Quotes from the UH-San Jose State game 11/20/10

UH = University of Hawaii Athletics website
HSA = Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Note: The articles about the game from ESPN, AP, USA Today, San Jose Mercury News and a few other websites did not contain any quotes.

--------------  Quotes from the UH coaches  -----------------


About how their defense played well and their offense did well after a slow start, praising Moniz for breaking UH's passing record, UH head coach Greg McMackin (Mack) said:
"I thought the guys played extremely well. We had one soft series on defense and we got right back to playing "warrior style football." Offensively, I thought we started off a little slow but they came back and played like warriors. We had 626 yards, "Mo" (Bryant Moniz) broke the passing record. He's just outstanding. I thought it was a well-played game as a team."  (UH)

"You knew it was a matter of time before we played Warrior football." (HSA)


Dedicating this game to Colt, Mack said:
"This was for Colt (Brennan)." (HSA)


About how they have prayed for Colt, Mack said:
"We prayed for Colt in practice on Friday. We prayed for him (yesterday) in chapel and at our pregame meal. Colt was on our mind. He's a Warrior. He's a brother. We all love him. We're all concerned about him. Everybody was playing for him." (HSA)


Proud of their defense, Mack said:
"I'm really proud of the defense and they gave up 164 yards and most of it was at the end of the game, when we had our second, third unit in there. I'm proud of our guys, I'm really proud of our coaches. We're looking forward to next week, to continue on. This is a good stepping stone.  It's good to get back and win. We have that taste in our mouth and we want to get another streak going." (UH)


About how their DEs contained SJSU's QB after they made an adjustment, Mack said:
"The D-Ends, we knew we had to contain the QB and early on we didn't. We made an adjustment and all the D-Ends did a great job. We also contained them with our backers. Aaron Brown had an outstanding ball game. I'm sure he is going to be an all-WAC player of the week; he had a defensive touchdown and another interception." (HSA)


Praising the play-calling of Defensive Coordinator Dave Aranda, Mack said:
"(Defensive coordinator) Dave (Aranda) did a great job of changing things up, changing coverage and blitz and that's how you have to play a team like that. And they are very similar. I'm really proud of the defense and Dave Aranda and all the defensive coaches. I thought our front played good." (UH)


About how his defense wanted to make a statement in this game, Defensive Coordinator Dave Aranda said:
"They came in embarrassed off of our last time out (against Boise State) and felt like they had a lot to prove. I know they wanted to (make a statement)." (HSA)


About their 8-sack game (7 by the DL), DT coach Tony Tuioti said that having a:
"breakout game like this. I felt it was something we were capable of. I wanted these guys to show what they could do and make all the hard work they do pay off." (HSA)


About how they made mistakes on offense during the game, Offensive Coordinator Nick Rolovich (Rolo) said:
"There was some — it's hard to say, 'sloppiness,' because of the numbers we put up — but we missed a few. Maybe it had something to do with the bye week." (HSA)


About how Bryant Moniz never showed that the BSU loss bothered him, Rolo said:
"He's a cool cat that guy." (HSA)


About how the injury to Jordan Gomes will hurt their special teams, Special Teams Coordinator Chris Tormey said:
"That hurts us; he was on every one of our special teams. We're going to have to scramble." (HSA)


--------------  Quotes from the UH players  -------------------


About how he wanted to wear Colt's #15 jersey as a tribute to Colt but couldn't, Moniz said:
"I wanted to wear it to show he means a lot to us. We're praying for the best for him." (HSA)

"We couldn't find it." (HSA)


About how they played well but could have played a lot better, Moniz said:
"Overall, we played well enough to win. But knowing how everything is supposed to execute, and how much better we could have done, it's still upsetting." (HSA)


About not letting the BSU loss affect him, Moniz said:
"As soon as I watched the film, I learned from my mistakes, and I put it behind me. I think it's a mentality that's developed when you play football and when you play my position. You can't get caught up on losses, bad plays; you have to put it behind you and move on." (HSA)


About breaking Colt's single-game UH yardage record (set in the 2006 Hawaii Bowl vs. Arizona State) by a single yard with a 10-yard pass in the 4th quarter, Moniz said:
"It's such an honor and so awesome with all the names that came through here. Rolovich, Dan Robinson, Colt, Timmy Chang. All these guys you look up to growing up. I never thought I'd be playing here and now to kind of put my name there is awesome." (HSA)


