Hawaii vs. San Diego State: Keys For A Warriors Win
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Path to Victory for the Warriors
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The Bye week could not have come at a better time for the Hawaii Warriors than this past week. After a disappointing performance in the conference opening loss to 9th Island rival UNLV, the Warriors needed this week to make some much needed adjustments and regroup before hitting the rest of the conference season.
Getting physically dominated on both sides of the ball by the 8th ranked Oregon Ducks is one thing, but when you give up 6 sacks (15 QB hits), 307 yards and three touchdowns on the ground to the Runnin Rebels, it can feel like the sky is falling. A positive take away from that performance? It is clear what the Warriors need to work on and it sounds like they addressed it during the bye week.
WEEK 7: San Diego State Aztecs (2-4, 0-2 Mountain West) at Hawaii Warriors (2-4, 0-1 MW)
WHEN: Saturday, October 13 — 5 P.M. HT/11 p.m. ET
WHERE: Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex; Honolulu, Hawaii
WEATHER: High of 86,
TV: CBS Sports Network
STREAMING: Fans can sign up to receive a free one-week trial of Fubo, which includes CBS Sports Network, by following this link.
RADIO: Hawaii ESPN 1420 | San Diego Sports 760
SERIES RECORD: San Diego State leads 24-11-2
ODDS: San Diego State -5.5
SP+ PROJECTION: San Diego State by 3.8
FEI PROJECTION: San Diego State by 10
Schager is running out of time…
No, I am not calling for his job.. He literally is running out of time. Between dodging incoming defenders and hearing the fans calling for his replacement, Schager has been sacked 25 times and hit at least double, if not triple that amount. He is playing behind an inexperienced offensive line in a new system and playing for an inexperienced play caller (keep in mind Timmy Chang has not even called plays for an entire season at the FBS level yet). He’s shown flashes but its the lulls between the lightning that hurts. It’s frustrating to see him One thing that I appreciate is that he has not passed the blame off to others when that would be the easy thing to do. He’s been honest in evaluating his own play and understands that he needs to get rid of the ball quicker. Now understanding and executing are two different things but the rest of the offense needs to step up to help him out.
This starts with playcalling. Let’s be honest. The run game has been horrendous this year. Running the ball on first down and either losing yards or gaining less than 3 yards is killing drives before they even get started. Yes, you want to strive for offensive balance, but when it is consistently putting you behind the sticks with one less down to work with, at what point are you just forcing it? Consistently putting Schager and the offense into 2nd and 3rd and long obvious passing situations is making it easy for the defense to pin their ears back and get after him.
I’m not saying to completely abandon the run game, but rather pick and choose your spots better. If they can’t get the run game going, quick passes, screens, draw plays and the fan favorite shovel pass are all things that can help to slow down an opposing pass rush and are plays that I think should be utilized more often.
Next is the offensive line. This seems like the obvious answer and it is the easiest unit to blame for protection problems, but it is more complicated than that and I think they are catching more heat then they should. That being said, giving up a quick sack (less than 3 seconds of protection) on a four man pressure is pathetic. Including the running back, it is six on four. You cannot lose that match up. They need to take pride in the fact that Schager should have all day to throw and pick apart the defense if they choose to rush four and drop seven into coverage. That hasn’t been happening and that is a huge problem. I can understand giving up a sack on third and long in obvious passing situations, but if you look at good offensive line units, that is when they play their best.
When the whole stadium knows they are passing, and the defense is scheming up their best exotic pressure, the good offensive lines dig deep and give their quarterback just enough time to find the matchup he needs to exploit. That is something to build towards, but for now let’s take the first step in the right direction and stop giving up four man pressures.
The receivers have brought excitement to the offense. Steven Mcbride has caught numerous Schager bombs, Pofele Ashlock and Alex Perry have shown us glimpses of what could be a bright future with breakout performances and we rarely ever blame this group unless there are obvious drops, but I think the receivers can help with protection problems as well. They need to have a sense of urgency in getting open.
"Everything is still right in front of us."
Hear from @maanuma6 and more of our guys ahead of our matchup with San Diego State. #BRADDAHHOOD #GoBows
🎥 https://t.co/QnR1h8ymQA pic.twitter.com/KTZDQ8y0Ys
— Hawaii Football (@HawaiiFootball) October 11, 2023
The clock in their head needs to tick a couple of ticks faster because of the problems the offense has been facing up front in protection. I’ve noticed at times when the rush is closing in on Schager, he has nowhere to go with the ball because the receivers are still in the middle of their routes and sometimes aren’t even looking at him or even close to coming out of their breaks yet. Get off the ball, get into your route and get open fast. Everyone plays a role in improving this offense. The receivers have shown flashes up to this point this season, but they need to do even more to help Schager get the offense moving, especially against a San Diego State team that is always known for their defense.
Wrap up and Tackle!
Missed tackles have plagued this team all season, nay, missed tackles have plagued this program for all of time. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Uncles in the stands happy with the way the University of Hawaii football team tackles. It’s always the number one complaint about the defense. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard, “All these guys wanna do is go for the big hit but nobody wants to wrap up and tackle” I’d be a booster and Hawaii would be headed to the Power 4. That being said, please, wrap up guys!
The game on the defensive side is simple. If the Warriors can tackle and not blow any assignments, they have a chance to make this a game. If they don’t tackle, this will be a blowout just like UNLV. The Aztecs don’t run a flashy offense. In fact, I’d say the UNLV scheme is much more problematic. Their quarterback, Jalen Mayden used to be a Safety. He is currently the team’s leading passer and rusher. It doesn’t matter how much the Aztecs have struggled on offense or how vanilla their scheme is if the Bows don’t rally to the ball and tackle.
If the Warriors defense can hold the Aztecs to 150 yards or less on the ground and force Mayden to attempt over 25 passes, they will give their offense a chance to win it.
Offensively the Warriors need to avoid the negative plays by protecting Schager especially in four and five man pressures and the receivers having a sense of urgency to get open right away.
This is a big week for the Warriors and this coaching staff. Were they able to go back to the fundamentals and fix the mistakes that have been hurting the team all year during the bye week? How will the players respond? We will get our answer on Saturday night. As always, Go Bows!
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