspects that have been charged in connection with the three murders that occurred at the Halloween party.

Will the events that occurred in Reno have any affect on the Wolf Pack tonight when they take on New Mexico St. in Las Cruces?

Nevada is 4-4 overall and 2-2 in WAC play, which puts them in a tie for fourth with San Jose St. (3-5, 2-2). But, they’ve won their last two games, and are still in contention for a bowl berth if they finish well. As for New Mexico St., the Aggies are 4-5 overall and 1-3 in WAC play, and will likely need to win out if they are to receive bowl consideration. But, three of those games are at home, starting with tonight’s contest, so it’s possible for Chase Holbrook (2,451 yards, 18 TD, 13 INT) and the Aggies to make a run at the postseason.

This one could pan out to be a pretty high-scoring affair, with Holbrook going up against Nevada’s talented freshman QB, Colin Kaepernick, who had a huge October after he took over the starting role (1,000 yards passing, 10 TD, zero INT, 304 yards rushing, 3 TD in four games) and RB Luke Lippincott (911 yards, 10 TD), the WAC’s #2 rusher.

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