UH-SJSU quotes from the papers Wednesday morning

About his sprained ankle, Colt said:
"It's been frustrating the last couple of weeks - feeling not right. (But) we're 6-0 and we're rolling and I'm fine with that." (AP)


About how their team is looking forward to the 2nd half of the season, the stretch that will define them as a team, Colt said:
"We're definitely excited to get out there and really show people what we are. We haven't proven anything yet. The next six games will define us as a team and how we'll leave our mark." (SJMN)


About how they won their last 3 games to get to 3-3 for the season, SJSU QB Adam Tafralis said:
"It feels good to be at .500. We need to get it going for Hawaii." (AP)


About last year's game vs. UH, in which he was sacked 6 times, Tafralis said:
"There is a lot left over for us from last year's game. Not for them, because they did what they wanted to do against us. It has built up for us." (AP)


About how Tafralis has played better than Colt and all other WAC QBs the past 3 games, Tomey said:
"Colt may be the best quarterback in the country. But there is nobody in our league that has played better than Adam has the past three weeks, period." (SJMN)


About how Colt is getting more attention to him leading up to this game, Tafralis said:
"That's just the way it goes. That's nothing that bothers me. I'm used to being the guy that's overlooked." (SJMN)


About the chance for his team and him in particular to get noticed during the ESPN game, Tafralis said:
"The biggest thing about Friday is that it's another chance to win. If I'm doing my job, then everybody is going to have to notice that our offense is something special and it's going in the right direction. If people really want to pay attention, they'll notice." (SJMN)


About how his 2.5-year-old daughter Layla is his inspiration, Calvin Roberts said:
"I have four pictures of my daughter I keep in my wallet all of the time. I'm always thinking of her. The pictures are always with me." (HA)

"It was pretty hard for me to leave, but I knew it would be a better future for her and a better future for me to finish my education. It's in our best interest." (HA)

"I haven't seen her since August." (HSB)

HA Note: "Roberts actually was set to play for San Jose State this season. But after being penalized for failing to meet the NCAA academic-progress minimum requirements, the Spartans were forced to rescind the scholarship offer in late April. By then Tom Williams, the defensive coordinator who had recruited Roberts to San Jose State, had left to accept a coaching job with the Jacksonville Jaguars."


About SJSU pulling his scholarship offer, Calvin said:
"It was a desperate time for me. I was put in a bind. I kept patient, and kept working out." (HA)


About how UH offered him a scholarship in July, Calvin said:
"Everything worked out." (HA)


About how Calvin has been trying to catch up after missing so much practice time while waiting for his transcrips to be certified, JJ said:
"He got here late and was a little behind, but he's really worked hard in doing what we need him to do." (HA)


About his limited time in their 3 home games and how he missed the 3 road games, Calvin said:
"Frustration kicked in a little bit. But my teammates helped me out, and told me to 'keep my head up, don't ever let go.' I listened to them, worked hard, and prayed to the Lord every day that I'd get my chance. Hard work pays off." (HA)

About making the travel roster for the first time this year, Calvin said:
"I found out I was on the trip (Monday) when they moved me up the depth charts. They're working me in on special teams." (HSB)

HA Note: "Yesterday, Roberts practiced as the No. 2 left cornerback. He also is a backup on the punt-coverage team. Roberts was told he would travel to San Jose, replacing Keenan Jones, who has been ill the past two days."


About how Roberts was added due to Keenan Jones' illness, GM said:
"It was a football decision, it wasn't a personal decision. If he couldn't help us, we wouldn't take him. He's a good athlete. We knew that when we brought him here. He was just waiting for his opportunity. We're going to give it to him." (HA)


About how Blaze will gets starters reps at LB vs. SJSU, GM said:
"He's right in the starting rotation right now. He'll get as many reps as the other guys." (HA)


About how he's been easing his back into the action after coming back from injury, Blaze said:
"I've been gradually getting myself into it. The coaches are taking their time with me." (HA)


About his increased playing time, Blaze said:
"I feel great. It's great to whack somebody." (HA)


About Blaze, GM said:
"He's back right where he was. He hasn't played for really two months. He had to get up to speed playing fast. Now he needs an opportunity to go and make plays. He's going to rotate in right with the starters." (HA)


About his new role as gunner on the punt-coverage unit (his best friend, Hawthorne, is the other gunner), Jake Patek said:
"It's fun. You almost feel like a receiver for those two seconds on the line. After I get off the line, I go right back to being a DB." (HA)


About Patek and Hawthorne, Rich Miano said:
"These two gunners are the hardest-working players in show business." (HA)


About how beating Tomey's SJSU team would tie the record (set under Tomey) for best start for UH, Miano (who was a safety on that 7-0 team) said:
"It's kind of ironic when you think Dick Tomey was the (UH) coach and now we're going against San Jose with an opportunity to be 7-0 again." (HA)


About Tomey, Miano said:
"Tomey is very motivational in his talks, in his stories, in his approach to everything. He's like a general. I remember him throwing tape against the blackboard. He was a very good public speaker." (HA)



The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl's team scout Steve Horrell will attend the UH-SJSU game and meet with UH and WAC officials tomorrow and Friday, as Horrell said:
"They are undefeated, we have to make sure we take a look at them. That's what we do." (HA)

HA Note: "UH athletic director Herman Frazier said the appearance by the bowl is "big" for UH and demonstrates, "we're definitely on their radar." Frazier and Horrell are both Arizona State alumni and former Fiesta Bowl chairmen."


