Tag: Hawaii Fooball

Nevada Football: Wolf Pack Lose To Hawaii 27-14

Nevada Football: Wolf Pack Lose To Hawaii 27-14 Turnovers and poor offensive play doomed Nevada on Saturday as Hawaii ends the Wolf Pack’s two game winning streak Contact/Follow @BrandonGBlake & @MWCwire Nevada’s Winning Streak Ends At Two; Wolf …

Nevada Football: Wolf Pack Lose To Hawaii 27-14

Turnovers and poor offensive play doomed Nevada on Saturday as Hawaii ends the Wolf Pack’s two game winning streak

Contact/Follow @BrandonGBlake & @MWCwire

Nevada’s Winning Streak Ends At Two; Wolf Pack Fall to Hawaii 34-24

Well that winning streak was fun while it lasted, Nevada.

 

The Wolf Pack’s two game winning streak crashed in embarrassing fashion on Saturday. Nevada fell 27-14 to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. The same Rainbow Warriors team that lost four straight in ugly fashion before defeating Nevada in Reno.

Nevada let a struggling Hawaii program go into their stadium and push them around. The Rainbow Warrior offense that struggled to run the ball, ran the ball well to the total of 139 yards. The Hawaii pass offense had its way with Nevada’s secondary, especially Pofele Ashlock who caught nine passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Schager had a good game as he completed 21 of 38 passes for 203 yards  and two touchdowns. Most importantly, Schager did not throw an interception against Nevada.

The Wolf Pack offense well…the less said about that unit the better. They did play slightly better in the second half when AJ Bianco (5 for 14 passing 76 yards , one INT) was under center at QB but it was not enough.  Then there were Nevada’s turnovers and poor offensive line play. Nevada did a great job in not turning the ball over in the last two games but against Hawaii, Nevada turned the ball over twice which severely hurt the Nevada offense and kept them from winning the game.

Also, Nevada’s offensive line (I refuse to call them The Union until they start being good again)  failed to protect QBs Brendon Lewis and AJ Bianco. Hawaii’s defense sacked the Wolf Pack QBs a combined six times and the Hawaii defense had 10 tackles for loss. To say that Nevada’s offensive line once again looked poor and pathetic is not even scratching the surface.

And after a poor and dreadful effort against Hawaii, the Wolf Pack are 2-7 and got nothing much to play for in this 2023 season except to maybe save Ken Wilson’s job but…LOL.

After a scoreless first quarter, Things picked up in the second quarter when Nevada QB Brendon Lewis (1 for 8, 36 yards five carries 11 yards) fumbled the ball and Hawaii’s Elijah Palmer recovered the ball. Hawaii’s offense took six plays to get on the scoreboard when PK Matthew Shipley connected on a 50 yard field goal to make the score 3-0 Hawaii.

Towards the end of the first half, Hawaii went on an eight play, 57 yard scoring drive that ended when QB Dalen Morris scored on a one yard touchdown run. The PAT made it 10-0 Hawaii and Hawaii was not done scoring to end the first half. After another Nevada punt, Hawaii went on an 11 play, 65 yard scoring drive which concluded when Brayden Schager connected with Pofele Ashlock on a 26 yard touchdown pass to put Hawaii up 17-0 at the end of the half. 

Before the end of the first half, Nevada switched QBs as AJ Bianco came in for Brendon Lewis. Bianco finished the remainder of the first half and started the entire second half. With Bianco, the Wolf Pack offense did have some life left in it. On their second offensive possession Nevada scored on a two yard Sean Dollars touchdown run to cut Hawaii’s lead to 17-7.

But then the mistakes on offense reared its ugly head for Nevada. On the Wolf Pack’s next possession Bianco’s pass was intercepted by Hawaii’s Peter Manima. Hawaii’s offense took advantage of that turnover as they took only two plays to score a touchdown. Schager connected with Ashlock for the second time on a five yard touchdown pass to extend Hawaii’s lead to 24-7.

