Tuesday 9 October 2012

Archive 2011-2012

December 3rd, 2012
The 2012 season wrapped up for the Warriors  with a comfortable but unspectacular win over South Alabama 23-7. The win was a nice send off for the Seniors on the program and rounded out 2012 with a 3-9 record.

Blake played one of his best games of the years, dominant particularly in the run game where the Warriors ran behind him for much of the night for a season high  249 yards.

A recap can be found here.

Finals week will run through the second week of December and then Blake will be back home for the holidays for 3 weeks. The shoulder that has been bothering him for most of the season will get attention in the off season, he will decide if its worth having surgery to correct it.
 



November 30th, 2012
The Star-Advertiser had this article on Blake in yesterday's edition.
Blake sat out Tuesday practice with some mild nausea but practiced yesterday. He will make his 12th consecutive start on Saturday. The team has been largely focusing on Senior Night, the last game for 13 Warriors who are graduating and finishing their eligibility.
Final exams will take place in the 2 weeks following this last game.

November 28th, 2012

Below are the highlights of the last game vs UNLV. Blake graded out as the highest OL again in this game.
The Warriors are preparing for their final game vs South Alabama, this will correspond with Senior Night and will be followed by a football program luau on the Sunday night.

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November 26th, 2012
The Warriors pulled a role reversal on the UNLV Rebels, winning 48-10.

A recap can be found here.

The Warriors wore their one off 'Wounded Warrior' uniforms for the game and dominated the game, UNLV looked to be the team without direction or play making ability. Blake made his 11th straight start and played the entire game, grading out as the top OL for the 4th time.

The team must prepare now for their final game for the season when they host South Alabama, a new FBS football program.


November 19th, 2012
Air Force were too strong to finish the game, winning 21-7 over Hawaii. The Warriors scored first and had their first lead over an FBS team all season, new starting Qb Jeremy Higgins leading the offense on an opening possession TD pass.
A game summary can be found here. 
Blake started his 10th straight game and played till the final whistle. The Warriors had a lot of trouble running the ball and ultimately switched back to original starter Sean Schroeder in the 2nd half.
The Warriors will play UNLV at home next week.

November 15th, 2012
The Hawaii v Air Force game will be live on ESPN in Australia at 1.30pm on saturday. This is the third game that Hawaii will appear in this year. The BYU game was shown earlier this season.

November 13th, 2012
Boise State were victorious 49-14 over the Warriors on Saturday; the Warriors are still winless in the MWC and 1-8 for the season.
The offense again struggled, Blake was not happy with his performance and the OL, TE's and RB's  were unable to protect starter Sen Schroeder or back up Jeremy Higgins very well giving up 5 sacks. Higgins however did come in and add some spark driving the ball for a TD in the fourth quarter.
It will be a short week for the Warriors, they will travel to Colorado to play Air Force on Friday night.
A recap of the game can be found here.


November 9th, 2012
The Warriors will play their first home game for a month when they take on Boise State. The Broncos are coming off a rare loss, to MWC opponents San Diego State.
The Warriors are pretty banged up on the injury front and on the win/loss record. Blake will be one of only 5 Warriors who will have started every game so far this year.
A full pregame report can be found here.

November 6th, 2012
It was not a good day out for the Warriors at Fresno State. The Warriors main rival of the last 12 years  defeated the Warriors 45-10. A full recap can be found here.
There wasn't much to be excited about for the Warriors as they were outclassed all over the field. Jeremy Higgins came on at Qb late in the game and scored the only TD for the game for the Warriors.
The OL had 2 more injuries to starters but Blake played the whole game again in his 8th straight start and graded out once again as the best OL despite having one false start and giving up a sack because of cadence problems.
Next week the Warriors are at home to the always very good Boise State Broncos.

October 30th, 2012
The Warriors were defeated on the road at Colorado State 27-42. The teams traded turnovers, the Rams did a better job of scoring off turnovers. The loss leaves the Warriors at the bottom of the Mountain West Conference.
They must regroup and head off again on Thursday to play at Fresno State, an old rival from the WAC.
Blake played another solid game in his 7th consecutive start.
The Norm Chow Inside Access show can be seen here.

October 21s, 2012
With the week off the Warriors have been resting up. Blake has a visit from family this week. The team is preparing for Colorado State on the road, they will leave on Thursday.
Blake had a season high 91.8 rating from the New Mexico game.

October 15th, 2012
The Warriors let a terrible start to the game, 21-0 down in the first half, put their homecoming game out of reach despite a rally in the second half.
Game report can be found here.
Blake played another solid, mistake-free game. The team enters a bye week at 1-5, very disappointing.  After the bye, the Warriors will travel to play Colorado State. The week off will certainly the team in terms of health and although Blake is doing okay, general soreness and a niggling shoulder injury will appreciate the rest.


October 8th, 2012
The Warriors were defeated 52-14 at Qualcom stadium in San Diego in front of 50,000 Aztec fans, there second straight MWC defeat.
A recap can be found here.
The offense showed flashes of improvement but still has a long way to go. Blake played reasonably well and was able to get through the game with his shoulder injury and still be effective despite the discomfort.
The Warriors have their Homecoming game next week against New Mexico, another MWC opponent. The week after will be a much needed bye week.


