Pregame quotes for the UH-Washington game

About how his hometown UW didn't offer him a scholarship, Adam Leonard said:
"U-Dub is a great program, especially in the '90s. It was an option I would have loved to look into, but they never offered me a scholarship." (HSB)


No regrets for how UW didn't recruit him, Adam said:
"I don't regret anything that happened. I look at it as a blessing for me to go out here and have this opportunity, which nobody in America has, to go undefeated." (HSB)


After the BSU game, Adam Leonard said:
"This is a great victory for the state of Hawaii. But we've got a lot more left to accomplish." (HSB)


Happy to be with UH, Adam said:
"I'm just happy to be here. I'm excited to be on the only undefeated team in the nation this year." (HSB)


About how he gets a chance to hit Locker tonight, when he had to sit out with injury while Locker led his high school team over his in the 3A Washington state tournament his senior season, Adam said:
"He's a baller," Leonard said. "But I'm gonna try." (HSB)


About the importance of this game to UH, Rich Miano said:
"I've been here for 30 years. I can't imagine any game that has had more magnitude for the future, the past or the present of this program. I hope to live to be a centenarian, but I'm not sure — and that's not being negative — that there will be another chance to go to a BCS game. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. It's here. It's now." (HA)


About how their season is important for more than just their team, Cal Lee said:
"The big part of this whole thing is it's for the whole state." (HA)

About how he won 14 straight Hawaii High School titles when he coached St. Louis, Cal Lee said:
"Half the people liked you, half the people didn't. How does it feel when everybody loves you? That's what's happening now to these players. This is pretty special." (HA)


About how they know the importance of what they are doing, Michael Lafaele said:
"We know how long people have waited for this." (HA)

HA Note: "Linebacker Adam Leonard has a fractured right hand that makes it difficult to hold a pen. Right slotback Ryan Grice-Mullins has 90 receptions despite a fractured finger on his right hand. Which finger? "This one," he said, laughing, as he gives the finger to a reporter. Lafaele has a fracture in his right hand, a sprained left wrist, a strained right knee and tightness in his left quadriceps."


About what he's been doing this season, Lafaele said:
"It's hard to do all of these things during the biggest season in school history. It's kind of hard with three kids, and trying to be all I can be for this team. But this is an important season, and I want to do my best to make history and memories for a lot of people." (HA)

HA Note: "Lafaele, who is married with three children, is intent on graduating this month. He is taking six classes this semester. He leaves his home in the Pearlridge area at 5:10 every morning. After meetings, practice, classes and more meetings, he returns home to take care of his children. He doesn't do his homework until 10 p.m."


About how his relatives in Samoa and the mainland weren't happy with his play vs. BSU, Keith AhSoon said:
"They weren't happy with the way I played. They were like, 'What's wrong with you?' " (HA)

HA Note: "What they did not know was AhSoon played last week's game with a 101-degree fever. He started to feel poorly the day before the Boise State game. He barely slept that night in the Waikiki hotel where the Warriors stay before home games. The morning of the game, he begged teammates for help. Defensive tackle Fale Laeli soaked a towel in a bucket of iced water, then applied the towel to AhSoon's head and neck."


About AhSoon's fever, Laele said:
"His head was burning." (HA)


About how he tried to just get through the game, AhSoon said:
"Know when your body is giving up on you? It was like that. I just prayed that whole day. 'Just give me two hours of strength.' " (HA)

"I felt so sick. Every single down, I told myself, 'This is for the championship. I've got to fight.' I kept going." (HA)


Asked if it was worth it, AhSoon said:
"Of course. This season means so much to us. It doesn't matter if we're hurt or sick. We're just going to go out there and fight." (HA)


JJ praised UW, saying they:
"are the best team on our schedule." (HSB)

JJ praised Jake Locker:
"He's a good player ... very much so. He's just a freshman and once he gets more plugged into their scheme of everything, and they get better around him, he's in a new league." (HSB)


About facing UH, Locker said:
"They are a very physical team, play really hard, always flying around the ball. That's something we need to be able to match, their intensity and aggressiveness, and that's going to be one of the major keys to the game. We're gonna get hit, and we're going to have to hit them, so it'll be a good old-fashioned physical game I think." (HSB)


About how he's very familiar with UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano, working with him on 2 NFL coaching staffs, GM said:
"He's a very exceptional coach. I think he's a head coach. The type of guy who is very fundamental, mentally tough. I have no doubt he'll want to run the football, but he'll pass in the right situations. I've been with him quite a few years. I have nothing but respect for him. He's a great coach and he's going to be a big challenge." (HSB)


Not looking past UW, Colt said:
"People keep saying, 'BCS, BCS, BCS.' We're not thinking that. We're thinking we need to do our best against a very good Washington team. We need a great performance by everybody — the players, the coaches and, especially, the fans." (HA)

"Everyone is real excited about the possibilities in front of us, but everyone, the whole state, needs to focus on Washington right now because we have got to win this football game." (HSB)

"Everyone I know is saying, 'BCS, BCS.' If everyone really wants that to be a reality, all the fans, everyone out there, they really need to focus on Washington. Washington is a good football team. We have another war this Saturday and we're going to need another great performance by everybody, players included." (HSB)


About how they represent the hopes of a lot of the non-BCS-conference teams, Bess said:
"I know a lot of people across the country are looking to us, wishing us well for what it means." (HA)


About how they represent non-BCS-conference teams, Jeff Reinbold said:
"Any time one of us has a chance to rise up and compete with the the big boys, it speaks well for all of us." (HA)


Supporting UH, Tulane President Scott Cowen said:
"I would tell Hawai'i to beat whomever they play to prove once again that parity is a reality in college football." (HA)

Note: Washington has a $13.8 mil football operating budget, UH has a $2.2 mil football operating budget.