But Nevada still had a little bit of fight left in them. The Wolf Pack punted the ball to Hawaii only for Hawaii’s Steven McBride to fumble the ball and Nevada’s Aedan Seiuli recovered the ball. Nevada did take advantage of that turnover when Sean Dollars scored on a seven yard touchdown run to cut the Hawaii lead to 24-14. 

On Hawaii’s next possession on offense, the Rainbow Warriors moved the ball well and got the ball into Nevada territory. Hawaii’s offense did stall at the Nevada 33 yard line and they had to settle for a field goal. Matthew Shipley’s second 50 yard field goal attempt of the game was good and Hawaii extended the lead to 27-14.

Nevada’s offense in the fourth quarter had two chances to cut into the lead but they turned the ball over on downs both times. The first one was when Nevada drove the ball on a 12 play, 66 yard drive that took over five minutes of game clock. Despite that long drive, Bianco could not connect with Jamaal Bell on fourth down and Hawaii forced the turnover on downs. 

Nevada’s last offense series of the game was another turnover on downs. The Wolf Pack offense got the ball in Hawaii territory but could not convert on a fourth down to extend the drive. 

And that was the end of the game and Nevada’s two game winning streak. 

Nevada had a chance to extend their winning streak against a Hawaii team that had been outscored 162-75 during their four game losing streak. But Nevada’s offense sputtered and turned the ball over and the defense could not stop Hawaii’s passing offense. 

Now the Wolf Pack are 2-7 and facing a tough three game stretch to close out the season. More than likely, Nevada will be an underdog in all of their final three games and if they lose all three, what will be the future of Ken Wilson in Reno? 

Can Coach Wilson and Nevada bounce back next week and finish the season strong? I have my doubts but we will see next week. 

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Identifying Hawaii’s Week 0 Quarterback

Identifying who will be Hawaii’s starter Week 0 vs. Vanderbilt

First-year head coach Timmy Chang has a big decision looming

The Rainbow Warriors open the season vs. Vanderbilt on August 27

Contact/Follow @AddisonDehaven3 & @MWCwire

Question mark at quarterback

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Last winter, the University of Hawaii football program experienced a mass exodus. Following allegations of former head coach Todd Graham’s verbal abuse and subsequent resignation, nearly 20 student-athletes from Hawaii’s program transferred off the island. Among them: Chevan Cordeiro, Hawaii’s 2021 starting quarterback, who left for San Jose State.

Hawaii’s fall camp opened on July 27, here’s what head coach Timmy Chang had to say about the ongoing quarterback situation:

“As far as quarterback and even the other positions, we recruited all the way until July and so getting these guys in and letting them be able to compete as far as quarterback and some of these other positions—we are not set in stone until we watch these guys compete for about two weeks and we’ll flip into our Vanderbilt game plan,” Chang said to KHON2. “But they got to go out there and compete. There’s six on the roster and all of them can throw. They all do things a little bit different but at the end of the day it’s the guy that distributes the ball and makes the best decisions. That’s the guy that’s going to get the nod.”

With Chang at the helm and Ian Shoemaker, former offensive coordinator at Eastern Washington, guiding the offense, the Rainbow Warriors are expected to return to their “run ‘n’ shoot” style offensive roots which means that solid quarterback play will be at a premium if Hawaii wants to exceed their preseason projections in the West Division. Here’s a rundown of Chang’s options to replace Corderio under center:

The returning guy

Brayden Schager —The Texas native is the only guy on the roster who has played a down at quarterback for Hawaii. The second-year Schager was primarily Corderio’s backup most of last year but did see action in six games, including three starts. Schager’s most memorable moment from 2021 has to be when he lead Hawaii to a fourth quarter comeback over nationally-ranked Fresno State. He finished the season with a 2-1 record as a starter, throwing for 615 yards and two touchdowns while completing 60.1% of his passes.

At Mountain West Media Day, Schager was the first name out of Chang’s mouth when asked about who will fill Corderio’s shoes. While Chang has repeatedly said that the fall camp will see an open quarterback competition, Schager surely has to have somewhat of an edge on the others considering his experience from the previous season.

