UH = University of Hawaii Athletics website
HSA = Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Note: I'm sending this to my blog while standing in line for a Disneyland ride, so please forgive any typos.
----------------------- Quotes from the UH coaches --------------------------
Happy with to win their first conference game and praising Louisiana Tech for playing hard, Mack said:
"This first win, you're either at the top of the heap or at the bottom. I talked with Sonny Dykes and I thought their guys played really hard. Most teams come in here and they get tired by the fourth quarter, but they got stronger in the fourth." (UH)
About how their defense played well in the first half and played really well on offense, Mack said:
"I thought the first half, our defense played outstanding, except for that one last drive. Offensively, we played really well. In the second half, when La Tech put in number 11 (Ross Jenkins), he gave us a little trouble and they still had their running game going. We made some adjustments and changed some things up towards the end of the ballgame and blitzed a lot more. Including a max blitz with all three backers and played zone behind it because we had to get something on it." (UH)
About how they struggled with kickoffs this game, Mack said:
"Offensively we kept it going and ran the clock out, so I'm really pleased. And their two kickoff return guys are big time guys, so we kicked to them early in the game and we did well against them. But then one of them ran the ball out 50 yards, so we decided not to kick to him. So we decided to sky kicked it and it looked terrible, so I said squib the next one and that looked terrible too, I'm glad we didn't have to kick off any more." (UH)
Praising their offense, Mack said:
"Our slots and our quarterbacks were just outstanding. I thought our offensive line (did well), they blitzed a bunch of times. We got sacked seven times last year (against La Tech). But this year, Kealoha broke a school record with (18) catches, which is amazing. Moniz threw for 532 yards and he must've ran for 50 more. We had 640 yards in total offense." (UH)
Proud of their defense, especially for the 5 turnovers he counts for them, Mack said:
"I was proud of our defense, we had three interceptions and we had a couple of fourth down stops which we count as a turnover because our offense goes in at that point. It got competitive for awhile that had to thrill the fans, but I wasn't really thrilled with it because we got a little sloppy in the second half on defense and we have things that we have to fix up. But I thought we came back in the end of the game. They had six three and outs in the first half. And then the way we count it we had five turnovers. But in the second half we let Jenkins get to us, and we can't do that. (UH)
About how La Tech's no-huddle offense caused them problems on defense, Mack said:
"It does because you got to get the call in and they're getting a play off ever 22 seconds. You can't practice it until you line up against it. So in the first half we were pretty good about it, and then I think we got a little tired because it's a fast pace deal. In the first half we got off early, but in the second we sort of went back to the Colorado deal with not getting (our defense) off, so we're getting tired and we make a mistake and they score. We got to get consistent. We're really young on defense and we just have to get better." (UH)
About how they struggled on kickoffs because they were trying to limit what Philip Livas could do, special teams coordinator Chris Tormey said:
"We tried to kick it high to the short side of the field. It worked well for us early, and they did a nice job of adjusting to it. Fortunately, we were able to keep (Livas) in check. We gave up a couple of good returns, but we didn't give up any home runs. The bottom line is they didn't beat us with their best player on special teams, and that was our goal going in." (HSA)
About a reporter's suggestion on naming their 5-WR package, offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich (Rolo) said:
"We call it 'empty,' but I like Hawaii Five-O." (HSA)
"It works well within our package. We don't have to change any routes. We don't have to change any reads. It's just what it is. I like it." (HSA)
Praising Moniz, Pilares, and Salas, Mouse Davis said:
"Seventeen, 21 and 1 were outstanding. No question about it." (HSA)
About their amazing stats in the game, Davis said:
"Isn't this the way it's supposed to look?" (HSA)
HSA Note: "Warriors quarterback Bryant Moniz (No. 17) posted career-best numbers for the second straight week, but the most remarkable stats belonged to slot receivers Kealoha Pilares (21) and Greg Salas (1) in the Warriors' 41-21 win over Louisiana Tech last night at Aloha Stadium. Pilares broke the school's single-game record for receptions with 18 catches covering a career-high 217 yards and two touchdowns."
