Quotes about UH's practice at Aloha Stadium

About how their defense knew what they were going to run, Pilares said:
"You could hear (the defense) screaming 'run.' I got whacked a couple of times by the big boys. But it's good to be out here." (HA)


About their scrimmage, LWJ said:
"I needed the contact. I had a year off. It felt really good to get hit. I wanted to get out there to see how fast everybody was moving." (HA)

"It felt good. I got that first pop out of the way. I hadn't been hit in over a year." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Some of the whispers coming out of Husker land were that Wright-Jackson didn't like contact. But he didn't avoid it yesterday, except in obvious situations where three or more defenders were bearing down on him. He did fumble twice early in the scrimmage but did a better job securing the ball later."

Praising their defense, LWJ said:
"The defense was strong today. They're fast and they swarm to the ball." (HSB)


About the shuffle play (where the RB fakes a block then cuts laterally to catch a shovel pass), which Nate gained more than 500 yards on last season, LWJ said:
"We're going to get it done. We'll be ready by (the Sept. 1 season opener against) Northern Colorado." (HA)


Unhappy despite throwing 70-yard scoring passes to Washington and Hawthorne, Funaki said about his scoring pass to Washington:
"I underthrew it. Mike was open, but I kind of babied it instead of putting it out there. I had some good plays, but I want to focus on the mistakes so I can get better." (HA)


About how his kickoffs landed 3 yards deep into the end zone despite him not kicking with full force, Dan Kelly said:
"They were working on kickoff returns. I didn't get everything into it. I kind of popped them. I wasn't going full blast." (HA)


More concerned about hang time than distance, Kelly said:
"If you kick it 75 yards, but your hang time is 3.5 (seconds), it'll get returned every time." (HA)

HA Note: "He said his goal is to have a hang time of better than 4.0 seconds. He said he has been averaging 4.2 seconds of hang time during practices."


About the importance of their hard work in the offseason and in practices, Kelly said:
"The amount of work you put in here is what you get in the game." (HA)


Happy with their scrimmage at Aloha Stadium, Monteilh said:
"Being out for about a year, it's fun to be back out in Aloha Stadium. But it'll be a lot better if I could do it against some opponents. But I had a blast out there. When I saw people come, I was just breaking on the ball. I guess I was there at the right time." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Keao Monteilh, who is battling for a starting job at safety, appeared to relish the opportunity for live contact after redshirting last season. He threw his bulked-up physique into Wright-Jackson to make a loud stop on the second play of the scrimmage. He later flew in to drop Mike Washington behind the line of scrimmage and drilled Pilares after a 1-yard gain."


About playing safety and nickleback, Monteilh said:
"I can come, I can cover, I'm going to be throwing curveballs at them sometimes." (HSB)


HSB Note: "Perhaps setting the tone for the live scrimmage, the defensive line appeared to get the better of the action for most of the one-on-one period with the offensive line in the south end zone.
Defensive end Karl Noa made a quick dip inside to burst into the backfield on one play, while tackle Rocky Savaiigaea clubbed his way through on another. John Fonoti, returning from a year off, was impressive in powering into, then tossing aside his counterpart on more than one occasion."


HSB Note: "Punter Tim Grasso improved on each of his three punts, nailing his kicks 40, 42 and 45 yards deep to Washington. Both of Dan Kelly's kickoffs, from the 30, reached the end zone where they were fielded by Washington and Keenan Jones, who were able to bring them out to the 20.

Kelly got off to a slow start in the field-goal period, going 3-for-6 on 40-yarders from the left hash mark, middle and right hash. With Grasso holding, Kelly warmed up from 45 yards, drilling three attempts with Gerard Lewis and Myron Newberry rushing in hard off the edges. Briton Forester missed his first two kicks from 45 yards, then made his next two."