The transfers

Joey Yellen —The two-time transfer Yellen has sat behind two solid college football quarterbacks at his previous two stops, Arizona State and Pittsburgh. At Arizona St., Yellen backed-up Jayden Daniels, currently the projected starter at Louisiana State University. During his one start in 2019, Yellen threw for four touchdowns and 292 yards in a loss to the University of Southern California. The former four star recruit then transferred to Pitt where he sat behind Kenny Pickett, the first-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers this year.

At Pitt, Yellen played in four games—all in 2020—where he threw for 402 yards, one touchdown and three picks while completing 45% of his passes.

The California native committed to Hawaii this spring—after Chang had been hired—which means that Chang likely had a hand in getting Yellen to the island. Of the quarterbacks on the roster, Yellen may be the biggest unknown, having not played significant time since the COVID riddled 2020 season. Still, considering Chang had a hand in bringing him to Hawaii, there must be some potential that Yellen could land the starting job come late August.

Cammon Cooper — The Washington State transfer came into the program at an interesting time. He committed in January, after many student-athletes had already hopped in the transfer portal but before Graham had resigned later that month. In a Jan. interview with WarriorSportsNetwork.com, Cooper explained that Graham played a significant role in bringing him to the island.

“I know there’s guys obviously still on the team that have played before too,” Cooper told WarriorSportsNetwork.com. “But with Chevan leaving, there wasn’t really a better place in the country with an opportunity to compete like there is at Hawaii right now.”

The former four star recruit never saw much significant time at Washington St., spending much of his time there in a backup role. Still, the Utah native has plenty of arm talent and could fit nicely in Chang’s expected run ‘n’ shoot offense.

“I think being able to go through my reads and progressions like a pro-style quarterback is really good. I obviously went to Wazzu wanting to be in an air raid and I know Hawaii throws the ball around a bunch,” Cooper said to WarriorSportsNetwork. “The last two years I’ve been running the ball a lot more. I can make a play if I need to and extend plays with my legs which I think will help out the offense.”

Cooper enrolled at Hawaii last spring and went through spring ball with Chang and the rest of the Rainbow Warriors. He should be firmly in the mix for the starting role.

The wildcards

Hawaii has three other quarterbacks listed on the roster, all of whom are relative unknowns.

Jake Farrell — The listed sophomore from Scottsdale, Arizona has good size at 6-5/220 and has been with the program for two full seasons. Farrell spent 2021 season as a scout team member.

Connor Apo — This native Hawaiian went to the same high school as Chang—Saint Louis School—and is entering his second year in the program, having spent the last season as a member of the scout team. At Saint Louis, Apo backed up Corderio and Washington St.’s Jayden de Laura.

Armani Edden — Another scout team member from 2021, Edden transferred from College of the Canyons and Antelope Valley College. Now a senior, he has been with the team since 2020 but has not appeared in any games.

Prediction — Judging by Chang’s comments, the quarterback competition is fairly open but a decision on the starter will be made after the first two weeks of camp. Considering the available options, I would venture a guess that Chang will likely turn to Schager to open the season but I wouldn’t be surprised if Cooper made a serious to push to start after he becomes more comfortable with the offense.

 


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Timmy Chang’s First Mountain West Media Day

New University of Hawaii head football coach touched on a litany of topics at Mountain West Media Day.

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Timmy Chang‘s first Mountain West Media Day

The new University of Hawaii head football coach touched on a number of topics at media day

Contact/Follow @AddisonDeHaven3 & @MWCwire

Chang ready to get the season rolling

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“Now it’s go time.”

Words from Timmy Chang’s first Mountain West Media Day signal one thing: the 2022 college football season is nearly here. The newly hired University of Hawaii head football coach answered a litany of questions about his program including the new Aloha Stadium, recruiting challenges and his own growth. Here’s what Chang had to say:

Chang on being Hawaii’s head coach

“It’s unbelievable. You know, never thought I would be here sitting in this position. As an 18-year-old, I made the decision to stay home and play and represent the state of Hawaii and 22 years later, I’m here as the head coach. It’s a surreal moment for me but very thankful, very grateful.”