October  3rd, 2012
Blake is doing extra rehab work on his shoulder to be ready for the crucial San Diego State game on saturday. The team will leave the day before. The OL is pretty beat up at the moment, nearly every starter, and some back ups, have some sort of ailment. 3 have the same injury as Blake and 2 of those have elected to be operated on. Blake is practicing and playing through the pain.
After San Diego State, the Warriors play New Mexico at home followed by a bye week.

October 1st, 2012
Hawaii were soundly outplayed by BYU in Provo, Utah in a rare Friday night game.

A full recap can be found here.

Several UH players were assisted from the field during the game as the team looked every bit like a team trying to break in new schemes and coaches. Blake might need a few light days at practice to rest up a sore shoulder before the team goes on the road versus San Diego State, another MWC member.

The uncompetitive start to the season has of course mobilized the fan base into trying to diagnose the problem. Opinion varies on Qb choice, play calling, defensive scheme and just about every other variable. With 8 games to go, the schedule will get a little easier and that in itself might give the change on result that is sorely needed to re-energize things.


September 24th, 2012
There wasn't a lot to be happy about from the Warriors conference opener at home vs Nevada.,losing 69-24.
A recap can be found here.
It was much more so a defensive lapse in play that led to such a big blow out. Whilst the receivers dropped a few key passes the offense was balanced and Blake played quite well. The 2012 Warriors offense does not boast about being explosive against more even opponents so a high scoring shoot out was never wanted; the defense really had no answers for the Nevada offense's pistol attack.

The Warriors have to re-group for a Friday night game this week on the road at BYU. The game will air live in Australia on ESPN next Saturday from 10am.


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September 17th, 2012
The Warriors opened the home schedule with a 54-2 victory over Lamar.
A full report can be found here.
The Warriors dominated field position, Special teams were excellent, producing 2 touchdowns. The offense was balanced and run the ball particularly well. Blake and 1st team offensive line played through to the beginning of the fourth quarter and were very solid throughout the game.
The Warriors will now play their first conference game at home next week against Nevada.


September 12th, 2012
Sunday 3pm EST in Sydney the Warriors will play their home opener and second game of the 2012 season against FCS team the Lamar Cardinals. Lamar University is in Texas and it is the first meeting between the two Universities.
A report can be found here on the UH Athletics site.


September 3rd, 2012
The Warriors were defeated 49-10 in their opening game versus USC. The first half was extremely  trying, USC jumping out to a quick 20-0 lead, then looking comfortable through to half time.


 The offense picked things up and had 2 scoring drives in the 3rd quarter, Scott Harding having the only received TD of the game from Sean Schroeder.
A full recap can be seen here.
Blake looked to have a reasonably good game. He gave away one false start and looked to give away a sack on a stunt that he and team mate Chauncy Makainai did not handle properly. Blake's pass protection particularly to the outside was very good. The team has next week off before opening at home to Lamar.
 


August 30th, 2012
Blake will be one of 12 players starting their first game of their career versus USC.
The Warriors had a practice this morning very early and will depart for Los Angeles at lunchtime. They wil have a walk through at an LA high school tomorrow and then prepare for the game the next day. The forecast is for a high of 28 degrees celsius for the game.

August 27th, 2012
The opening game on the road at the University of Southern California is officially a sell-out.
Kapua Sai has won the starting Left Guard position and will play along side Blake. Sean Schroeder, a transfer from Duke has won the starting QB job. Scott Harding, the ex-AFL player from Brisbane has won the strong-side WR starting job.
The Warriors will depart later this week for Los Angeles.

August 20th, 2012
The Warriors have concluded their fall camp and school starts tomorrow. They play the USC Trojans in 13 days. The Trojans were just named #1 in the Associated Press Preseason Poll.
In an excerpt from today's Honolulu Advertiser detailing the starting teams for the Warriors exiting fall camp...

Offensive linemen

Left tackle Blake Muir, center Ben Clarke, right guard Dave Lefotu and right tackle Sean Shigematsu have won starting jobs. The battle is at left guard between Kapua Sai, who transferred from Utah, and Mike Milovale, a junior-college transfer. Chow is a believer in a seven-player rotation with a backup each at tackle and one of the inside spots. The Warriors will travel with 10 offensive linemen for the opener. Jordan Loeffler, who has been sidelined with a hand injury, is seeking a return to the rotation.

The next week will involve daily practices mixed with the beginning of Fall semester classes. Next week the team will probably depart for the mainland on thursday to prepare for the opening game at the Coliseum.

August 14th, 2012
The Warriors have started two-a-day practices at the Joint Naval/Air Force base. The dormitories are slightly better than what they have on campus which is nice and they are away from distractions.
The Warriors are still shuffling through combinations on the OL which is detailed here by OL coach Chris Wiesehan. Blake essentially just needs to stay injury free to maintain his starting spot at Left Tackle.
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August 8th, 2012
The Warriors have practiced every day this week and have 3 weeks till their game vs USC. Blake has practiced as the 1st Team Left Tackle. He took one day off this week with a slight hip flexor strain and then practiced as normal today.
Blake was elected to the team's Leadership Council as a Freshman.

August 3rd, 2012
The Warriors have started Fall practice.
From Stephen Tsai's blog 'The coaches insist the o-line is not set. But this has been a popular lineup: LT Blake Muir, LG Kapua Sai, C Ben Clarke, RG David Lefotu, RT Sean Shigematsu.' Kapua Sai is a transfer from Utah who is eligible to play straight away due to graduating there, Coach Chow was the offensive co-ordinator at Utah last year.
The Warriors are staying in the dorm rooms this year as opposed to the dance studios in part years. Its much better for the comfort of the players. After a week on campus the team will move to the Pearl Harbor-Hickam Joint Naval base for a week. The facilities there are closed to the public.

