Feature on John Estes

About how their situation before this Hawaii Bowl reminds him on the 2006 Hawaii Bowl, John Estes said:
"It reminds me of 2006. We came off a tough loss (to Oregon State) and beat Arizona State and it kind of carried over into the next season." (HSB)

About their changes on the OL this season, OL coach Brian Smith said:
"We've had to make some changes and adjustments -- now that we're back to healthy we're back to where we started. It's part of the game and it's just something you have to deal with." (HSB)

About how they have to adjust to the changes on the OL, Estes said:
"We all have to know what each other's doing every play." (HSB)

HSB Note: "The breaks in continuity have contributed to a season in which the Warriors have given up 49 sacks, the most in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, for an average of a sack every 10.1 pass attempts."

About how they gave up 49 sacks this season, after giving up 35 in 2007 and 28 in 2006, Estes said:
"I'm sick of seeing us give up sacks. When we give up sacks it's usually not the guys just beating us, it's us beating ourselves. We just have to eliminate the mental mistakes and if a guy makes a play, he makes a play. You just go on to the next play. You can't dwell on the past because you can't do anything about it." (HSB)

About how he and fellow starting G Latu Tuioti-Mariner will be ending their Warrior careers in the Hawaii Bowl, Keith AhSoon said:
"Every time we get together, we always tell each other we have to finish this right and make a statement before we all leave." (HSB)

About how he will return for his senior season after thinking about entering the draft early, John Estes said:
"I thought about it, but I'm not ready yet. There's a lot of good (centers in this year's draft class), so it's better for me to wait one more year and prepare for next year." (HSB)