Praising Corey Paredes for stepping up on the sideline and following that up with strong play on the field, Dave Aranda said:
"I talked about our leaders need to step up. It's been an issue in our previous games. And when things were going down, when the momentum swung the other way, we need our leaders to stand up. And (Paredes) is one of the guys who spoke up there on the sideline, and he spoke up on the field, too." (HSA)
Feeling now that halftime adjustments are overrated, Aranda said:
"There were adjustments being made, but to be honest with you, the more I do this, the more I see that's overrated. And the energy and strength of will and the guys deciding to make a stop is what turned it around for us." (HSA)
About their struggles to pressure Jenkins, Aranda said:
"When we showed pressure, they checked screens. It was a whole kind of Indiana Jones booby-trap thing to get to the quarterback." (HSA)
--------------------- Quotes from the UH players -----------------------------
Looking forward to playing at Fresno State in their next game, Bryant Moniz (who played at Fresno City College before coming to UH) said:
"It's just another game to me. Fresno was a great place for me, got me to where I am now. I'm just excited we got two wins in a row and we have to keep it rolling." (HSA)
About how Greg Alexander was injured in last year's La Tech game, Moniz said:
"He (Alexander) called a couple of the guys this week and (linebacker) Jake Heun said he asked us to get this one for him." (HSA)
"That's where my career started and, unfortunately for Greg, his ended. So we wanted to get this one for him ... definitely." (HSA)
Praising Pilares and Salas, Moniz said:
"They were huge. I would throw them 5-yard routes and they would turn it into 60-yard touchdowns." (HSA)
Happy to see that his hard work during the offseason paid off, Kealoha Pilares said:
"All those hours of watching film, lifting weights and stuff like that, it's great to know you put in all that hard work and something comes out of it. But there's a lot more to go and I think our offense is moving well." (HSA)
"It feels great. All of the hours put in the offseason, watching films, dreaming about this ... it's nice, but we have a lot more games left. This was just the first WAC game." (HSA)
About running the hitch pattern for a 66-yard TD, Pilares said:
"It's all about setting him up. He thought I was going to cut back in. I was five steps ahead of him. I knew where I was going to go." (HSA)
About making a one-handed catch for a 20-yard gain on their second play on offense in the game, Greg Salas said:
"I'm a real emotional player and it gets me just zoned in to another level. I hope it gave the team confidence, too, and we were able to go out there and execute." (HSA)
About Pilares breaking his single-game record of 16 receptions, Salas said:
"He's worked super hard. He deserves everything he gets. It's fun when both of us are out there making plays." (HSA)
Praising Pilares' YAC ability, Salas said:
"This guy just makes people miss. I know every time he touches the ball someone's going to miss, someone's going to be on his highlight reel." (HSA)
About how they knew that La Tech would try to do the same thing as they did last year on defense, leaving their slot receivers open, Salas said:
"We watched film of what they did against us last year and we knew they would try to do the same thing. We came to the sideline and told (offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich) we don't really need to go (outside), we need plays that are coming to the inside because they're overloading. ... We knew we had a lot of open field toward the middle of the field and I think we exploited that and Rolo started calling great plays." (HSA)
About how receivers are always open in their offense, Salas said:
"Somebody's gonna be on the highlight reel." (HSA)
About forcing his way into the end zone, Salas said:
"You have to keep working. I never want to go down, especially by one person. I'm just going to keep moving my legs until somebody brings me down." (HSA)
"You have to have the will to keep fighting." (HSA)
About scoring his first TD since his sophomore year at Laney College, Chizzy Dimude said:
"It felt good man. It's been a long time. I just read (offensive lineman Austin Hansen's) block and headed up field, it was an open hole." (HSA)
About losing his second fumble of the game, Alex Green said:
"I don't know what happened. They made a good play, I guess." (HSA)
About how they defense encouraged him as they were going onto the field, Green said:
"They told me not to worry, they would get the ball back." (HSA)
About how the La Tech D had 10 players near the line of scrimmage, Laupepa Letuli said:
"We just needed to give Mo a little time, and Mo and the receivers could do the rest." (HSA)
About tipping a pass that led to Jeramy Bryant's interception, Corey Paredes said:
"They faked the run, and I bit on it but I jumped back as soon as I can, and then I knew they were coming behind me, because they always run those behind routes. So luckily I just got in the way, jumped up, tipped the ball and J.B. made an excellent play on it." (HSA)
About jumping to tip the pass, Paredes was asked about his vertical leap and said:
"I choose not to mention it." (HSA)
About tipping passes instead of intercepting them, Paredes said:
I've got linebacker hands. In high school, I had receiver hands. The best thing I could do was tip it." (HSA)
About how they have to play better on defense in the second half, Paredes said:
"We've got to beat them in the second half. We went out to show that the last game (a 66-7 blowout over Charleston Southern) wasn't a fluke, that we can play defense in the second half. I just rallied the guys, and guys came out hitting." (HSA)
Praising Paredes for tipping the pass that he intercepted, Jeramy Bryant said:
"Corey will always be the guy. But that was a gift-wrapped present. I think that's what we needed." (HSA)
About how they took advantage of how Hakmi (the QB that started) couldn't pass well (he ended up with 0 yards passing), Mana Silva said:
"Going into this game we knew we could expose the weakness of him throwing, and he made some reads that we were able to break on and make some big plays." (HSA)
About how they met their goal for creating at least 3 turnovers, Silva said:
"Our goal is always at least three turnovers. I'm pretty sure we accomplished that. We just try to use our instincts and make plays. That's what the coaches ask of us." (HSA)
---------------- Quotes from the Louisiana Tech coaches ------------------
Happy that his players played really hard, La Tech head coach Sonny Dykes said:
"I thought we did a pretty good job of coming back and giving ourselves a chance in the second half. We got down so fast and played so poorly early in the ball game. Our kids really played hard and had a chance to get back in the game. We just couldn't quite make a play or two—couldn't convert a fourth down when we had a chance, got a turnover and couldn't do much with it. That's just a sign of our inconsistencies that's kind of been plaguing us all year. But I thought our kids really played hard, especially in the second half. It's been a long trip, and I thought they gave great effort across the board tonight." (UH)
Praising UH's receivers, Dykes said:
"I think (Hawai'i's) receivers are outstanding. That's as good a group of receivers as I've seen. They're fun players to watch, their quarterback's really good. When they're operating at this level like they were tonight, they're going to be a very difficult team to beat, especially over here. They play well at home. If they can continue to execute at this level, they'll give people headaches." (UH)
About having trouble finding a QB and switching QBs so many times, Dykes said:
"It's just been a train wreck. For whatever reason, we've just struggled (at quarterback). It's been a weird deal. Guys practice well then won't play well ... and we've got to have a quarterback, especially in this spread offense." (HSA)
"We've struggled at that (quarterback) position. We've been up and down. ... It has just been a train wreck. You've gotta have a quarterback, especially in a spread offense. You've gotta find someone who can do it." (HSA)
About their struggles with their new offense, Dykes said:
"We had a receiver quit on a route who thought he was open and two (receivers) kind of ran in there together. It's some inexperience on our part and we've got to do a better job of executing." (HSA)
--------------- Quotes from the Louisiana Tech players --------------------
About entering the game after they were down 24-0 and going 19-26 for 215 yards passing and 2 TDs, bringing them back to within 11 points, Ross Jenkins said:
"Being down 24 points isn't really the best situation. I just wanted to go in and try to get some first downs and try to get some points on the board to pick up a little momentum." (HSA)
About how La Tech keeps switching offenses during his career, Jenkins said:
"This is the third offense I've played in in my career and you really just have to put all your faith in the coaches. They're hired for a reason because they are good at what they do ... and I like this scheme. As you saw, we can be a really good offense. We just need to keep working on it and eventually things will click." (HSA)
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