2008 Woodie Awards
Sports Commentary: Storybook ending for the Warriors, seniors
Glendalyn Junio
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: Sports
Disney couldn't have drawn a better ending to UH's fairy-tale season.
A perfect 12-0, four wins in down-to-the-wire contests that could have easily ended in defeat, and a University of Hawai‘i Warriors football team that gave the entire state something to believe in.
"We're excited and we're undefeated," said senior quarterback Colt Brennan. "We're just glad we got the victory. We owe the state and the fans a lot because they've supported us so much."
Saturday's come-from-behind win over Washington was the latest chapter in what has proved to be history in the making. Falling behind 21-0 early in the game, UH showed the state of Hawai‘i and a national audience what it truly means to play with the heart.
"This game (is the best game of the season)," said junior linebacker Adam Leonard. "We were able to come back from being down 21-0. You couldn't ask for any better way to finish, and (the win) summarizes our season in one game."
The Warriors accomplished something every other team in the nation failed at one point to do, win the ball game. So while critics sit around and discuss their strength of schedule, or lack thereof, the truth is that Hawai‘i, unlike the nation's elite, won regardless of the opponent.
The atmosphere in college football this season has fluctuated week in and week out. While the Bowl Championship Series ranked teams as they saw fit, it was almost certain that upsets on Saturday would cause a stir in the following week's polls. The experts' rankings were questioned as seven No. 2 teams fell to unranked teams. And on the final Saturday of the 2007 regular season, the BCS's No. 1 and No. 2 teams failed to live up to the hype.
All the while, an underrated Hawai‘i football team flew in under the radar, past the critics' cynicism, and onto the best record in the nation. A member of perhaps the weakest conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Hawai‘i will always have something to prove. Saturday's contest with Washington proved two things: the Warriors' unfailing resolve and their right to play in a BCS bowl game.
A perfect 12-0, four wins in down-to-the-wire contests that could have easily ended in defeat, and a University of Hawai‘i Warriors football team that gave the entire state something to believe in.
"We're excited and we're undefeated," said senior quarterback Colt Brennan. "We're just glad we got the victory. We owe the state and the fans a lot because they've supported us so much."
Saturday's come-from-behind win over Washington was the latest chapter in what has proved to be history in the making. Falling behind 21-0 early in the game, UH showed the state of Hawai‘i and a national audience what it truly means to play with the heart.
"This game (is the best game of the season)," said junior linebacker Adam Leonard. "We were able to come back from being down 21-0. You couldn't ask for any better way to finish, and (the win) summarizes our season in one game."
The Warriors accomplished something every other team in the nation failed at one point to do, win the ball game. So while critics sit around and discuss their strength of schedule, or lack thereof, the truth is that Hawai‘i, unlike the nation's elite, won regardless of the opponent.
The atmosphere in college football this season has fluctuated week in and week out. While the Bowl Championship Series ranked teams as they saw fit, it was almost certain that upsets on Saturday would cause a stir in the following week's polls. The experts' rankings were questioned as seven No. 2 teams fell to unranked teams. And on the final Saturday of the 2007 regular season, the BCS's No. 1 and No. 2 teams failed to live up to the hype.
All the while, an underrated Hawai‘i football team flew in under the radar, past the critics' cynicism, and onto the best record in the nation. A member of perhaps the weakest conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Hawai‘i will always have something to prove. Saturday's contest with Washington proved two things: the Warriors' unfailing resolve and their right to play in a BCS bowl game.
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