About the Fiesta Bowl sending people to scout UH, WAC commissioner Karl Benson said:
"I think this is a recognition by the Fiesta Bowl that the WAC champion is a potential participant in the Fiesta Bowl all the time and, in fact, we have a team in contention there." (HA)

About the importance of the nationally televised SJSU game on UH's BCS chances, Benson said:
"This . . . is a game that Hawaii needs to take advantage of if they plan to make a run at No. 12. This is their first time to showcase themselves. It's a great television window, especially for the Midwest and the East." (SJMN)


Horrell noted that the Fiesta Bowl gets the first pick of Big 12 teams and believes a Texas-UH matchup would be good, adding:
"I don't think Bob Stoops (Oklahoma's coach) wants to play another (WAC) team." (HA)

HA Note: "But Frazier said he believes the crowds that UH has been able to produce for games in Las Vegas provide a more reliable, up-to-date gauge. UH has been credited with attracting 10,000 to 12,000 fans — both from Hawai'i and Island transplants living on the Mainland — to the last two appearances at Las Vegas.

In addition, the Hawai'i Chamber of Commerce of Northern California has hosted functions for Hawai'i fans at one of UH's West Coast games each season. Friday's game at San Jose State will mark the ninth annual event. Eric Tao, San Francisco-based president of the Hawai'i Chamber of Commerce of Northern California, said past events have drawn 3,000 to 4,000 with Hawai'i ties. Horrell is scheduled to attend tomorrow night's Warrior Pre-game Party at the Hukilau San Jose, one of three events in the "Road Warriors Tailgate 2007" weekend."


About the good crowd UH gets at SJSU games, Tao said:
"Some years literally a quarter of the San Jose stadium crowd has been Hawai'i fans." (HA)


About how Colt still has a shot at the Heisman, ESPN's Sean McDonough (who will do the play-by-play on Friday) said:
"I think he's got a great opportunity the second half of the year here to enhance his candidacy and, I think, he is still a viable candidate to not only get to New York but to win the thing. I don't think anybody is way ahead of anybody else right now." (HA)


About how the important thing for Colt is to play well against the more difficult teams on their schedule and to be healthy, McDonough said:
"I don't think many people are going to be overwhelmed by what you do against Northern Colorado or Charleston Southern but you start doing it against Fresno State or Boise State or Washington and that's an entirely different thing. I think (being healthy and putting up big numbers for a winning team) is going to be the key. It looks like one of those nagging injuries that is probably going to affect him the rest of the year, but that's the nature of football, too. Not too many guys playing college football six or seven games don't have something bothering them." (HA)


Looking forward to being able to call one of Colt's games, McDonough said:
"I'm looking forward to seeing him in person." (HA)


Bess is from Oakland, where he was teammates with San Jose State running back Yonus Davis at Skyline High School. UNLV running back Frank "The Tank" Summers was also part of the backfield.
About his Skyline high school team with SJSU star RB Yonus Davis and UNLV RB Frank "The Tank" Summers, Bess said:
"We were unstoppable. We went undefeated my senior year." (HSB)


Asked about the possibility that he'd leave for the NFL one season early, Bess said:
"I don't know. It's still up in the air. I haven't discussed it with Coach or my mom. Right now I'm just thinking about winning football games." (HSB)


About how it is hard for them to satisfy all of the ticket requests from friends and family for this road game, Bess said:
"San Jose's the closest road game to Hawaii, so a lot of the (local) guys' families are flying over. I've got about 50 or so people coming and I've only got 10 tickets." (HSB)


About how his Mom bought 20 tickets for the game, J.P. Davis (from San Francisco) said:
"I'm ready. There'll be a bunch of little scatter rats out there." (HSB)

HSB Note: "In addition to Bess and Davis, sophomore running back Mario Cox, senior defensive end Francis Maka and junior cornerback Calvin Roberts are from the Bay Area and making the trip. The homes of sophomore center John Estes (Stockton) and junior running back David Farmer (Santa Cruz) are also within easy driving distance."


Hoping that Yonus Davis can play on Friday, Bess said:
"This is one of the games you wake up every day and count the days on your calendar -- going home, playing against your former teammate from high school. You want to go in there and not let the hype interfere with your focus and be humble and take nothing for granted because they're definitely going to try to knock us off." (HSB)


About how his friends from Stockton will be at the game, John Estes said:
"Since I came out here (in 2005), I rarely get to go home. I'm pretty much home just for a month out of the year. A couple of weeks ago some of my friends saw Hawaii is coming to San Jose. They've been calling me up so I'm telling them to come to the game." (HSB)


About how their D didn't do too badly vs. Utah State, GM said:
"If you look at the film, we gave up that 77-yard pass, which we haven't all year. Out of six games we gave up one big play, to a pretty good receiver (Kevin Robinson)." (HSB)


About how their first team D played well, especially in the first half, GM said:
"The first unit played really well, had six sacks. At halftime they'd only given up two field goals. I was disappointed when we put in the second unit they went down and scored on us. It maybe wasn't up to our expectation. You always want to get better. But if a person looked at the film, there's a lot of good things that happened." (HSB)


About how they missed Michael Lafaele in the Utah State game, Cal Lee said:
"He makes a very big difference." (HSB)


About how he likes to read about Colt's success, except against them, Adam Tafralis said:
"I'm very happy for the guy and wish him luck, except of course against us. It's good for the WAC to get media attention and I wish I was in the guy's spot. I'm not sick of hearing about him, I'm just excited to play against him." (HSB)