July 28th, 2012
Blake has finished his training block and will return to UH on Tuesday. The block has been very successful. Blake achieved every lifting goal with the exception of the 400lb split jerk from the rack.
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July 9th, 2012
This training block has been extremely successful. Blake is now @ 297lb and is accumulating PR's throughout his training. He is on track to achieve his goals of 145kg Snatch and 170kg C&J. His training from last week can be seen here.
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June 15th, 2012
Blake is nearing the end of his 4th week of his off season training block. His body weight is up to 291lb again and he tested his vertical leap on Monday and recorded 32".
By week 6 he will be in position to start breaking some of his PR's on his lifts and week 7 and 8 should see some excellent long term goals being achieved.

May 30th, 2012
Blake visited former UH Defensive Lineman and 3rd Round NFL draft pick Colin Scotts yesterday. They had not previously met. Colin has a beautiful place on Sydney Harbour that he has owned for 11 years , but after selling his bar a few years ago, now he runs a company that fits out private hospitals with electronic media equipment and applications. Pretty smart idea, most hospitals are still in the dark ages of just a television for patients whilst they recuperate.
Colin had some great advice for Blake. He talked about how he was playing a great position and that he wished he could have had at shot at OL as opposed the more brutal DL position. He said to Blake that he must be already working well to get the starting job already and carry a 3.89gpa, so his best advice was to keep doing what he's doing and he'll get what he's always gotten.
Blake is training 5 days a week, with 2 sessions a day on Wednesday and Saturday.


May 22nd, 2012
Blake has started his off season training, getting his first sessions in last week and this week being his first full slate of 5 lifting and 2 running workouts.
Some nice words in this preseason preview of the 2012 Warriors campaign about Blake.
Blake was rated the 10th most talented player on the team, even though he redshirted last year.
'6-5, 290-pound redshirt freshman Blake Muir, like WR Scott Harding, is an Australian native. He played club football for the Sutherland Seahawks and graduated from high school in 2008. Now he’s ready to go after learning on the fly last season in a redshirt season and should be fine at left tackle.'
and
'Watch Out For … all the redshirt freshmen. They’re coming in various shapes and sizes, but Muir, Dew and Clarke are all ready to build the foundation for the line for the next few years making the biggest advantage.'

May 9th, 2012.
Here is a film about the 2012 Warriors team and what they have done so far with the new coaching staff. Blake will be home to celebrate his birthday on the weekend and will start training for the Fall camp.

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May 3rd, 2012
The Warriors Football staff yesterday released the team depth chart for the conclusion of Spring Practice.
Offense
Left tackle — 1. Blake Muir. 2. Frank Loyd
Left guard — 1. Ben Dew. 2. Hunter Hallowed
Center — 1. Ben Clarke. 2. Kody Afusia.
Right guard — 1. David Lefotu. 2. Chauncy Winchester-Makainai.
Right tackle — 1. Jordan Loeffler. 2. Sean Shigematsu.
Tight end — 1. Craig Cofer. 2. Darius Bright.
X — 1. Billy Ray Stutzmann. 2. Trevor Davis. 3. Allen Sampson.
Z — 1. Scott Harding. 2. Chris Gant. 3. Justin Clapp.
F — 1. Justin Vele/Miah Ostrowski/Clark Evans.
QB — 1. David Graves/Jeremy Higgins. 3. Ikaika Woolsey
RB — 1. Joey Iosefa/Will Gregory. 3. John Lister. 4. Sterling Jackson.
Defense
DE — 1. Paipai Falemalu. 2. Marcus Malepeai.
DT — 1. Geordon Hanohano. 2. Haku Correa.
NT — 1. Moses Samia. 2. Siasau Matagiese.
DE — 1. Beau Yap. 2. Tavita Woodard.
WLB — 1. George Daily-Lyles. 2. Kamalani Alo.
MLB — 1. T.J. Taimatuia. 2. Brenden Daley.
SLB — 1. Art Laurel. 2. Darryl McBride.
CB — 1. John Hardy-Tuliau. 2. Kawika Ornellas.
SS — 1. Bubba Poueu-Luna. 2. Charles Clay.
FS — 1. Mike Sellers. 2. Leroy Lutu.
CB — 1. Mike Edwards. 2. Dee Maggitt.
Specialists
PK — Tyler Hadden.
P — Alex Dunnachie.
LS — Luke Ingram.
PR — 1. Scott Harding. 2. Samson Anguay.
KR — 1. Mike Edwards. 2. Chris Gant.


April 29th, 2012
The Warriors wrapped up their Spring practice with the Warrior Bowl on campus last night. Below is a clip of the evening.
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Another clip can be found here.

Blake has been the #1 Left Tackle since the beginning of Spring practice and he will enter Fall camp in that spot. Blake will be back home in 2 weeks once the semester finishes.


 With Sehawks Colts team QB Daniel Besz during the recent school holidays.

 
 


April 21st, 2012
The Warriors practiced today on Maui. There is 3 practices to go for the Spring which will finish with a scrimmage next Friday on campus from 7pm. Blake continues to be the #1 Left Tackle. Footage from practice is found here.



April 10th, 2012
Courtesy of David at Sportshawaii.com some pics of Blake at practice.





