Bryant Moniz has made it a three-player competition for the backup QB

HA Note: “After 75 minutes and 77 full-speed scrimmage plays yesterday, there still is no resolution in the competition for the Hawai’i No. 2 quarterback’s job. When training camp opened Aug. 6, Brent Rausch and Shane Austin were in a dead heat to serve as the primary understudy to starter Greg Alexander. But head coach Greg McMackin said Bryant Moniz, a third-year sophomore, has entered the race.”

HA Note: “The placement is important because starting Wednesday, the Warriors will begin working on plays specifically designed for the Sept. 4 opener against Central Arkansas.”

Mac said that starting Wednesday, Greg Alexander will get most of the practice reps, with the #2 QB getting the rest and the other QBs will:
“have to learn by osmosis.” (HA, HSB)

“We want No. 1 to get a certain amount of reps, and No. 2 to get a certain amount of reps. The first guy is going to play in the game. The second guy has to be ready. He has to have enough reps. The third guy has to be ready without getting a lot of reps in case something happens and he has to finish the game.” (HA)

HA Note: “McMackin indicated that freshmen Corey Nielsen, David Graves and Cayman Shutter will serve as scout quarterbacks this year. All are expected to redshirt.

Rausch, who worked with the first-team offense, completed 7 of 11 passes for 57 yards in the full-speed scrimmage. Austin was 6 of 9 for 28 yards. Moniz completed 8 of 12 passes for 65 yards. He was intercepted once, and threw the scrimmage’s only touchdown pass, 19 yards to Jon Medeiros.”

Praising Moniz, Mac said:
“(Moniz) has that football mentality. He makes plays. He can run. He throws the ball really well. He understands the offense. He goes through his progressions, and he’s getting better and better. He’s worked his way into the competition for the backup job.” (HA)

About how they had Alexander sit out their scrimmage, Mac said:
“I thought it was a good workout. Our objectives were to look for a backup quarterback, which is why we kept Greg out. We were able to do a lot of evaluations.” (HA)

HSB Note: “After a shaky start against the top two defensive units, including an interception by Aaron Brown, Moniz went 4-for-4 on his fourth series and hit Kealoha Pilares for a 19-yard TD while working against the backups. He finished 8-for-12 for 78 yards and also showed a knack for scrambling out of trouble. UH head coach Greg McMackin said Moniz, a Leilehua graduate who transferred from Fresno City College, began the day “slashed” on the depth chart with Rausch and Austin. Rausch was 8-for-12 for 60 yards, while Austin went 5-for-9 for 31.”

Praising the play of their 3 backup QBs during the scrimmage, Mac said:
“We were looking for the backup quarterback and Bryant did some good things; all of them did some good things. We’re going up (to the office) right now to evaluate it.” (HSB)

Asked if Moniz’s performance in the scrimmage helped him in the #2 QB competition, QB coach Nick Rolovich said:
“Yes, but he’s been helping himself all along. This has been a three-horse race for a couple of weeks now.” (HSB)

Asked how much Moniz’s stock rose yesterday, Offensive coordinator Ron Lee said:
“A lot.” (HSB)

About how Moniz has been doing well, Ron Lee said:
“He makes plays, sliding around, kind of what you’re looking for. He’s shown it through camp.” (HSB)

HSB Note: “THE LEILEHUA grad and transfer from Fresno City College completed eight of 12 passes for 78 yards. He was intercepted once, but two of his incompletions should’ve been caught.”

About how Moniz is doing well despite being hampered by injury, Ron Lee said:
“He’s got a sore shoulder and he still makes plays. His arm will get better. He’s doing this without his best stuff.” (HSB)

HSB Note: “He’s not very big, listed at 6-feet and 185 pounds, but is clearly the most athletic of the quarterbacks. Moniz also has a feel for the game that helps him get out of trouble, turning losses into gains. He’s quick — with his arm, his legs, and his mind.”

Asked about his spin move to avoid a sack yesterday, Moniz said:
“I don’t know, just reaction.” (HSB)

After Moniz threw a 19-yard TD on a post pattern, Ron Lee joked near Moniz:
“We don’t have that route.” (HSB)

http://sports.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090822/SPORTS0201/908220343&template=UHsports

http://www.starbulletin.com/sports/sportsnews/20090822_defense_stars_in_uh_scrimmage.html

http://www.starbulletin.com/columnists/furtherreview/20090822_moniz_makes_his_move_to_become_uhs_no_2_qb.html

Quotes from training camp

HA Note: “The offense broke out several innovative plays, such as shovel passes to the slotback and the wildcat scheme, in which running back Alex Green took the direct snap.”

