Quotes from the local papers on October 6

About how their role players were key in their win at Fresno, Mack said:
"That's what's important to us — knowing your role and fitting in. That's why we're able to hang together. There were a lot of guys who were backups who played in that ballgame. We probably played 20 guys on defense. Our special teams had different guys who were playing. Most of the 64 guys that we took had a part in that victory." (HA)


About having Tua Mahaley on their travel roster as a back-row kick blocker, Mack said:
"Tua has a great attitude. He's smart. He works hard. There has to be a place for a player like that. We can use guys like that." (HA)

About how Tua came through for the team in his role, Mack said:
"We found him a role, and then he goes out and helps us win a ballgame." (HA)

About how Tua first earned the back-row kick blocker role and then got on more of their special teams, Mack said:
"From that one role, he found more and more responsibilities." (HA)


About his block of Fresno State's FG with less than a minute left in regulation, Tua Mahaley said:
"God gave me wings, like the Red Bull commercial. He pushed me up in the sky, I put my hands up and the ball came right to my arms like a magnet." (HSB)


About having Mouton be there sole kick returner and having Spencer Smith assigned to block Desia Dunn (Fresno State's top kick returner), Mack said:
"We had to get the wedge tighter to the returner, and we did that." (HA)

Crediting the assistant coaches and their players for their successful adjustments, Mack said:
"That's what coaching is all about — making adjustments and putting players in position to make plays. I give both the (assistant) coaches and the players great credit." (HA)


Comparing this win vs. their win in Fresno 2 years ago, Keala Watson said:
"it was good to win here (68-37) two years ago. But, this one was even more sweet. We found our identity as a team. So, this week was our proving week; to prove that we are actually a better team than our record (now 2-3) says we are." (HA)

About how they need to keep winning, Keala said:
"Now, we're going to try to keep that momentum going." (HA)


About how he talked with Inoke after the SJSU game, Rolo said:
"We all challenged him, I did especially. We believed in him and I challenged him on Monday and said, 'Give me an answer tomorrow. You're going to be the guy and you either want this or you don't.' He came in and said, 'let's go do it.' " (HSB)

About how Inoke played well enough for them to win, Rolo said:
"He didn't have huge numbers, but a W is better than any kind of number. I think this team knows Inoke can lead them to wins. That's a great feeling as a quarterback." (HSB)



About how Inoke had more confidence in the game, especially after he had some success, John Estes said:
"He was more confident, especially when he was breaking off those long runs. You could see in his eyes that he was going to make big plays." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Funaki's first scoring pass was a 28-yard laser to Malcolm Lane - "a big-time throw," Rolovich said - and he later lofted a 2-yarder to Mike Washington in the third quarter."


About how Inoke did what he was supposed to do in the game, Ron Lee said:
"He did exactly what he was supposed to do. He managed (the game) but he made some plays, he didn't throw an interception. What he did was he made good decisions and he played smart." (HSB)


About how Inoke kept his confidence up through the game, unlike before, Rolo said:
"He missed two throws early and the old Inoke misses those throws and he's in the dumps for the rest of the game. He missed those throws but he never gave up until the clock was zero, and then some." (HSB)


Crediting a higher power for some of his play in the game, Inoke said:
"There are still so many things in this offense I know I need to do better and can get better at. I'm just grateful we were able to get away with this win. I'm so thankful to the man upstairs helping me out. Because I know some of those things, I wasn't able to do on my own." (HSB)

HSB Note: "With all of the shuffling among the four quarterbacks who've taken turns atop the depth chart - including Tyler Graunke, Greg Alexander and Brent Rausch - UH coach Greg McMackin said the group has "done a great job of sticking together and supporting Inoke.""


About how RJ and Tyson Kafentzis got significant playing time due to Adam Leonard's injury, Mack said:
"His leg was bothering him and we didn't want to push it. R.J. and Tyson had practiced all week and we felt they were capable and they did a good job." (HSB)


About how he needs to avoid thinking when he kicks FGs, Dan Kelly said:
"I should just stop thinking, because when I think I screw up. I should just be a dumb animal, run out there and do my job." (HSB)


About how they will enjoy this win for the full 48 hours he gives the team after a game, Mack said:
"We're going to enjoy it, absolutely. Winning's too hard, you have to enjoy it." (HSB)


About how they have to put the game behind them after that 48 hours, Mack said:
"You've got to get on to the next game. We can enjoy it today, but tomorrow we need to move on and build on the good things that happened." (HSB)

HSB Note: "A power failure in Fresno, Calif., caused the outage that left viewers of the Hawaii-Fresno State football game in the dark for part of the first quarter on Saturday. Norman Santos, Oceanic Time Warner Cable's vice president of operations, said Oceanic is not planning on a mass refund for pay-per-view subscribers. He said the company will make an assessment of responses today and a replay of the game might be possible. "Right at the start of the game it was pure madness," said Santos, who estimated about 10,000 individual buys for the game."