John Tamanaha

HONOLULU - June Jones claims to not concern himself with the BCS process. With his Hawaii Warriors on the cusp of making into one of the big-time bowl games, you tend not to believe him.

But his actions back him up. Facing a first-and-goal at the Boise State 1-yard line, he had his quarterback Colt Brennan kill off the rest of the clock by taking a knee.

Already leading the Broncos 39-27, more points weren’t needed to improve to 11-0 and claim the Western Athletic Conference championship. However, when breaking into the 40s and posting a 19-point victory over a ranked team could possibly translate into some valuable style points, Jones wasn’t interested.

Brennan, a Heisman Trophy candidate who had already accounted for all of Hawaii’s six touchdowns, suggested that it actually meant more to end the game that way. 

“It was better that way,” Brennan said. “Taking a knee at the one showed what kind of character this team has.”

Showing any disrespect to Boise State, which had won the previous five WAC titles, wasn’t worth trading in for something to possibly impress pollsters.

“I’m not into stats,” Jones said. “I’m not into all that stuff.”

What he is into is winning. Beyond that, Hawaii really doesn’t have anything to prove. It’s all about taking care of their own business.

Hawaii has one more regular-season game remaining and if it polishes off Washington on Dec. 1, the Warriors shouldn’t have to politic their way into the BCS equation. Twelve-and-oh ought to get them there without debate, but there will be resistance from the old school traditionalists.

Critics will point to Hawaii’s lightweight schedule, but you can’t hold that against these Warriors. Nobody wanted a piece of them. Michigan State was on the 2007 slate, but paid a hefty sum to buy out of the game. Apparently, a couple days on the beach in Waikiki weren’t worth the substantial challenge that Hawaii presents at Aloha Stadium.

Amid the pandemonium on the field after the game, a proud fan paraded around with a sign that said: “People pay us not to play us!” How many teams can say that?

In an attempt to rehabilitate the 2007 schedule, the Warriors approached Michigan about paying a visiting to the Big House, but the Wolverines weren’t interested. Instead, they signed a deal with Appalachian State. You know the rest.

There also was talk about playing several other big-name teams, including USC, but nothing materialized. So, Hawaii was left with two Football Championship Subdivision opponents.

The Warriors responded by taking care of whoever was on their schedule and you have to respect that. Winning is winning … especially this season. Teams such as USC and LSU weren’t expected to lose any games, but dropped two. Teams like Notre Dame and Nebraska … well, you get the idea.

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Sure, a couple of Hawaii’s victories were of the less-than-dominating variety. Overtime wins over Louisiana Tech and San Jose State aren’t signature victories, but they were both on the road, and the Warriors showed their mettle while overcome deficits in each. The same can be said of their 28-26 victory at Nevada, which led up to Friday’s validating victory over Boise State.

Taking care of business needs to be rewarded. Hawaii has won 21 of its past 22 games, and that one loss to Boise State last season was just avenged.

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