About being able to get the ball to all 4 of their WRs and RB Alex Green, Moniz said:
"It's great spreading the ball around because then they can't key on any receiver." (HSA)


About putting the BSU game behind him (2 receptions for 10 yards) with this 8-catch, 144-yard game, Greg Salas said:
"I had to get that taste out of my mouth. It's finally nice to get out on the field and get back to what we're used to." (HSA)


About returning from the hamstring injury that forced him to miss the BSU game, Kealoha Pilares said:
"It felt like forever since I stepped on the field. We started off slow, but we picked things up and put it together." (HSA)


About playing well after struggling in the BSU game, Royce Pollard said:
"We all thought about that Boise game. We needed to come out here and play the way we're supposed to play, to be ourselves, to do what we do." (HSA)


About getting 5 more yards after his helmet had been knocked free at the end of one of his shovel pass receptions, Alex Green said:
"It just came off, and I kept running." (HSA)


Happy to make his first 2 receptions at the college level, Miah Ostrowski said:
"It was nice to finally get in there, get in a rhythm and get that first catch out of the way. It helped that I'm on the first punt return team now (as an end) and I was able to get warm." (HSA)


About getting 2 INTs in this game and returning one for a TD, Aaron Brown said:
"It was about time I showed up and contributed a little more. I've dropped too many interceptions this year and it has been something I've worked on." (HSA)

"Right place, right time. I got my hands on passes before and didn't execute. This time, I wanted to make sure I secured the ball. It all goes back to the blitzing. I love it when we blitz. It's a way of making a statement." (HSA)


About how their defense wanted to play well after struggling in the BSU game, Brown said:
"We've had that bad taste in our mouth for two weeks now. That wasn't Warrior football and we wanted to come out and show everybody how good Warrior football is." (HSA)


About how UH got 8 sacks in this game after getting just 14 in their previous 10 games combined, Brown said:
"We spent two weeks really emphasizing our blitzing mentality and getting to the quarterback on every play."  (HSA)


About how they wanted to play well for Colt, Vaughn Meatoga said:
"Our play was like a get-well card for Colt. [In 2007] his locker was right behind mine. He's such a good guy. He would do anything for anybody. We wanted to do this for him." (HSA)


About how Dave Aranda showed them a chart this week that showed how bad things often happened when they blitzed this season, Meatoga said:
"There were a lot of negatives. We knew that wasn't us. We blitzed way better in the spring. I think we went into this game with the mentality we had to get back to playing Warrior football." (HSA)


About Tuipulotu knocking down a pass on 4th down and the inspirational halftime speech Tuipulotu gave, Meatoga said:
"Kani can fly. I think his vert(ical jump) is 13 inches. But he really gave us a lift with his halftime speech." (HSA)


After getting 3 of their 8 sacks, Paipai Falemalu said:
"Coach Aranda emphasized getting our blitz mentality back." (HSA)

"The whole defense came alive." (HSA)


About how he was surprised that SJSU's QB was able to get up after a few of their sacks, Paipai said:
"I was surprised he got up a couple times." (HSA)


Paipai said that after he got a sack that:
"the other guys wanted one, too." (HSA)


About how 2 other members of their DL got sacks, Paipai said:
"And, then, I wanted more, too." (HSA)


After getting 2 of their 8 sacks, Kamalu Umu said:
"It was pretty much Coach, calling the plays. They were giving away the slide protection every time." (HSA)


About their 8 sacks in this game after getting just 14 sacks in their previous 10 games, Elliott Purcell said:
"It was all the anger built up being so close and not getting sacks." (HSA)


About knocking down a pass that SJSU attempted on 4th and short, Kaniela Tuipulotu said:
"I got lucky." (HSA)


About his halftime speech to the team, Tuipulotu said:
"I told them it's all about G-O-D. We have a lot of faith." (HSA)


About suffering what is believed to be a torn ACL on the kickoff that opened the game, Jordan Gomes said:
"I think someone got blocked into the back of my knee and I heard a popping sound." (HSA)


