HONOLULU – University of Hawai`i Warrior football head coach Greg McMackin addressed the media following Monday's morning practice. Below are excerpts, as well as quotes from junior quarterback Inoke Funaki and junior linebacker Brashton Satele as the Warriors prepare for Friday's nationally televised showdown with No. 15 Boise State.

On Boise State:

“They're an excellent football team and they are well coached. They have good talent and they're going to be a great challenge. They run a package. They try to do a lot of motions and shifts to try to mix up and mess with your force. Some teams try to shift with them and some teams don't. Offensively they'll have to deal not only with the run-and-shoot but also with our mobile quarterback. I know from coaching defense for a long time, that gives you other problems. And then they've always have good special teams. I know in the past they've beaten Hawai'i with their special teams. We have to be really sound, but we think we have the right guys on special teams so it will be a war.”

 

On mentally preparing for each game:

“Every game is for the league championship. Every single game is the most important game that we've played. We're taking it very serious and our guys are focused. Everybody wants to pay us back after last season and that's just something we deal with.”

 

On the drastic improvement of the team's turnover margin:

“They're excited and having fun and that's what defense and football is. It is contagious. I'm really proud of our guys because they work hard and I'm really proud of our coaches because they're doing a great job of coaching.”

 

On motivating players each game:

“Every week is a battle. There are a lot of good teams and good coaches in this league.  The thing I tell the players is that we have to play a little bit better than we did last week. We don't have to play superhuman, and don't believe in getting super high. We've got our team together now and we just have to play a little bit better than we did last week.” 

On Boise State:

“It's no secret. We know who they are. They have great coaching, and they are well disciplined. If we want to compete with these guys we have to execute to the best of our abilities. It's going to be a tough game for us and we are trying to get ourselves physically and mentally ready.”

 

“Mentally we know we are going to have to be stronger in the mind. But we try and take every team like it's our last game, and not take anything for granted. It's a great opportunity for us to go out there and show what we got.”

 

On challenges of a short week of preparation:

“It's one day less to mentally and physically prepare ourselves but we are up to the challenge and we are going to try and execute and do what the coaches have planned for us.”

 

Thoughts on the passing game:

“The receivers came up with a lot of great catches for me. Some of my balls were inaccurately thrown and I know I need to put them more on a line especially against a team like Boise who has a great defense. Mistakes and margins of error get even smaller with a team like this…we just have to be balanced.”

 

“We have to be sound in our forces. We have to watch a lot of tape on them (Boise State) and watch their shifts.”

 

“This is my first game against Boise. They look physical but I'm going to bring everything I got and I know everybody else is. Every game we play is for the WAC championship.”