April 2nd, 2012.
Blake has flown back to UH and the next on field practice on the Spring will be on Tuesday.
Below are some pics of Blake training this past week with his brother Sean.

 
 
March 29th, 2012
In the first semester, since leaving home the first week of January, Blake has lost 16lb of body weight. That is in 12 weeks. The training volume has been significant and although Blake has just lost weight, other players have been broken down badly.
Blake is the #1 Team Left Tackle.
The new schemes for the offense require a significant change in technique. All OL positions now come out of a 3 point stance, as opposed to the 2-point stances for the offensive tackles in previous seasons. Run blocking has become a major focus of the offense and there promises to be a heavier run selection in this scheme for 2012.
Blake will be in town till Sunday.

March 21st, 2012
Spring practice starts today and will run for 3 straight days with afternoon practices before a week's break. Pictures and reports will follow in a few days.

March 15th, 2012
Testing week continues. Blake broke his unit record from last year for the agility shuttle when he had 4.37; his new record is 4.22, what would have been best at the recent NFL combine by 3 tenths.
His broad jump of 9 feet would have been good for the 3rd best at the combine.
Blake had 21 reps on the bench. Last year he had 18, still down from his PR of 23 reps.
Some of the team records are represented on the wall with a photograph, Blake now has two of them, the Clean and the Agility Shuttle.

March 12th, 2012
Testing has started for the Warriors. Blake had the best clean for the Offensive line unit, 156kg which is also a unit record for the Warriors. Disappointingly, its less than his PR set the week before he left for the Spring semester in January and only 6kg more than this time last year.
The nature of the training is such for Blake that he has lost over 10lb of body weight, this has made progress in getting stronger very difficult whilst there. In the 2011 Summer break where he was home for 10 weeks leading into the Fall Camp, he gained the weight he lost in the previous Spring and got much stronger and faster. Sadly, he is unable to make any general capacity progress whilst actually over there.


March 3rd, 2012
The 2012 schedule has been released.
Sept. 1 — At USC
Sept. 8 — Bye
Sept. 15 — Lamar
Sept. 22 — Nevada
Sept. 29 — At BYU
Oct. 6 — At San Diego State
Oct. 13 — New Mexico
Oct. 20 — Bye
Oct. 27 — At Colorado State
Nov. 3 — At Fresno State
Nov. 10 — Boise State
Nov. 17 — At Air Force
Nov. 24 — UNLV
Dec. 1 — South Alabama


February 24th, 2012
Spring practice for the Warriors will run as follows......
Tuesday March 20th, Wed 21st, Thurs 22nd all 4pm.
Then Spring Break.
Re-start Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays starting April 4th through to April 28th. April 21st will be in Maui.


February 8th, 2012
The Warriors are into Winter training.
The new Offensive Line coach has been announced as Chris Wiesehan, his coaching resume can be found here.
Coach Wiesehan has coached at Syracuse and most recently in the CFL. He has also been an offensive assistant at Tampa Bay in the NFL. Coach Wiesehan coached Tight Ends at Notre Dame and Purdue.
Spring practice will begin next month.

January 10th, 2012
Blake returns to UH today. The team will get to meet the new coaching staff this week, announcements will continue this week. Tony Tuioti, the defensive line coach is confirmed as returning in 2012. Coach Tuioti has been on recruiting trips to Australia in 2010 and 2011.
Below is a compilation of some of the training that Blake was able to do with his brother Sean over the last 3 weeks whilst at home. The time enabled him to get back to where he was at the end of his between semester training block at the beginning of August.
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January 4th, 2011
The University of Hawaii has announced Norm Chow has the new Head Coach for the Warriors football team. Coach Chow has a tremendous resume which includes coaching Heisman Trophy winners Ty Detmer, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush as well as Phillip Rivers.
It means that the coaching staff will have a significant shake up and at this time it appears that Coach Shaw will not return as the Warriors Offensive Line coach. No official announcement has been made regarding a replacement.
Blake has been home for 2 weeks and will head back to UH next week to start the Winter semester and meet the new staff. Coach Chow runs a significantly different style of offense to UH's previous Run and Shoot.
Last semester, Blake was one of only four football players who was invited to attend the 'Straight A's' dinner for athletic department members who keep their grades up in that range throughout the Fall semester. This will no doubt be impressive to the new staff.
While in Australia, Blake has also been able to get back into some serious lifting, not something that is as easy to get done at UH as you would think.
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December 17th, 2011
Some pics of Blake from UH's last game for 2011 vs BYU

 
 


December 14th, 2011
This week is finals week at UH. Blake has his last exam on thursday and will return home on saturday for 3 weeks.
The search for a new coach is continuing. UH's coaching committee has received 30 applications. A decision could be made between 1 and 3 weeks.

December 7th, 2011
Head Coach Greg McMackin today announced his retirement from football effective immediately. McMackin had one year remaining on his 5 year $5.5million contract, he will accept $600,000 in the final year to step down, this saves the Athletic Department $500,000.
The retirement of Coach McMackin ends a tough year for the Warriors in which they went 6-7 and missed a bowl game. During McMackin's 4 year tenure they reached the Hawaii Bowl twice, losing to Notre Dame in 2008 and Tulsa in 2010.
Assistant Head Coach Rich Miano will step in as the interim Head Coach whilst possible replacements are interviewed by a selection committee.
http://www.hawaiiathletics.com/news/2011/12/5/FB_1205110255.aspx

December 5th, 2011
The 2011 season has come to an end with e 41-20 loss to BYU at home. The Warriors will finish the year 6-7 and not be bowl eligible. The third quarter, which included 4 TD's by BYU, allowed BYU to overcome a 13-10 Warrior lead.
A full recap can be found here.
It means that Blake will be home earlier than expected. UH has final semester exams through to next week and Blake will likely return that weekend and be home for xmas and until the Spring semester starts the second week of January.

