Quotes from Thursday morning

About his goal was for them to be undefeated this season, Colt said:
"I set out to be undefeated. I came back to be a winner my senior year. It wasn't about records but just about getting 12 victories in the regular season. I'm one week away from that. So it can be what I hoped for if I can get one more victory." (ST)


About how his problem in Colorado was exaggerated, Colt said:
"There's a lot of ways you could look at it. It was really weird what I went through at Colorado. It wasn't until after I went through that and I (came) to Hawaii that every dream I ever had as a kid has come true." (ST)


UW coach Tyrone Willingham said that Colt:
"has a wonderful knack for knowing where his people are and he has a unique release that he can almost release it underhand and get it to people, which you don't really see a lot of." (ST)


About how UH's offense is tough to stop, Fresno State coach Pat Hill (who also faced Oregon this season) said:
"The passing game is all about timing and spacing, and their timing and spacing is excellent. . And don't ever underestimate the speed of their receivers. Oregon's a good football team with very good receivers and Hawaii's may not be as big . . . but I felt they were a lot faster, and they could really run. They know what they are doing and Colt has a great release, and it's very hard to get to them because they get the ball out of there so quickly." (ST)


About his path to Hawaii and his career there, Colt said:
"It's kind of a crazy story, and I'm sure there's a lot to be learned from it. I'm just trying not to mess things up." (ST)


About sliding down a neighboring hill after practice was cancelled due to a thunderstorm, Michael Lafaele said:
"It was fun. It felt good to be a little kid out there. You can't get hurt ... well, unless you get electrocuted." (HA)


John Estes said that the rain was:
"relentless. Big ol' drops. You couldn't even see. It was like it was foggy because there was so much rain." (HA)


About the downpour, Colt said:
"I've never been outside in rain like that before. It made everyone's morning." (HA)

About practice being cut short, Colt said:
"We were going to run into our indoor facilities, but there was some problem. It hasn't been built yet. Then we thought we'd go to Cooke Field, but there's no field. We were going to go to the (Murakami) baseball stadium, but there's no field there, either." (HA)

"It was a nice downpour. We were going to run over into our indoor facilities, but there was some problem I think. It hasn't been built yet. Then we thought we'd go to Cooke Field, but there's no field." (HSB)


About how it was fun to end their morning practice early, Larry Sauafea said at breakfast:
"It was fun today. Fun to end practice early. But (it) sucks to know we have to practice later on." (HSB)


About how they completed their practice 7 hours later at Aloha Stadium, Lafaele said;
"We were having fun until we heard we had to practice at 4 p.m." (HA)


About how he couldn't wear his practice shoes because they were soaked, Estes said:
"My braces were still wet, too." (HA)

HA Note: "The Warriors had a spirited 90-minute practice at the stadium. They worked mostly on position drills."


About the practice at Aloha Stadium, Colt said:
"To come out for the second time today, it was what it was. It wasn't that bad at all." (HA)


About the 40% chance of rain on Saturday, Colt said:
"It can hurt us, but at the same time, the cool thing is we play on turf. We don't have to worry about guys slipping or the ground being too soft. All we really need to do is worry about catching the ball and not fumbling. We play in the rain almost every day out here and hopefully the ball bounces our way a couple times if it is raining." (HSB)


About how fans are being asked to stay off the field after the UW game, Aloha Stadium manager Scott Chan said:
"We will not be able to begin this ceremony until the field is cleared, so we are asking everyone for their kokua. We are hoping that this will not be an issue and the guests will show respect for the graduating seniors." (HSB)


About how he was told that Washington would call him to finalize a recruiting trip and scholarship offer, Timo Paepule said:
"They screwed me over." (HA)

Timo said that he was a fan of UW:
"A lot of Saint Louis boys went there. I was impressed with their program. And I like Huskies. That's like my favorite type of animal." (HA)


Timo was so happy when UW "verbally offered" a football scholarship that even before a recruiting trip was finalized he said:
I told my dad, 'I want to go to Washington.' " (HA)


About being told later by the Washington recruiter that he should look at other schools, Timo said:
"That was a slap in the face. I was heartbroken. They said 'we'll have your scholarship ready' and 'we want you.' That's what they said. Schools lie to you a lot. That's why I want to thank (UH) coach (June) Jones. If he didn't offer me that scholarship, I don't know where I'd be." (HA)