About running for 7 yards during his first practice play running the wildcat, RB Alex Green said:
“I wanted to pass the ball a little bit, especially being that close to the end zone. But it was cool. You get the ball and take off. It was fun. There were big smiles in the huddle.” (HA)

HA Note: “There also was a pirouette play in which Chizzy Dimude took the handoff, turned and followed a block from Moniz.”

About making a big hit on Alex Green after he caught a shovel pass, Blaze Soares said:
“It’s good to be back, flying around. Football is football. You have to hit somebody. It’s a scrimmage — you hit or you get hit. I figure if you go 100 percent during a scrimmage, the chances of you getting hurt are way less. All of the guys are trying to get you, too. You have to bring it.” (HA)

About his hit on Alex Green, Blaze said:
“It just feels good to be flying around hitting people again. I feel blessed just to be out here hitting people and to be with my teammates. It was just a lucky read. The defensive line did their job and I had to come off a block and he was right there and he ran into me.” (HSB)

About colliding with LB Jake Heun during a pass over the middle in 7-on-7 drills yesterday, Blaze Soares said:
“Jake laid me out. He gave me a taste of my own medicine.” (HSB)

About Steve Stepter’s big hit on him (dislodging his helmet and mouthpiece), Ryan Henry said:
“It was a good hit. I was a little dizzy afterward. I could only see out of one eye. When I tried to look out of two, I was a little dizzy. When I closed one eye, I could see straight.” (HA)

About how he caught a pass in the flat on the very next play, Henry said:
“Coach Mack told us not to show any weakness. I knew I had to regain my composure, and go out there and make another play.” (HA)

About the big hit he made, Stepter (who is 3rd team at CB right now) said:
“This was a big-time game for me. It’s evaluation week. I’m trying to make the traveling squad. I’m trying to get into the rotation.” (HA)

“(Henry’s) my boy, but it’s a scrimmage and an evaluation. So I’m trying to make plays and try to get a role on this team.” (HSB)

About how he doesn’t have as much experience as JC transfers Tank Hopkins and Lametrius Davis, redshirt freshman Stepter said:
“I’m waiting for my time.” (HA)

HA Note: “One of the Warriors’ heralded recruits, Aaron Brown, made an interception and batted two passes. Brown was recruited as a safety, but he is being used as nickelback.”

About being used as the nickelback, Aaron Brown said:
“It’s kind of like a rover. It’s an outside linebacker, walk-down safety.” (HA)

About lining up near the line of scrimmage in blitz situations, Brown said:
“The closer I get to the line, the more opportunities I get to make a play. It puts me in the (tackle) box.” (HA)

About blocking a punt in practice yesterday, Royce Pollard said:
“I wanted to get the block.” (HA)

HA Note: “Pollard sprinted past a three-man wedge to knock away Dunnachie’s punt.”

About how there was no reaction by the team after he blocked the punt, Pollard said:
“I was like, I blocked it. I looked around, and there was no reaction. I thought: ‘Did I not block it?’ Everybody was still going with the play. Someone said: ‘You blocked it.’ I was like, ‘there you go.’” (HA)

About blocking a punt and making a long return on a kickoff, Pollard said:
“I was real versatile in high school and I want to get back to that.” (HSB)

HA Note: “Freshman safety Michael Wadsworth was held out of his second consecutive practice while he awaits word on his eligibility from the NCAA Clearinghouse. That should not be a problem. In high school, Wadsworth had a 4.0 grade-point average. He earned a qualifying score of 21 on the ACT.”

About how he had to forward his transcripts and ACT results to the NCAA, Wadsworth said:
“They lost it or something.” (HA)

About how he tweaked his knee while back-pedaling during a drill, Kenny Estes said that he should be back at practice on Monday:
“I’ve got to get an MRI. It should be fine.” (HA)

About the “tweak” he suffered in practice yesterday, Lewis Walker said:
“It’s nothing big. It’s nothing to worry about. I have to take the time to rest it. I don’t want to keep re-injuring it.” (HA)

About how their defense played well yesterday, Aaron Brown said:
“I think today was a big steppingstone for our defense. We communicated well, we executed the plays well, so now it’s just getting ready for Central Arkansas.” (HSB)

About advancing their drills for their special teams, special teams coordinator Chris Tormey said:
“We’ve done a lot of competitive drills up to this point, and for the first time we started putting the moving components together. From here on in we have to take the drill work and take it onto the field.” (HSB)

http://sports.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090822/SPORTS0201/908220343&template=UHsports

http://www.starbulletin.com/sports/sportsnews/20090822_defense_stars_in_uh_scrimmage.html