November 28th, 2011
The Warriors are still alive after a victory over Tulane. Full story from the Hawaii Athletics site here.
The team will play its last regular season game next week vs BYU, a huge traditional rival. If the team wins, it will qualify for the Hawaii Bowl.

November 25th, 2011
For Thanksgiving, Blake gets to spend time with his family who have flown over to watch the last two Warriors home games vs Tulane and BYU.

November 21st, 2011
The Warriors went down at home 24-21 against WAC rival Fresno State creating must-win situations in both the final two games against Tulane and BYU in order to become bowl eligible.
The game was the last ever WAC contest for the Warriors after 33 years. The program will move to the Mountain West Conference (MWC) in 2012. A full recap of the game can be found here.
For Blake, with his redshirt status set in stone, things have become a little less busy in terms of football. Nearly all of the meaningful reps have obviously been devoted to the starters and direct back-ups; those who may see the field, so practices, particularly later in the week, have settled down. There are 3 more weeks of school, and his family is heading over to watch the Tulane and BYU games. The only positive from the poor finish to the season might be getting home a little earlier than otherwise and spending Xmas at home, but its a hollow way to start a career in the program with no bowl game.
There has been a lot of pressure on the coaching staff and many fans and media pundits have been calling Head Coach Greg McMackin's status into question. The program needs a lot of support from its fan base right now and a little bit of luck would go a long way too.

November 8th, 2011
The Utah State Aggies were able to muster a 21-point second half comeback over the Hawaii Warriors; full recap from the Hawaii Athletics website can be found here.
The Warriors continue to sustain injuries at the offensive line position but both Coach MacMackin and Coach Shaw have been adamant that they will not be taking any more players off red-shirting this late in the season so that means they will play out the season with who they have.
This also likely means that Blake will not travel on the last travel squad of the season to Nevada this week in Reno. The Warriors need to win 2 more games out of the remaining 4 to be bowl eligible for the Hawaii Bowl on Xmas Eve.

November 3rd, 2011
The Warriors are now 5-3 after defeating Idaho at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho on the weekend. Next, the Utah State Aggies come to Aloha Stadium, the Warriors need 2 more wins to become bowl eligible for this season and will be favored going into this game, another WAC contest.
Blake will not take the last away game to Nevada next week as he is now being red-shirted under any circumstance now. With the quality of his grades he doesn't have to attend study hall which makes his time easier to manage.
Blake's family will be heading over to catch a game later this month.

October 24th, 2011
Homecoming Night for the Warriors as they defeated New Mexico State 45-34 at home.
Full game report from the official UH Athletics website can be found here.
Warriors travel to Idaho on Wednesday.

October 16th, 2011
San Jose State was able to find the go ahead touchdown pass with under a minute to play as the Warriors were defeated 28-27 at Spartan Stadium, San Jose.
4 first half turnovers and 2 blocked kicks were the difference as the Warriors dropped another road game, this time to a WAC opponent.
Highlights of the game can be found here.

October 13th, 2011
The Warriors fly out today for their Friday night game vs the San Jose State Spartans. The game will be shown live here in Australia on ESPN HD 12pm noon on saturday.

October 8th, 2011
The Warriors have the week off and prepare for a Friday night away game next week against San Jose State. This week has been a resting one for starters and the injured whilst backups have been worked vigorously. The team will fly out on Wednesday for the ESPN covered game, what will be the second WAC conference game in the Warriors championship defense.
Blake has had a chance to catch up on school work and get some lifting done.

October 3rd, 2011
A full report of the Warriors 44-26 road win over Louisiana Tech can be found here.
This was a key opening victory to the WAC Championship. Ruston is a long way from home for the Warriors and they now have a bye week before taking on San Jose State in another away game.
This week will be god week for players to get up to date with their classwork and get healthy, although the team pulled through the game relatively injury free.
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October 1st, 2011
Warriors had a walk through this morning and now jumped on a short chartered flight to Ruston for tomorrow's game. Below are a few pics of Blake in the pregame and on the sideline for the UC Davis game.
 

September 30th, 2011
This week the Warriors have flown out to Houston to prepare for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. The team will practice at the University of Houston's indoor practice facility. The team will then head to Ruston, Louisiana for the game which will kickoff 6pm which is 10am Sydney time Sunday morning.
The Bulldogs have a strong defensive line and have beaten UH 2 of the last 3 times that the Warriors have visited Ruston. This game represents the beginning of conference play for the Warriors and defense of their WAC title.

September 26th, 2011
The Warriors defeated the UC Davis Aggies 56-14. The Warriors were dominate against the FCS level Aggies and plenty of back ups for the Warriors got game time. The next game for the Warriors will be against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in Ruston, Louisiana. This is always a difficult road trip for the Warriors, they will leave on Wednesday evening for the game and fly to Houston. This is will be first game of the year against a fellow WAC opponent.

September 23rd, 2011
From Stephen Tsai's blog today
'ESPN Australia was at practice shooting a segment on returner/slotback Scott Harding and offensive lineman Blake Muir. Muir has received a lot of reps, but UH won't use him unless there's an emergency. They don't want to waste what could be a redshirt year.'