About how things worked out for him, Timo said:
"It all worked out. I would have been at Washington playing (against) the WAC champs, but now we are the WAC champs." (HA)


About how he's close to his former high school teammate Timo, Jason Rivers (who has known Timo since the 7th grade) said:
"We've always been there for each other." (HA)


About his friendship with Jason Rivers, Timo said:
"We grew up together, playing side by side. We have that silent type of friendship. He does his thing and I do my thing. But we're brothers off the field. I love his family, and he has respect for mine." (HA)


About how his foot is a "little tender", Dan Kelly said:
"It's my kicking foot, and I have to land on it. I'll be fine in a couple of days. I'll go. I'll definitely go." (HA)


About how he might not kick until the day of the game, Kelly said:
"I'll be ready by then. I don't want to do anything stupid when I'm this close to being ready to go and being back to 100 percent. It doesn't seem worth it to push it early." (HA)


About how medical tests did not show any significant damage to his sprained right ankle, Dane Porlas said:
"It looked really bad, but it wasn't." (HA)


About how Micah Lau has worked hard on special teams despite losing his playing time on D, JJ said:
"Every player's role is important, and Micah's done a great job on special teams for us this year -- that's what his role has been. He gave us everything he had -- he's been positive." (HSB)


About how Lau's consistent enthusiasm is "heartwarming", LB coach Cal Lee said:
"I couldn't ask for a better person as far as attitude, being where he was and where he's at right now. He's grasped the idea that the biggest concern for him is us winning, no matter what part he plays. He's doing special teams very well, but (is) very supportive to all the other linebackers who are playing in front of him." (HSB)


About how he'll never forget his Warrior career, Lau said:
"Oh yeah, I will never forget what happened in Hawaii, playing for the University of Hawaii. I could never forget the guys, and five years over here is a long time and knowing these guys. I could never forget this experience." (HSB)


About being part of a championship team is better than starting on D, Lau said:
"Well, from playing a lot last year, it's hard to switch (roles), but I'm happy to because this is where, as a team, you rather have a team championship than have individual recognition. It feels way better now than when I played last year, a lot. Just to have any contribution to the team, even if it's just on special teams, it's better than nothing. And the feeling of being a champion is way better than starting." (HSB)


About how this could be his last game in front of the Hawaii fans, Lau said:
"It's pretty exciting and somewhat sad at the same time because we've been here for so long and we got to play in front of our crowd for five years. Just knowing that it might be our last time playing in front of our families. It's kind of sad because it might be our last time suiting up in Hawaii." (HSB)


UW safety Nate Williams said that UH's WRs are:
"fast and tough and shifty" (ST)


About how their secondary can earn respect by doing well against UH, Williams said:
"It is a chance to prove a lot of people wrong because probably for the whole year people have questioned the secondary. This is a good week for us to do that because Hawaii does pass a lot." (ST)


About how they want to beat UH to support their coaches, UW DT Jordan Reffett said:
"We are trying to take the heat off the coaches as much as we can and go out there and play well." (ST)


About their bad year, Reffett said that he and the other seniors:
"take responsibility for a lot of the bad things that have happened." (ST)


About how he doesn't think that UW defensive coordinator Kent Baer deserves the criticism he's been getting, Reffett said:
"Those guys put their heart and soul into their work and I appreciate it. It's just that some of the guys on the football team don't get it done for them, don't do the right thing. I think the coaches get too much credit for winning and too much credit for losing. We're the ones out there playing. They can't go out there and get a sack or a pick for us." (ST)


About how he was skeptical about the run-and-shoot until he actually ran it, Warren Moon said:
“As a quarterback, you do want to throw the ball, and I didn’t mind that we were going to throw the ball. But I still wanted to know what the downside was, what were the positives of it. Once I started to learn it, it was a fun offense.” (NT)


About how they have to run the ball well and keep UH's offense off the field, UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said:
“It’s really important that we’re able to run the football and manage the clock. You’re not going to shut them out; you’re trying to slow them down. I don’t think anybody’s done that, that I’m aware of.” (NT)


Asked if Colt's success is due to the system, Moon said:
“It’s definitely a passing-quarterback’s fancy, and it can inflate numbers. But it can inflate them even more if you’re more gifted. It can make an average quarterback look good, but it can make a good quarterback look great. I think that’s what it’s doing for Colt. I think he was a really good quarterback when he got there, but I think it has made him great.” (NT)

NT Note: "Moon and Jim Kelly had the best statistical seasons of their Hall of Fame careers while running it. Bobby Hebert, Jeff George and Chris Miller all made their only Pro Bowls while running it."

