Quotes from the Maui News about the BCS and UH

About the importance of the UH-BSU game, Karl Benson said:
“It is the biggest conference game – with two teams ranked this high this late in the season with so much at stake – that the WAC has ever had. It is a big stage. ESPN, as we know, has great power and it is a great vehicle to give exposure to two great football teams.’’ (MN)

Praising the star players in the game–Colt and Ian Johnson, Benson said during a break in the first half:
“Great players like Colt Brennan and (Boise State running back) Ian Johnson on the other side – as you saw he broke that 50-yarder (for a touchdown) – and Brennan comes back and responds. You know, our two showcase teams going into the season, our two showcase players, and thus far they have been the ones that have been the stars.’’ (MN)

About how the UH-BSU game showed that the WAC is the best non-BCS conference, Benson said:
“I think we felt there was the possibility that they both could be undefeated – and except for a little blip by Boise State at Washington – it would have been a little bit more hype. But this game is for all the marbles, the WAC championship, winning team continues on in the BCS drive.

I think this is validation of what Boise State did a year ago. You’ve got Hawaii on the verge, Boise State comes back strong. We are not just a one-team league, we are two-team league and Fresno State is getting better, Louisiana Tech is getting better, San Jose State’s getting better. So I think it goes a long way to kind of re-establish the WAC as credible conference.’’ (MN)

About how the $9 mil payout for a BCS bowl is split between the non-BCS conferences, Benson said:
“We are part of as consortium, a group of five – the WAC, Mountain West, Conference USA, Mid-American, and Sun Belt – and the $9 million goes to the five of us. We decided that of the $9 million, $6 million goes to the conference that put the team in.

Everyone gets a piece of it. The team that gets in gets the majority of it – Boise State last year received several million dollars. The participating team gets 70 percent of the $6 million that comes to the WAC. I’m sure that every athletic director who could get a windfall of $3 million, it would go a long way.’’ (MN)

About how they deserve a BCS spot, HF said right after the accepting the WAC championship trophy from Benson:
“There is no question we do. When you look at what has happened in college football the last couple of weeks and then you look at today – unranked Arkansas defeats top-ranked LSU, you see Texas go down to Texas A&M. Anybody can win on any given day, which means there is a lot of parity in college football. So to tell this team and this program that we are not in the top 12 is not justice to us. I think we have earned it after today’s win. Boise has been the (WAC) giants and today we knocked down the giants.’’ (MN)

Focusing on the Washington game now, Colt said:
“Now, the crazy thing is we went through all this this week to get up for Boise State, but the biggest game of the year is next week against Washington.” (MN)

About how Colt should win the Heisman, JJ said:
“Colt Brennan is the best player in college football, he should have won the Heisman last year. And it would be a huge injustice, if he plays well next week and we go undefeated, if he doesn’t win it this year.’’ (MN)

Quotes from the local papers

About all the congratulatory calls he has been getting (his cell phone stopped taking messages), Colt said:
“My phone’s been going off.” (HA)

HA Note: “Brennan said he received text messages from across the country. Several came from Boston. More from Chicago, where a former Colorado teammate watched Friday’s telecast of UH’s 39-27 victory over Boise State.”

About the text messages from Chicago, Colt said:
“He said the game was on every single TV in the bar, and the place was going nuts cheering for us. That was really awesome.” (HA)

About their first outright WAC title, Colt said:
“Being out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, we’re isolated from the rest of the United States. We’re all we have out here. This is for everyone here.” (HA)

About how this championship builds on all of JJ’s past teams at UH, Colt said:
“I don’t think this championship is solely for this team. It goes to so many teams, ever since coach Jones got here. All of those teams built up this standard, and now we’ve taken it to the next level.” (HA)

HA Note: “The core of the team — Brennan, slotbacks Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullins, linebackers Elimimian and Adam Leonard, defensive tackles Lafaele and Fale Laeli, and kicker Dan Kelly — joined or emerged in 2005. Although that team finished 5-7 — only one of two losing seasons during Jones’ tenure — it established an identity.”