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September 20th, 2011
The Warriors were disappointing in a resounding loss to UNLV. Despite being 17 point favourites the Rebels were dominant whilst the Warriors looked flat going down 40-20.
The team has returned home and is preparing for FCS opponent UC Davis at Aloha Stadium this saturday. The Warriors will follow that with an away game @ Louisiana Tech and then a bye week.
For Blake it seems that he will indeed redshirt. Whilst there was no solid decision during Fall Camp of even now the decision to omit him despite some of the injuries that the unit has taken will likely mean that he will not see the field this year and instead break up the recruiting classes a little by delaying his first game till 2012.

September 15th, 2011
The Warriors are practicing at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas.
Blake took several reps on the first team. The UH coaches are still deciding what they are going to do in terms of activating Blake and not using this year as a redshirt year. Blake is now the direct 2nd Team Left Tackle.


September 12th, 2011
The Warriors went down to the Huskies 40-32 and are now 1-1 for 2011.
Washington came out in the first quarter and blasted the Warriors defense with 21 early points. To the Warriors credit they hit back and if not for some poor special teams play, 1 blocked field goal and a blocked PAT the game would have been even closer. An attempted onside kick inside the last minute rolled too short for a Warriors recovery and the Huskies kneed out the game.
The team flew to Las Vegas after the game and are staying just out of town in Summerlin. They play the University of Las Vegas Nevada (UNLV) Rebels next saturday. Right Tackle Sean Shigematsu went down in the 4th quarter with an injury that maybe serious enough to miss several games, he will return to Honolulu for examination but it means Blake as the 5th rotational tackle will either be the direct Left Tackle back up with Jordan Loeffler being moved across to Right Tackle or he will be the one to be moved across. Either way, the likelihood of him being redshirted is growing less and less due to injuries. The Warriors have already had Right Guard's Chauncey Makanai and David Lefotu miss practices ad game time due to knee injuries this year so far.
ESPN recap here.
A picture of the UH OL who are on the travel squad. Here they are at the Husky Stadium walk through.



September 10th, 2011
The Warriors have been staying at the Hyatt Regency and are ready for today's game vs the Washington Huskies in the first leg of a 2 game road trip.

September 8th, 2011
The Warriors have left today for Seattle. Blake has joined the team for the 5 hour direct flight after a 2 hour practice this morning.
This link is to this week's episode of the Coach Mack Show 


September 6th, 2011
The UH Warriors started their 2011 season with a 34-17 victory over the Colorado Buffalos at home.
QB Bryant Moniz had 3 rushing touchdowns as the Warriors unveiled a serious new run attack element to their offense whilst the defense had 7 second half sacks. Colorado with its new Head Coach was not able to break its 17 game away loss stretch and despite its membership of the PAC-12, and all the advantages that come with it, did not have the talent to get on top of the Warriors.
The Warriors now leave for a 2 game road trip to Washington and UNLV. The 66man travel roster departs on Wednesday and Blake will likely be on it as the 5th offensive tackle. Asked how he felt about his first game albeit suited up and watching from the sideline he said, "weird, after all the warm ups and everything that went on in the pregame all I wanted to do was run out there."
 
 The University of Washington represent the second straight PAC-12 opponent on UH's schedule. The game at Husky Stadium is 12.30pm Pacific Time which is 5.30am EST in Australia so an early start for us who are getting up to watch it.


September 2nd, 2011
The Colorado v Hawaii game will be shown on ESPN in Australia 3pm on Sunday. The footage will not be live but it is a rare opportunity to watch the Warriors on tv in Australia. The team has a final practice today then a walk through at the stadium tomorrow before the team stays the night at a local hotel together.


August 23rd, 2011
The Warriors have finished Fall Camp and school starts today. Blake has moved into a new apartment which is bigger than the dorm rooms from Spring semester.
The Warriors are 2 weeks away from game #1 vs Colorado at home and have been ranked #39 in the nation in the preseason USA Today poll.
No word yet on whether Blake will be red-shirting this season. It seems less and less likely due to the depth at the position for the 2011 season and Blake will be suiting up for the Colorado game and at this stage going on the travel squad for away games, a tremendous and rare situation for a True Freshman.


August 16th, 2011
Here is some film to go with the pics of practice from the boys at sportshawaii.com. You will see Blake in a few clips at the end of the film in the team period.
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August 14th, 2011
The Warriors had their traditional 'Pool Day' yesterday, this is where the football team takes over the UH pool complex and the rookies are encouraged to jump from the 10m platform. Blake of course finds the water a second home so he had no issues with it. Below are some pictures of practice from Thursday, thanks to the boys at sportshawaii.com for going to the trouble.
 

August 13th, 2011
Offensive Line coach Gordon Shaw gives Blake a nice shout out in this summary of the offensive line position for UH in 2011.
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This link also takes you to the Hawaii Athletics website with accompanying article.

