Tag: Brayden Schager

5 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors the Ducks need to know for Saturday’s game

These 5 Hawaii players will have to be accounted for in order for the Ducks to go 3-0 on the young season.

By any measure, Hawaii has had a tough beginning to the 2023 season with losses to Vanderbilt and Stanford, but it’s not because they refuse to throw the ball.

Quite the opposite.

Hawaii likes to throw the ball and then throw it some more. Head coach Timmy Chang was a prolific passer when he played for Hawaii and his offense reflects it. The Rainbow Warriors are going to test the Oregon secondary and it should provide good experience for some of the later Pac-12 games the Ducks are going to have to play in.

Hawaii’s defense isn’t quite up to par as they should have a difficult time stopping Bo Nix and the rest of the Oregon offense. But they do have a pair of linebackers the Ducks are going to have to account for.

Here are the five Hawaii players to look out for during Saturday’s game at Autzen.

Hawaii’s offensive attack will put Oregon’s secondary to the test in Week 3

Hawaii is going to pass the ball early and often. Oregon’s secondary is going to need to be up to the task on Saturday.

Hawaii will enter Autzen Stadium Saturday night as five-touchdown underdogs against the No. 13 Oregon Ducks. If the Rainbow Warriors do lose by 35, it likely won’t be because they failed to put points on the scoreboard.

Head coach Timmy Chang, once a Heisman candidate when he played for Hawaii, installed an offense where options 1 through 3 are to throw the ball; option 4 might be to throw the ball deep.

Fortunately for Hawaii, they have a quarterback seemingly up to the task in Brayden Schager. The junior from Dallas, Texas is your prototypical pro-style quarterback at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds. He is averaging 325 yards through the air and has 10 touchdowns. But Schager has been known for throwing a few interceptions. He has five so far in just three games.

“Their quarterback has probably the strongest arm as far as getting the ball down the field that we’ve seen so far this year and they connect on deep shots,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “I know that (they’re) looking for more balance, but they create explosive plays with those throws down the field and they have some guys that can really stretch the field.”

One of those guys looking to stretch the field is receiver Pofele Ashlock. The 6-foot-2, 175-pounder from Euless, Texas is having a nice beginning to his career after redshirting last season. Ashlock is averaging 105 yards receiving and has three touchdowns. His best game came against Stanford where he caught eight passes for 114 yards and two scores.

The other main target for Schager is Steven McBride, a senior who is a transfer from Kansas. He has already surpassed his stats in Hawaii in his three years as a Jayhawk. McBride leads the team with five touchdowns.

Hawaii’s offensive line won’t be the biggest Oregon will see this season, but they do have 6-foot-8, 310-pound Luke Felix-Fualalo, who transferred in from Utah. He played in 12 games for the Utes, mostly as a reserve lineman and on special teams.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]