HONOLULU – University of Hawai`i Warrior football head coach Greg McMackin conducted his weekly press conference Monday, recapping the team's huge road win over Fresno State and looking ahead to this week's showdown against nationally ranked Nevada at Aloha Stadium.

 

It's great to win on the road against a well-coached, good football team and I think that shows the attitude and leadership we have on this team. I like the way they go about doing their business.

 

They're (Fresno State) a physical football team. But our defensive line really played well. We pretty much rushed four guys the whole game. We went into that game to take away the run, and we did the same thing the week before. I'm really proud of our front seven, I'm proud of our force, and it was a physical ball game. They're really starting to understand and for the first time in three years they are starting to play our style again.

 

He's doing unbelievable things. His leadership, his knowledge of the package, he's really worked hard to know what's going on. (Offensive coordinator) Nick Rolovich has really done a great job of coaching him. He feels that if he continues to improve… he could be the best guy that's ever run this (offense), by the time he's done.

 

We've been getting better and better as we've gone along and we're a really young team, (a) young defense especially. Even in our special teams. We made a change with our kick-off return. You can see that Dustin Blount, we're giving him a chance to touch the ball more. We made an adjustment to get our running back more involved in the game, he's a weapon. Defensively, our secondary is getting better every week. We didn't have any interceptions then we had two against Charleston Southern, then three against Louisiana Tech, and then three and one touchdown and a lot of pass breakups (against Fresno State). We're making a lot of plays. I really think we're starting to believe now. We're starting to believe in one another, we're starting to believe we can (play) with anybody in the country.

 

This is a big game for us. They are an outstanding team. We don't have to give a superhuman effort, we just have to play a little better than we did last week and continue to do that throughout the season. That's what it's all about. That's how championship teams are born, and all we're doing is taking one team at a time, and now Nevada is that team.

 

Nevada has a pure option. They disguise and run a double-dive option. Why they do it so well is because of their personnel. (Colin Kaepernick and Vai Taua) are special players. It forces you to defend both of them. The thing I've noticed over the years in defending them is that, Kaepernick is getting so much better throwing the ball. He was a 50 percent guy to begin with and every year he's more accurate, and he's a better thrower, throws better on the run. Both those guys are big-time players.