About making 50 straight PATs to tie Dan Kelly's record from 2007, Scott Enos said:
"I try not to think about any of that stuff. The offense does a great job, scores a lot of points and I get a lot of opportunities." (HSA)


Crediting his teammates for his success (he's made all 84 PATs he has tried during his UH career), Enos said:
"It makes my job easy when you have a great snapper like Luke (Ingram). He's throwing the ball back there so fast and Shane (Austin) puts it on the spot every time. It's like kicking it off a tee." (HSA)


------------  Quotes from the SJSU coaches  ------------------


About how Bryant Moniz had a nice game, though they did get some turnovers from him, SJSU head coach Mike MacIntyre said:
"Hawai'i played well, their quarterback had a nice game. We did make him turn over the ball a few times, we made some big plays." (UH)


About how UH's defense stopped them and UH's DTs collapsed their pocket, MacIntyre said:
"Defensively they smothered us pretty well; we did not handle some of their pressure…(Hawai'i's) two inside guys are really good, they push the pocket really well. They're very good players." (UH)


About how the game changed when they did not succeed on a 4th down in the second half and then UH converted on a 4th down after that, McIntyre said:
"In the second half we went for it on fourth down, then they go for it and we don't play it exactly right and they get it by an inch. The whole game switched. If we would have stopped them on fourth down, or gotten the fourth down, it might have been a different story. I don't know if we would have beat 'em, but it would've been closer than 41-7." (UH)


About how they couldn't take advantage of their opportunities, McIntyre said:
"We had some opportunities to put some more points on the board that might have made the outcome a little bit better, but we didn't." (UH)

"I wish we could have run them in. We had some opportunities to put points on the board. It should have been about 17-17 at halftime, but it wasn't." (HSA)


Praising Aaron Brown, McIntyre said:
"(Hawai'i linebacker Aaron Brown) made some nice plays in the flat, reading the quarterback's eyes, he's a good football player. I've noticed him a lot on film. He's very active." (UH)


About Brown's INT return for a TD that made the score 17-0, McIntyre said:
"That was a huge play for them." (HSA)


About how their QB was sacked 8 times, McIntyre said:
"No way should we give up eight sacks." (UH)

"They really smothered us. No way should we be giving up eight sacks." (HSA)


About how he enjoyed his honeymoon in Hawaii much more than this game, McIntyre said:
"I came here on my honeymoon 21 years ago. The honeymoon was a lot better than tonight." (UH)


About how he heard about Colt's injury right after he landed at Honolulu Airport on Friday, Brent Brennan (Colt's cousin) said:
"I got a text message on my cell from my wife to call my parents. They (Colt's aunt and uncle) were in Kona and were checking out of their hotel when they heard about it. They had gone out to dinner with Colt the night before. It was just so fortunate that they were here because Colt's parents were so far away, and so they were able to have communication.

I went to see Colt at the hospital and he was sedated. But he's gonna be fine. He's got some real injuries and it's going to take time to heal. But he's a tough kid and he's in really great shape, so that's going to help him." (HSA)


HSA Note: "In addition to broken ribs and a broken clavicle, a family member said Brennan suffered a broken cheekbone, a broken orbital and a punctured lung."


------------  Quotes from the SJSU players  ------------------


Told that Paipai was surprised that he got up from some of the hits he took, QB Jordan La Secla said:
"To tell you the truth, so was I." (HSA)


Praising UH's defense, La Secla said:
"Those boys can really get after it. It was rough." (HSA)

"To be honest, the way they came, I feel like we haven't seen something like that this year. They had a good scheme and everything, but I just feel like the way they rush is so different than any other we've seen. Just the way they get after it. They never give up. They just keep coming and (are) always moving. Usually when I break the pocket I can get upfield a little. (But) was I getting grabbed from behind, getting grabbed from the side. Those boys can move around." (HSA)


About scoring their only TD on a 21-yard reception, freshman WR Noel Grigsby said:
"That was a simple wheel route that we run in practice all the time. The coach dialed it up, the line gave protection and we executed it." (HSA)


Praising UH and noting they have a lot of weapons, Sophomore safety James Orth (who returned an INT for 38 yard in the 3rd quarter and forced a fumble by Kealoha Pilares) said:
"We'll try to get past it and focus on the next game and do the best we can. Hawaii's a good team with weapons all over the place." (HSA)