August 11th, 2011
A short clip of yesterday's practice. You will see Blake in a few shots. Today is the first day of two-a-days for the Warriors. Today's practices are 8.30am to 10.40am then 3.30pm to 5.05pm.
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August 10th, 2011
Photos of today's practice courtesy of Stephen Tsai's blog

 

August 6th, 2011
Fall practice has started for the Warriors with the first 3 practices already being run and the players can now get into full equipment and start contact from Monday. Blake reports that he is happy with his performances in the first 3 practices and only some sore feet from a very long practice on the harder hotter turf practice field has been any annoyance.
An observation from one of the fans in attendance from today's practice.....
'*Tried to check up on the freshmen and the Oline. Ben Dew and Blake Muir looked to be future stars. Muir is big ,tall, long armed and no belly. You can tell the dude is a worker with being 290-300lbs and have no pot belly. Dew is solidly built and looked strong as an ox. What I found amazing and troubling to some degree is the freshmen were in better condition than some of the upper classmen. During running drills, Blake and Ben were finishing consistently near the front during conditioning drills while our starting tackle (Clayton Laurel) and one potential starting tackel(Jordan Loeffel) dragging up the back of the pack.'

July 26th, 2011
Blake will return to Hawaii on Sunday after a very successful off season training block.
As can be seen in this training film, Blake was able to add 17lb of body weight and gained all of the strength that he lost during the Spring semester plus reach several of his training goals such as his first 300lb snatch. His time spent training with Adrian was an excellent opportunity to take advantage of.
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July 4th, 2011
Outdoor practice on saturday with Adrian.

Lifting today, should be several PB's in lifting this week. Also weighed in last week heaviest ever, 133kg which is 292lb.


June 20th, 2011
Blocking practice with Adrian


May 27th, 2011
To round out just how successful Blake's first semester was at UH his gpa for the semester was a perfect 4.0.
Here's a pic of Blake and Adrian getting ready for a running/agility/skills session together.



May 24th, 2011
Blake has begun his lifting at the gym and will also be doing a lot of technical football skill work with Adrian Thomas whilst he is here in town. Blake has some ambitious goals for the summer break. A 170kg clean, a 250kg back squat and a 140kg snatch are all in his sights, some solid numbers that would break a few records at UH.
Blake is just taking one online class for the summer and plans to be able to arrive back on campus around 290lb+ and ready to compete for game time as a true freshman.


May 10th, 2011
Blake will return to Sydney on Thursday. He'll have a few days off and will then begin his 'Summer' lifting and conditioning here in Sydney at Shire Speed and Strength. It will be an 11 week training block, plenty of time to set some new PB's in speed and strength.

April 20th, 2011
Spring practice has ended. The players will have individual meetings with their positional coaches this week and walk on players will be told if they will be invited back for Fall camp or not. More new recruits will arrive in August for Fall camp and room has to be made.
Blake has 2 exams and one assignment due for finals week coming up in May and then will return home for the weekend of 15th May.
The photo below is of the practice at Hilo courtesy of Sportshawaii.com



April 17th, 2011
Highlights of the Warrior Bowl and a report can be found at http://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2011/4/16/FB_0416115115.aspx
Blake played 2nd team Left Tackle and also stepped in on the 4th team at Right Tackle. He is not on the field goal unit.

April 15th, 2011
Tomorrow is the Warrior Bowl. A full game scenario practice session of offense vs defense that will be held on campus at T.C. Ching Field 7pm Friday night. Blake continued to share reps on the 2nd team. The way that the Spring practices have been spread out allows for each practice to be broken down on film at a unit meeting either that afternoon from a morning practice or the next day on an evening practice.
There will be one more practice after Friday, a practice on Monday that was moved from a few weeks ago when the Tsunami warning canceled a practice. Monday's practice will focus on special teams. After that, the Spring semester will continue through to the second week of May when Blake will return home for the summer break.


April 12th, 2011
In addition to yesterday's footage here are links to Blake appearing in reps, at the post scrimmage address by the Mayor of Hilo and at the autograph signing.
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April 11th, 2011
You can watch highlights of practice on this link http://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2011/4/9/FB_0409114142.aspx
You can see Blake in the first 4 team reps at Left Tackle from 0:59 of the clip and in the beginning of the clip wearing his #66 jersey.

April 8th, 2011
This pic is from Monday's practice. This is Blake with his room mate and fellow true freshman offensive lineman Ben Dew. Blake traded 2nd team reps yesterday with Jordan Loeffler who has been coping with a knee injury.
Next practice for the Warriors is at Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii which is 350km away. The Warriors will fly there on saturday morning and practice will be from 11am. This annual travel to the other Hawaiian island by the Warriors team is seen as a big community builder for the state and has included Kauai and Maui the last two years.




April 1st, 2011
Blake can be seen wearing #66 jersey at the end of this clip.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vfZaIE9fY0&feature=player_embedded
As the story states, practice will resume after the UH Pro Day today on saturday. Blake will be practicing on the 2nd Team at Left Tackle for the saturday practice due to an injury to the regular 2nd teamer.

March 25th, 2011
Blake has been able to fly home for a week during Spring Break. He returns to Hawaii on saturday March 26th and the next spring practice for Hawaii is on Monday afternoon. He'll be watching his brother Sean at tonight's game between the Seahawks and UTS Spartans.

March 14th, 2011
The earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan led to coastal warnings for Hawaii which canceled practice scheduled for friday, however saturday's practice went ahead as planned.
Monday's practice will be the first in full pads and the missed practice has been tacked onto the end of the Spring football period and will be Monday April 18th after the Warrior Bowl on the big island.

March 10th, 2011
Spring Practice started today. Blake was assigned jersey number #66, Adrian's old number. Not sure if it was deliberate or not but it is what it is.