Feature story on the appeal of Colt Brennan to Washington fans

WP = Washington Post

About how Babe Laufenberg was a popular #3 QB with Washington fans from 1983 to 1985 but never played in regular season games, Mark Rypien said:
“Babe was that guy who never became the backup, but he had such a great personality and was such a fan favorite, people would still be calling for him — even when he was dressed like a coach on the sideline.” (WP)

About how he was a backup QB with Washington, Mark Rypien (who was the QB for Washington’s last Super Bowl) said:
“I was Doug’s backup. Jay was Theismann’s backup. Doug was Jay’s. Stan (Humphries) was my backup — boy, they loved Stan for a while. Every one of us sounded like a starter when the main guy was having a tough go of things. What happened with Colt last year and now, especially if he puts up numbers again in the preseason, is just the code of the fan. When things aren’t going well with the main guy, you call for the other one no matter what logic says.” (WP)

WP Note: “Indeed, it matters little that a recent Sports Illustrated poll rated Collins, not Brennan, the sixth-best backup quarterback in the NFL, a year after he was ranked No. 1. (Michael Vick was No. 2, poor Sage Rosenfels is No. 4 and, yes, Mark Brunell checks in at No. 28). Or that Brennan has never been activated for a regular season game. Or, a year after he put up numbers and highlights in his rookie preseason, he was running for cover while throwing incomplete passes and an interception last week against Baltimore.”

WP Note: “He wants to prove Mel Kiper Jr. and the draftniks wrong, just as other quarterbacks who fell to the draft’s sixth round (Marc Bulger, Matt Hasselbeck, Tom Brady and, yes, Rypien) proved them wrong. He wants to be what Trent Green was behind Gus Frerotte and Heath Shuler in Washington, a pro bowler waiting to blossom. Or what Tony Romo was behind Drew Bledsoe: the guy Bill Parcells kept on the roster because he saw something in him.”

About being drafted 5 rounds behind Joe Flacco, Colt said last year during the preseason:
“This isn’t a dis’ on Joe Flacco, but he went to a (division I-AA) school, played weaker competition, didn’t have as successful a year as I did, yet he still went in the first round because he’s 6-5 and can throw the ball 70 yards. You always used to hear Bill Walsh say accuracy and toughness are what makes a quarterback great, and that’s like what I am, accurate and tough. To see me fall, to see so many people say, `He’ll never make it in the NFL; he’s a worthless pick,’ I couldn’t believe it.” (WP)

WP Note: “A year later, as Flacco sprinted onto the M&T Bank Stadium field to a throaty ovation after guiding the Ravens into the AFC championship game last January, Brennan trotted out the way he did a year ago: as the entrenched backup behind a backup.”

Praising both QBs that were drafted in the first round last year (Flacco and Ryan), Colt said:
“I give major props to Joe — and for that matter Matt Ryan. Those are two guys who proved right away they could lead and win. I’d love to be in a position to do that, to show that I belong in that way. I also understand whose team this is at that position and that I’m going to have to wait. That’s just the way it is.” (WP)

WP Note: “Here’s hoping he gets his deserved opportunity at some point to see game action when it matters. But it’s Campbell’s job this season. Unless he goes down to injury or things go so abysmally south Jim Zorn has to make a change, Campbell is not going to relinquish the position. And Collins is the unquestioned No. 2 quarterback.”

About how Colt could earn a chance at the #2 QB position if he does really well in the preseason, Rypien said:
“If Colt lights it up, you’ll have all these people saying it’s the preseason and it means nothing. Publicly they will say that, but in their heads, Colt’s play can make them change their minds. Of course that leads to more speculation and more controversy. But that’s what the preseason is for, right?” (WP)

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090822/BREAKING02/90822002/Redskins++Colt+Brennan+waiting+for+his+opportunity+

Bess is diligent about taking notes during position meetings

SFSS = South Florida Sun-Sentinel

About taking notes during position meetings, Bess said:
“Even though you know it from a mental standpoint, when you’re writing it down, it’s almost like you’re engraving it into your system. It kind of beats it into you and makes you want to go out and perform and do all the right things. I pretty much write almost everything down.” (SFSS)

About using the team-issued yellow highlighters, Bess said:
“If I have to make something known, I’ll put an exclamation mark at the end of it with a highlighter. Something to make it stick out.” (SFSS)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/other/sfl-dolphins-shawn-murphy-s08200sbaug22,0,62376.story