UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

[Walkoff Balk]

UH got rid of the curse of losing on national tv.
Did UH win or Colorado lose this game?

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

I'd say coach Mack has fielded the best Warrior team yet, sharp, deep, dedicated, and they had the law laid down to them during the game with coach calling an immediate 2nd time out in the heat of battle specifically to drill home the point to play 100% til the end. This is a new era, the first year coach has it the way he planned it, and the win over a decent Colorado team was the first of a big year. Too bad Boise St.'s bench mark will be missed, but if Saturday was any indication UH will be the top dog for a while now.

[anapuni808]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

it was pretty impressive to see the whole team gathered around during that 2nd time out. and they obviously paid attention because the rest of the game was without mistakes on the part of the Warriors.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

It was good to see. Finally, this kind of spirit has been needed for decades, let's hope it just the start.
The team looked very physical, and played it, seem to have taken the whole system to another level.

Coach Jones has done a great turnaround job at SMU and will return them to national glory, but they got romped by Texas AM, too much beef/speed to handle.
Boise St. kicked Georgia's butt!

[scrivener]

UH Rainbows vs. Colorado U

Impossible to tell whether this is a good team or a mediocre team. This is not a team that wants to win with its QB scoring three rushing TDs. The passing was all over the place. The receivers ran good routes but seemed to adjust poorly. The offensive line was inconsistent. If the team is as good as it was at its better moments, it's going to win the WAC easily. If it's only as good as it was at its worse moments, well, it might still win the WAC, but it won't be a very good team.

As for the double timeout, I have to say I've never seen that before and was rather amused. But to say that a dressing-down like that is what motivated the team to get it together, I think, is kind of absurd. I don't truly think anything the coach says or does outside of practical, game-related advice has any affect on what the team does on the field. What could Coach Mack have possibly said that the men weren't already thinking? "Stop making stupid mistakes?" "Keep your head in the game?" Uh yeah. Thanks coach! I was planning just to keep missing tackles, but since you put it that way, yeah! Maybe if I complete my plays, we won't throw this game away!

[salmoned]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

Well, maybe he said something like, "Stop worrying about those bad plays and have some fun out there!" That, and other similarly 'non-game related comments', can have a remarkable and immediate effect on team attitude and ability. I know, I've been on teams where such remarks did make a difference, not all of which were sports-related.

[Honoruru]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

The double time out was mystifying to me. I’ve never seen anything like that. Mac’s speech was not a courteous, polite pep talk. It was expletive-filled. He was angry. If you could lip-read, you’d probably turn red. A lot of people want to know what he really said.

As for the team itself, I agree with Scrivener, the passing game was all over the place. But the defense looked solid. I think they have a good chance of winning the WAC, because the WAC is a very weak conference this year. UH was the only WAC team that won over the weekend. And their schedule is not really that tough. There are no ranked team on their schedule. Colorado could very well finish at the bottom of the PAC 12. Washington (the next opponent) is not exactly a national powerhouse, though they are much better than Colorado. And BYU, while good, is not the same BYU of old.

[LikaNui]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

That was a fun game to watch, and we got good PR from ESPN, including many of their shots from around the island.
And I wish I had a dollar for every time they said "perfect weather" and "paradise."
Coach Mac's double-timeout tirade was bizarre, and if the game had been lost due to not having a timeout to use at the end, he would've been hosed. He got lucky there. But as I recall, right after the tirade we had a turnover -- fumble or interception, I forget.
Moniz looked good, once he settled down. The runs were great! As for the passes, remember that his best receiver was suspended for that game.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

It was coaches NOT doing what Mack did to keep kid's heads in the game til the last second that have cost us dearly since UH caveman days, finally a coach did what has been lacking. The players shouldn't need a pep talk/scolding, but obviously they do, the game became our's to lose and we started to do just that.
Moniz was rough at the start, but add to it the fact that he hadn't had the 1st team recievers in practice lately, and being the first game.., coulda been worse, we won the first game and against a PAC 12 team that came in saying they were going to stick it to us. We're way above the Warriors of recent decades!

[Mike_Lowery]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

I think Hawaii will overachieve this year, and win a watered-down WAC. But, I think Hawaii will win games with its defense. Scriv is right that UH doesn't want to be scoring with its QB getting rushing TDs. Moniz is a talented signal caller, and risking to lose his leadership and expertise is stupid, IMO. Unless of course, this year's offense is more of a hybrid of the r&s and a spread offense, which it seemed to look like against Colorado. The one thing that can nullify all of our analyses here: this was just one game

P.S. Coach Mack benefits from having an excellent motivator in Dick Tomey on his staff this year.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

Did a referee called a holding penalty from the replay that denied a pick 6 for UH? At least UH could use more time and timeouts of Colorado with the called back td. And it didn't mess with the point spread.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

P.S. Coach Mack benefits from having an excellent motivator in Dick Tomey on his staff this year.

This is huge.

[808shooter]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

Just for the critics of the passing game and the team effort in general, here is a little perspective.

Last year we had the same offense, less the offensive line, less a NFL caliber RB and less two NFL caliber slots. We scored less than 1/2 of what we did on Saturday - against pretty much the same starting defense for the Buffs.

I think we did pretty good.

[TuNnL]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

Just for the critics of the passing game and the team effort in general, here is a little perspective.

Last year we had the same offense, less the offensive line, less a NFL caliber RB and less two NFL caliber slots. We scored less than 1/2 of what we did on Saturday - against pretty much the same starting defense for the Buffs.
I think we did pretty good.

While that does put things in perspective, I really think you are missing scriv’s point. We can’t rely on Moniz to run the ball every game. That is both dangerous and stupid. It’s a needless risk to put your critical QB through, particularly in the Run and Shoot. I’m glad the Warriors proved they can win a game without their heralded passing attack clicking. The point is, the need to succeed in the air if they want to go undefeated — which is, as you know, the minimum they will need to play anything other than the Hawai‘i Bowl in the post.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: UH Warriors vs. Colorado U

They've simply put the run into the run and shoot offense, finally. Our QB can and did run when handed the field. Film didn't tip off CU about Moniz and he exploited it. Now the field is wide open and the next guys will have their hands full trying to figure out where to play everybody, and most don't have the talent to match us. This improvement and momentum
bodes well for a bright future outside the WAC, and if the Nat. TV curse is indeed pau, then bust out the shades!