About how their offense makes QBs better, JJ said:
“Obviously, average quarterbacks or guys in the middle of the range get better, and the great ones are great and it doesn’t matter what they do. If Joe Montana was playing our system, he’d figure it out. I think the advantage that Colt will have going to pro football is that he has seen everything. We see every blitz, we’ve seen everything imaginable, and he’s seen it over and over.” (NT)


About how he believes in Colt, JJ said:
“He’s a little bit of everything. As far as accuracy, I think the only guy I’ve seen throw the ball like Colt is Jeff George. He’s a little bit like Jim Kelly in the intangible things. Those are two pretty good players. … Jeff George, Dan Marino and Colt are the only three people I’ve seen when they release the ball sometimes their right foot is off the ground. They’re the only three guys I’ve ever seen on film who sometimes do that. That’s a God-given thing. I don’t know what that means, but I’m going to start looking for it.” (NT)


About the criticism over their schedule, Colt said:
"It sucks, to be honest. But we do have what they say is the weakest schedule in college football, so it's tough to argue when that's where you stand. We're not going to argue. We're about beating the teams that are in front of us. Until we get two more victories, there is only so much we can say." (HN)


About reasons why teams don't want to play UH, HF said:
"You name it, I've heard it. Some guys said, 'Herm, my schedule's already too tough, I don't want to come over there. There's no way.' I knew who had open dates, and I knew who they were playing the week before and the week after. I also looked at teams that might have an open date after playing us so they could get some rest. We tried everything. We were fortunate when I called Todd Turner that he was real responsive right away and we were able to get the University of Washington." (HN)

HN Note: "Teams no longer view a game against Hawaii as an easy non-conference win with a tropical getaway on the side. In the five years prior to June Jones' hiring, the Warriors were 12-47-1. Since Jones became head coach in 1999, Hawaii is 75-40."


About how their team is better now, HF said:
"If you come here now you know you're going to be in for a football game. That's why I really salute and support the University of Washington. Todd Turner and Tyrone [Willingham] knew what kind of game this was going to be and they didn't blink. That's what competition's about and that's why they are quality, stand-up people." (HN)


About the criticism of their schedule, HF said:
"Everybody wants to bash our schedule, but it's not like we didn't try. At the end of the day, you play the schedule before you, and we've been fortunate to this point. You won't hear us crying about anything. We just go about our business." (HN)


BCS coordinator Mike Slive said that the BCS is working as intended:
"I think Boise (State) last year, a very fine football team, proved it. Hawai'i has had a great season and, I think by moving (eligibility) from top 6 to top 12 we have even created more interest in the BCS and and spread it around. So, I think it has worked out the way it was anticipated." (HA)


About how the BCS process works, Karl Benson said:
"I've said all along, with Boise State and now, Hawai'i, that the process works." (HA)


About the BCS, Slive (who is also commissioner of the SEC) said:
"... if you don't like the BCS, you're going to have to admit that it has made a contribution to the interest in college football. And one of the things I always cite is take a game as important now as Hawai'i and Boise State. Fifteen years ago that would have been an important game in the region and to the fans. But now that game is a national game and I think there's some appreciation for that." (HA)

HA Note: "ESPN said an audience of 2,647,000 households for its telecast of the UH-Boise State game was the largest of its 14 Friday night games this season and most watched game on ESPN2."


About how if UH goes to the Sugar Bowl it shouldn't be assumed that it was because the Sugar Bowl has the last choice, Slive said:
"I don't think you can say that because you don't really know what rationale that (bowls) have in selecting teams. One of the things I don't try to do is categorize teams. The bowls have a selection right and they'll exercise it and when you're talking to bowls they have a whole lot of different reasons for selecting teams. As you know, they've got reasons that relate to their own situation. Last year — or a couple of years ago — when Utah was in, it worked very well and last year with Boise State it worked very well, regardless of the selections rights, so I don't focus on that too much." (HA)


About how UH would be attractive for any bowl game, Benson said:
"I think any bowl would be glad to have a team as attractive as an undefeated Hawai'i would be." (HA)