March 4th, 2011
Testing week continued.
Blake is down to 123kg from 128kg. The meal allowances are not able to keep up with the calorie needs and managing eating times, especially lunch, around class time, study time and workout times is proving to be quite a skill.
Blake had the highest conventional vertical leap at 35 inches of the linemen but his squat 1RM was way down on his PB only 210kg (PB is 235kg) and he only had 18 reps on the 225lb bench (PB is 23). All in all very good results but losing weight is a big part of the reason for the loss of strength.
Tomorrow there is a player organized on field practice that prepares for next week's official start to Spring Practice.

March 3rd, 2011
This week is testing week for the Warriors. Spring practice start next week.
Blake has done very well in testing. Amongst the offensive linemen he had the best 10yard and 20 yard time and also the best vertical leap 35" which was one of the best on the team let alone of all the offensive and defensive linemen.
Unfortunately since arriving on campus with the different style of workouts his strength has suffered. His bench was 13kg less than his previous 1 rep max and his clean was also 5kg below his best which is a shame that in 9 weeks he has actually gotten weaker and less powerful not stronger. The clean was still good enough for 2nd best on the team; something that a freshman HAS NEVER DONE BEFORE!
Wednesday is a rest day and Thursday they test 225lb bench for max reps and 1 rep max back squat. We shall see how his numbers stack up there but they also will likely be down. In better news he topped his class in his anthropology exam.

February 21st, 2011
The Warriors football team announced ex-Hawaii Head Coach Dick Tomey as the new Special Teams Coordinator for the 2011 season. Coach Tomey was Head Coach between 1977 to 1986 and compiled a 63-46-3 record. He is a Circle of Honor inductee and also coached at the University of Arizona and the San Francisco 49ers.
Coach Tomey was nice enough to come up to Blake and introduce himself in the UH Weight Room last week. Coach Tomey was the Head Coach who recruited the first Australian to play at UH, Colin Scotts. He talked to Blake a little about it, an interesting piece of history.


February 17th, 2011
Courtesy of Steven Tsai's blog.......
Here's the schedule (with practices at 7 a.m unless otherwise noted):
March
7  (Monday) — Team meeting.
9  (Wednesday) — Practice No. 1 (sweats).
11 (Friday) — Practice No. 2 (sweats).
12  (Saturday) — Practice No. 3 (pads), 4:30-6:30 p.m.; Coaches Clinic/Social, 6:30 p.m.
14 (Monday) — Practice No. 4 (pads).
16 (Wednesday) — Practice No. 5 (pads).
18 (Friday) — Practice No. 6 (pads).
21-25 — Spring break.
28 (Monday) — Practice No. 7 (pads).
30 (Wednesday) — Practice No. 8 (pads).
31 (Thursday) — Pro Day at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
April
2 (Saturday) — Practice No. 9 (pads), 1:30 p.m.; Junior Day.
4 (Monday) — Practice No. 10 (pads).
6 (Wednesday) — Practice No. 11 (sweats).
9 (Saturday) — Practice No. 12 (pads) in Hilo.
11 (Monday) — Practice No. 13 (pads).
13 (Wednesday) — Practice No. 14 (pads).
15 (Friday) — Warrior Bowl, 7 p.m. at Ching Athletic Complex.


February 9th, 2011
Spring practice will begin for the Warriors on March 9th and their Spring game will be held on the Big Island. Rotating the game around the islands is becoming a tradition. The last two years the game has been at Kauai and Maui. Here is a pic from Steven Tsai's blog of the Star-Advertiser from the UH linemen running hills this morning.


January 23rd, 2011
Blake's family has returned to Australia and left Blake to continue with the Spring semester.

January 19th, 2011
Blake has started team training sessions at UH's weight room. They are significantly different to what he is used to.  A lot more volume and slower lifting.


January 14th, 2011
Team meeting yesterday about workouts. They will begin as team organized training blocks starting next week. Blake was able to lift at the gym for the first time yesterday as well. UH's gym has several assistants and for this week until the team organized sessions begin there is some autonomy for the players to do as they like, Monday that will change.

January 9th, 2011
The running around continues. Lots of little jobs for Blake to do. His room mate is going to be fellow Freshman OL Ben Dew who is from New Zealand but actually lived in Florida and Hawaii. He is in the same situation as Blake, not going on scholarship till June but getting in early for the Spring semester. Classes start tomorrow, Blake has a fairly easy slate for the first semester, a nice way to settle in.

January 8th, 2011
Blake and his family has been going through the first few days of setting up what will be a long stay at a new home. Registering for classes and meeting the academic advisor. Seeing the medical staff for vaccination checks (something all international students have to do). Picking up Student ID, meal card, buying a computer, sorting out housing in the dorm rooms, the first few days were always bound to be hectic and loaded with bureaucracy.
Coach Shaw (offensive line coach) is on the mainland recruiting at the moment but will be back soon. In the mean time Blake will settle in and get ready for classes starting next week and to start lifting in UH's gym with S & C Coach Heffernan.

January 5th, 2011
Almost 5 years to the day that the first Sutherland Seahawk college player departed for Hawaii, Adrian Thomas, the club's second player to join the University of Hawaii program, Blake Muir left yesterday.
Blake too will play for the Warriors as an offensive linemen and projects as a tackle in Hawaii's Run and Shoot offense that was #2 in the nation last year in total offense with Adrian Thomas at Right Guard.
In many ways Adrian's accomplishments have paved the way for Blake and with that Blake has prepared to excel beyond Adrian's trailblazing. This diary will attempt to keep the curious up to date on how Blake settles in, trains and copes with the college football experience.
 


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