About the 2005 recruiting class, JJ said:
“That was a special group. It just continued to grow. We reaped what we sowed.” (HA)

About the leaders on the 2005 team, Colt said:
“There were tremendous leaders on that (2005) team, like Lono Manners and Kila Kamakawiwo’ole and Brandon Eaton and Derek Fa’avi. I remember how disappointed I was because we couldn’t give them a great senior year. That was one thing we wanted to give Sam (Satele) and Nate (Ilaoa) and Mel (Purcell) last year.” (HA)

That is why Colt says:
“whatever success we have this year is definitely dedicated to all of the guys who have been here the last couple of years, especially last year. It’s dedicated to the guys on the 5-7 team. Those guys were a part of this. We set out to do great things when we played with them. The lessons we learned (in 2005) helped us last year and made us what we are this year.” (HA)

About how he broke their final stretch into a 4-game season after the SJSU game, JJ said:
“It’s a four-game playoff, and we won the third. We have to win the fourth to get to our Super Bowl. Everybody knows what’s at stake. We’ve been talking about it for so long. Everybody knows we have to win one more.” (HA)

About finally beating BSU to win the WAC, Colt said:
“Now that we’ve done that, there’s new life on our team. We got that big monkey off our back. Now we can focus on going out and making a great statement.” (HA)

About how they got confidence from their previous road comebacks, Colt said:
“We could be down by 14 or 20 points in the fourth quarter, and we still believe we’re still in that football game. That’s the difference in this football team, and that’s the difference between winning and losing. That’s what a lot of analysts don’t realize about what football is and what winning is.” (HA)

Asked if his play vs. BSU would get him into Heisman consideration, Colt said:
“I think it helps. It was a great win for our school, a great win for the team.” (HSB)

Praising Colt, JJ said:
“He was the best college football player in America last year and still is this year.” (HSB)

Hoping that going undefeated is enough to get into a BCS game, Colt said:
“Hopefully we win next week (at home against Washington) and an undefeated season is enough to get us in a BCS game.” (HSB)

About how the BSU game doesn’t help Colt that much for the Heisman, Ted Lewis (national college football writer for the New Orleans Times-Picayune) said:
“It was late Friday night, so a lot of people didn’t see it. The fact that they beat Nevada without him works against him, too. It adds to the idea of him being a system quarterback.” (HSB)

About how UH is still “an unknown quantity as a team”, Lewis said that UH should be in the BCS:
“An undefeated team deserves to be rewarded.” (HSB)

Feature story on Ikaika

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071125/SPORTS01/711250596

About how he still feels so fortunate to be in the NFL, Ikaika said:
“Never in a million years, never in a million years,” Lions rookie defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis said. “I still pinch myself a lot of times, like what am I doing here? Just the road I chose with basketball and different sports, and I fell in love with the game of football.” (Detroit Free Press)

About how JJ approached him while he worked out with UH’s football team one day during his freshman year, despite how he never played football in high school, Ikaika said:
“I’m thinking, is this guy crazy or what’s going on? He comes out of nowhere to come play football. I was just like about 200 pounds. I’m like, ‘Me, a football player?’ And especially a defensive lineman? Oh, man. I was like, ‘Who I got to go against?’ And they point at the 300-pound guys and I’m like, ‘Am I ready for this?’ ” (DFP)

About what JJ said to him, Ikaika said:
“He’s like, ‘You should try to come out.’ At the time he’s like, ‘If you give it all, you’re going to be in the NFL.’ ” (DFP)

About the feeling of his first game, Ikaika said:
“I got into my first game of my first year. I loved the feeling of the crowd behind you, hitting somebody. I liked everything about it. So I decided to give everything I had to it.” (DFP)

About what he saw in Ikaika, Detroit head coach Rod Marinelli said:
“Great athlete and he’s tough, he’ll hit. He’s a great kid. He wants to please. He’s the perfect guy you like in terms of ‘want to, desire, smart.’ He’s got all the things you want to coach. He’s going to be a house. He’s big as a house right now. He’s gonna get bigger. I just think he’s so raw and so talented and such a good person.” (DFP)

About how he need to perfect his technique and be consistent, Ikaika said:
“In the NFL everybody’s good and it’s all about you’re going to be going up against someone who’s just as equal as you are. But it’s all about technique and how you’re fluid, play-in and play-out. And being consistent is a good word that a lot of people use, so every day I work on trying to be consistent every play and every down and every game.” (DFP)

DFP Note: “Alama-Francis has played in only two games this season, the last on Sept. 30 against Chicago when he made his only tackle of the season. Marinelli said he likely would have played against the New York Giants Nov. 18, but a hamstring strain in practice two days earlier kept him out. Staying motivated to work while waiting on the sidelines is what Marinelli sees as the biggest challenge for Alama-Francis.”

About how Ikaika has to stay motivated in practice to improve despite not getting playing time, Marinelli said:
“You have to go out and practice and improve every day, and he’s got to learn to do that. And you know what, he had a lull I thought there for a while. And the last month, I thought the last three or four weeks, he’s really picked up and really kept catching my eye and he’s gotten better. He’s got a great attitude. He’s just a great kid, great attitude.” (DFP)

About how he welcomes the pressure and attention from his head coach, who used to be a top DL coach in the NFL, Ikaika said:
“When you’re handpicked by a defensive line coach and a head coach, there’s a lot of pressure there, but I embrace it.” (DFP)