Bowl Prep - Hawai'i - vs Fresno State

By glancing at this board and several others you wouldn’t realize there are teams preparing for a final football game of the season.

In our case in particular, we have a head coach who should be looking for some redemption from last year’s bowl performance vs San Diego State. This year, we have the added advantage of a complete staff, a complete schedule and no unruly distractions.

Would love to see some write ups on Applewhite’s philosophy going into this bowl game. Some coaches use 10 of the 17 extra practices to work with the underclassmen and focus on 2018 prep. Some coaches (a la Herman for the Peach bowl) use the entire time to prep for the one game.

Anyone care to share the insights they have into how our bowl prep is going and how we’re using the bonus practices?

Go Coogs!

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Applewhite mentioned in the interview after the announcement that the first practices will be used to get the young guys extra reps and experience. Guessing these will be used to get King and Smith more reps at QB while also seeing who may be able to fill in at key positions next year (like WR, LB, or OL).

He said that towards the end that they’ll transition into game prep which will mean getting those that will need more time on the field (seniors) more reps. One thing to watch will be if Dillon Birden is able to come back for the game, at least in a limited role.

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That would be fabulous. I know he would dedicate his performance to his brother who just passed. Maybe that horrible event can help motivate the whole team.

also hoping Postma is able to make a significant contribution in his last game - so sorry he got reinjured - he’s been a rock over the last three years

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Can the red shirt on Smith be pulled for this game and not count against his eligibility?

Stealth - I am fairly certain the rule (in plain words) - “do not play in any game during first year of eligibility.” So the bowl game would be considered a game during first year of eligibility and Smith’s redshirt status would be lost.

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Thanks 74. Looking forward to see him play next year.

Yep, there had been talk in the offseason to allow teams to play red-shirting players in bowl games and not count it towards eligibility but I don’t think it went anywhere. This was in response to teams losing star players because they were going to sit out the bowl games.

This ought to be a really good, competitive game. Based on FPI and Effeciencies, the teams are nearly identical. We score about the same PPG and they give up 6 PPG less than we do.

Both teams are penalized about the same but the real difference is in turnovers. Happily, since DK became our QB, we have fewer INTs per game but about triple the fumbles lost as Fresno. They’ve had 4 fumbles lost in 13 games and we’ve had 4 in the last four games. So holding on to the football will be a big key (it’s always a key) since Fresno doesn’t give up turnovers very much.

I’m really looking forward to this game. All things considered–the Hurricane, the QB situation and bad luck here and there–this is a really good opponent and bowl game. I like the Coogs in this one, as I think we really came together toward the end of the year–especially with the QB play.