About the chances that BCS-conference teams get, Adam Leonard said:
"Look at teams like UCLA (6-5) that still have an opportunity to play in the BCS. It is kind of a slap in the face of a lot of other teams that have great records and won their games." (HA)


About how this will be a tough game, Colt said:
"They're going to be ready for us. It's not going to be easy." (HA)


Rich Miano praised Jake Locker and said he:
"is a phenomenal athlete. His running speed, quickness, and his ability to make people miss, those are the reasons he's a great quarterback." (HA)


About Locker's elusiveness, Locker said:
"He's a heartbreaker. Just when you think he's trapped, he breaks away." (HA)


About Locker's arm strength (his baseball fastball was measured at 96 mph), GM said:
"He's got a rocket. He throws, to me, like John Elway, and he runs like Carl Lewis. He's like a greyhound chasing those rabbits. He's so dang fast." (HA)


Praising UW's defensive line, OL coach Dennis McKnight said:
"We've faced some great defensive lineman in our conference this year. But as a group this defensive line is the best. They flat-out go after it." (HA)

About Te'o-Neshiem, McKnight said:
"There's a term we use for a relentless player - 'he has a motor' - and that guy has that type of skill. If you get into a fight with him in an alley and knock him out, you'd better make sure he's definitely out. He won't stop. He plays the play longer than the opponent, and that's what you want. Our offense totally respects him." (HA)


About how he is hard to tackle due to his shiftiness, Pilares said:
"When you're young, you always practice your lateral moves. I guess it's paying off. I'll do whatever I have to do. Sometimes you can't always go to the outside." (HA)


About Colt on shovel passes, Dan Morrison said:
"Colt has a very good feel for different backs." (HA)


About how he has to trust his blockers on shovel passes because he catches it with his back to the defense, Pilares said:
"We do about a hundred of those a week in practice. It's easy to trust." (HA)

Note: Pilares' 15.14 YAC on shovel passes is better than Nate's YAC from last season!


About his concentration on out routes, Jason Rivers said:
"I concentrate like the ball's my baby. I don't want people to snatch my baby from me." (HA)


About how he forgets about his injured shoulder during the game, Blaze said:
"The adrenaline rush is awesome. It's a great high. If you ever see me in the locker room, I'm hurting. But in the game, when I see my teammates hurt, it inspires me to play even harder." (HA)


About the big hits that he and Blaze make, Timo Paepule said:
"Its a Kane'ohe thing. Me and Blaze, we always tell each other that when we make a big hit, it's, 'Yeah, K-Town Boys.' " (HA)


About how he's earned one of the kick returner spots, Keenan Jones said:
"I'm getting a lot more comfortable back there. I'm ready to fill in and make the best of it." (HA)


About how UH's basketball team will get together to watch the football game together, UH coach Bob Nash said:
"We'll try to get in a good practice in the morning, then rest, get some dinner, and then try to get together as a team to watch the football game. We're all a part of the same university, the same athletic department, so we're all friends and we're rooting for them." (HA)


About how they will watch the game instead of practice at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, Bob Nash said:
"They're going for one of the highest honors ever for this university. That's something you can't put a premium on. We got kids we're trying to recruit to play basketball for us who are talking about the football team, so it's affecting us, too." (HA)


About how they cheer for the football team, UH center Stephen Verwers said:
"We have a lot of friends on the football team. We root them on, and they root us on." (HA)

About how they have to prepare for their basketball game too, Verwers said:
"We love watching the football team, but when it comes down to it, we know we have to take care of our business before everything else." (HA)


About the challenge of facing UH's offense, safety Darin Harris said:
"Proving (the doubters) wrong would be a good thing. Especially in the secondary. They say we're the weak point of the defense and that kind of stuff. So it's a great challenge for us, and we accept the challenge." (HN)


About UH's passing game, Fresno State coach Pat Hill said:
"The passing game is all about timing and spacing, and their timing and spacing is excellent. Also, don't ever underestimate the speed of the Hawaii receivers. Oregon's a good football team with very good receivers. Hawaii might not be as big as their receivers, but I felt they were a lot faster. They can really run. That's the thing about them. Those receivers can run, they know what they're doing, they've been together for two and three years, and they've stayed healthy. Colt's got a great release. It's very hard to get to them, because they get the ball out so quickly. They have got big-time speed." (HN)


About how they need to pressure Colt, DT Jordan Reffet said:
"We plan on getting to that quarterback, because he obviously throws the ball pretty well. We've got to get to him, we've got to take some shots at him and see if we can get him rattled." (HN)


Asked about UW's defense, Colt said they look forward to playing every game:
"We're licking our chops every week. That could be one of two things. That means that there's a good chance that they could give up some big yards to us, or it could mean that they're going to tighten all the nuts and bolts and play us really tough this week. They're very talented, they've got all the athletes, they just haven't put it all together yet as a team. Being the last game of the season, hopefully they don't come out and do that, but they just might." (HN)


About how this is a chance for them to prove their doubters wrong, safety Nate Williams said:
"It is a chance for us to prove a lot of people wrong. For the whole year people have questioned the secondary, and that's always been something that we've tried to do: prove all of the critics wrong. This is definitely a good week for us to do that." (HN)