BCS Update from the Advertiser

About how UH shouldn’t drop any lower in the BCS after dropping to 16th this week, Jerry Palm (who runs CollegeBCS.com) said:
“All things being equal and they don’t lose again, (the Warriors) should go up from now on.” (HA)

HA Note: “If there was a week UH was vulnerable to get passed by a herd of BCS heavies and could do little about it, this was it. With UH (8-0) having an open date, dead in the water with its sagging strength of schedule numbers, the fear was that a handful of marquee schools might leap-frog the Warriors.

Six of the nine teams immediately behind UH won, but just two, Texas (8-2) and Florida (6-3), hopped over them. Significantly, Southern California (7-2) and Auburn (7-3) remained behind, the Tigers getting leapfrogged by three teams for the schedule hit they took for playing I-AA homecoming patsy Tennessee Tech. Had Auburn slipped past UH on that note, the Warriors’ prospects would have seriously dimmed.”

About the difference between UH’s voter and computer rankings, Palm said that in the 10 years of the BCS:
“There has never been a team (ranked) so disparately between what the voters think of them and what the computers think of them.” (HA)

HA Note: “Only one of the six computer providers (Peter Wolfe) even has UH in the top 25 underlining how much more forgiving the voters are than computers. UH’s schedule is ranked worst among the 119 I-A teams and 160th overall. To date the highest-ranked UH foe in the Sagarin ratings, one of the BCS computer providers, is No. 106 Louisiana Tech. Now comes the “meat” of the schedule, Fresno State (73), Nevada (105), Boise State (28) and Washington (53), who all rank better.”

HA Note: “The Fiesta and Sugar Bowls said they plan to send representatives to the Warriors’ Nov. 16 game at Nevada and the Orange Bowl is scheduled to send a scout to the Nov. 23 game with Boise State, Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson said yesterday.”

About how the winner of the UH-BSU game could get to a BCS game, Karl Benson said:
“We could be looking at a No. 15 or 16 Boise State playing a No. 10, 11 or 12 Hawai’i at that point. The fact that we already have two teams in the top 20 of the BCS makes a very strong statement about WAC football.” (HA)

HA Note: “A visit by an Orange Bowl representative would be the longest trip taken by the Miami-based game. The Fiesta Bowl had a representative at the Warriors’ Oct. 12 game at San Jose State, and the Sugar Bowl had a staffer at the Sept. 8 game at Louisiana Tech. Prior to this season none of the bowls had sent representatives to UH games.”

Feature on Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullins

http://www.mauinews.com/sports/2007/11/4/06bess1104.html

About how they do not worry about the criticism of their weak schedule, Bess said:
“We don’t have anything to apologize for,. That is one of the things we don’t get too caught up in, the lack and how weak our schedule is. You know, as long as we continue to go out and play hard, good things are going to come.’’ (Maui News)

MN Note: “The NFL could be in their futures as soon as next year, but the junior teammates were squarely cemented in the here and now as they helped run a Hawaii Speed and Quickness Clinic for 127 Valley Isle youths at Maui High School gym on Saturday.”

About the predictions that they would play LSU in the Sugar Bowl, Bess said:
“That is something beyond a lot of our dreams. That would be a dream come true. That is one of the main things we want to focus on – putting Hawaii on the map, going mainstream and letting everybody across the country know that the name WAC doesn’t mean that the teams are whack.’’ (MN)

Feeling that their weak schedule should not keep them from the BCS, Bess said:
“It doesn’t matter who we go up and play against because if you look at college football this year you can see so many upsets. I don’t think it is a matter of who we are playing. It is a matter of going out there and playing ball. Anybody can lose to anybody on any given Saturday, so by us having a weak schedule, I don’t think that should take us out of the BCS.’’ (MN)

About being 8-0, RGM said:
“We are winning, we are 8-0. That is the statement. Especially this year in college football, it doesn’t matter who you are playing against. This has got to be one of the wildest years in college football history. This year it is all about winning. Everybody has proved over the last couple of weeks how hard it is just to win. It doesn’t matter if the team is ranked number two or number 119.’’ (MN)

About their second bye week in three weeks, Bess said:
“I think it is good to rest up, to get the body back in shape and obviously get mentally focused, get mentally prepared for what we have got in these last four games – we know they are real big and will determine if we go to the BCS or not. We just want to continue to work hard and stay humble at the same time.’’ (MN)

About how people constantly mistake RGM and him for each other, Bess said:
“We get mixed up a lot, especially on Oahu. We are pretty used to it. It has been happening since our freshman year.’’ (MN)

Not thinking about whether he’ll go to the NFL after this season, Bess said:
“You know what, it is something I haven’t discussed with my coaches, my parents, nobody. We’ll see at the end of this year. I am focusing on getting my team a BCS championship and a WAC championship. All that other stuff will happen later.’’ (MN)

Not thinking about whether he’ll go to the NFL after this season, RGM said:
“We don’t talk about it much – just this season, this opportunity that we have right now. Right now it is just this season. We don’t want to talk about nothing else. Maybe at the end of the season I will think about it, but not now.’’ (MN)

About Tyler Graunke (who was also helping at that clinic on Maui), RGM said:
“Tyler, he’s a slinger, you know, a gunslinger. Like I tell everybody, Tyler is a good quarterback. He just happens to be behind the best quarterback in the nation.’’ (MN)

About their August 30 opener next season at Florida, Tyler said:
“I get next year, I have got one more year, so who knows? Colt has taught me just about football and being a person. How he presents himself is real beneficial to me. I know we are going to have a good team coming into next year and I am going to be the general for the spread. It is just going to be me next year. I think about the Florida game all the time. I have been thinking about it for a couple years.’’ (MN)

Quotes about Samson and Miami’s OL

About Samson starting as a rookie center, 10-year NFL vet LG Chris Liwinski said:
”He’s got a lot of stuff on his shoulders, a lot of calls to make, a lot of things to understand. I think he’s done a great job of adjusting to the NFL game.” (Miami Herald)

MH Note: “Still, it’s accurate to mention Satele first among the rookies and trumpeting the fact he starts. The center position requires more than just safely transferring the ball to the quarterback’s hands and hitting the guy in front of you. It’s not ideal to have a rookie in the job on a line with five guys either new to the roster or playing spots they didn’t play last season.”

About how Rex Hadnot (last year’s starting C, now their starting RG) and the rest of their OL have helped him, Samson said:
”I had a lot of help from Rex, because he played center last year, Chris, all the guys up front. I can make a wrong call and Rex will tell me the right call. When [we go] into [the] meeting, he doesn’t take the credit, but he knows that he did the right call.” (MH)

MH Note: “Nobody is confusing Satele with Dwight Stephenson. But teams don’t get their top two rushers above 5.0 yards a carry — Brown at 5.1 and Jesse Chatman at 5.4 — without strong clearance by the middle of the line.”

About how their OL wants to prove their detractors wrong, Liwienski said:
“We all have a chip on our shoulder, knowing the offensive line has been the brunt of the joke around here for a couple of years.” (Palm Beach Post)

PBP Note: “Everything is relative with an 0-8 team and a franchise with a recent history of abominable line play. Yet statistically, this O-line is one of the better ones in the NFL. The Dolphins are second in the NFL with an average of 4.9 yards per rush attempt and nine rushing TDs, a season after Miami scored only seven in 16 games. Miami’s 278 pass attempts rank fourth in the NFL, yet the Dolphins have allowed just 14 sacks. Last season, they gave up 41.”