Chang on Hawaii being picked sixth in the West Division

“Yeah, you know, expected—right. When you lose as much production as we did to the transfer portal or graduation—you know—so we got a lot of inexperience or guys that haven’t proven themselves on the football field yet. But, that’s why you play, you know. I’m the same way right—we just talked about us being, you know, first timers here and so the only way we’re going to get experiences is going through this process together. No different for these guys. We got guys in that locker room that we think that can play now. It’s just getting their minds right, understanding game plan, understanding situations and then putting them in the best situation to succeed.”

Mountain West Football: 2022 Media Days Central

Chang on the new Aloha Stadium District budget being approved

“Yeah, it does (feel good). It does and knowing that you’re going to have something to play in—in the future—and something to sell to these recruits, sell to these families and sell to our state. Not only is the University of Hawaii football team going to be able to play in there, but we’re going to hold events that, you know, that we’re going to be proud of. I know other sports want to hold events—Max (Holloway) keeps asking for the UFC to come down—what a better place to play it in our new brand new stadium. Hopefully one day the Pro Bowl can come back. We want all of our state to enjoy that stadium, not just the University of Hawaii football team but that it’s there for everybody. Again, we’re all in this together. I tell those guys, man when you make a block when you make a tackle and you’re catching that ball man, when your throwing it, you know you’re doing it for the state, you’re doing it not only for the guys in the locker room, but for this community and for this state.”

Chang on recruiting to the on-campus Ching Field

“You know, I’m really excited and this is why I’m really excited: Because for the first time, you know, it’s on our campus and we have one of the most beautiful campuses in the world. And, you know, just getting the university and having the buy-in from the president—you know—from the special people that are above my paygrade. And these people are—you know—talking to them and telling them, ‘Hey, we have an opportunity to do this, can we do this? Can we do that?’ It’s special, because it’s the first time we’re on our campus and we have so many beautiful athletic facilities on campus and a beautiful upper campus that we can still get some of those things. We can get the family environment that we want during those games, you know, we’re still pushing the concerts and the entertainment before and just creating some different things that people can just spend a whole day watching and being around the campus and then watching our football game. Tickets will be hard to come by that no doubt. No doubt. It is what it is this year.”

Chang on his own growth since being named head coach

“Oh, I mean it’s hard to talk about yourself and grade yourself. But—you know—every day is a different challenge and a lot of problems need to be solved. As much as I can solve them in a 24 hour period, I’ll wake up and do it again the next 24 hours and there’ll be new challenges, there’ll be something else that comes up. But you know, the game is still the same, it’s played with 11 guys—its’ played with a locker room full of guys that need to care about each other.”

Chang on his first media day

“Now it’s go time, you got your team waiting for you back home and you have to get them ready to play August 27.”

The Rainbow Warriors will welcome Vanderbilt to the island to open the season later next month.


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New Aloha Stadium In The Works For Hawaii Football

A new Aloha Stadium is expected for the 2026 season The University of Hawaii’s new home is slowly coming to fruition Contact/Follow @AddisonDeHaven3 & @MWCwire Hawaii will continue to play home games at Ching Field until project is complete The …

A new Aloha Stadium is expected for the 2026 season

The University of Hawaii’s new home is slowly coming to fruition

Contact/Follow @AddisonDeHaven3 & @MWCwire

Hawaii will continue to play home games at Ching Field until project is complete

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The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors are getting incrementally closer to a new Aloha Stadium. On July 7, Gov. David Ige signed off on a $400 million dollar New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District Budget (NAESD) budget, effectively green lighting a new stadium in Halawa, a suburb of Honolulu.

“I’m excited—as a graduate of the University of Hawaii and a proud fan,” Ige said to KHON2. “I’m really excited because it is, for the first time, the legislature embracing the full cost of the stadium and it will create a great terrific home for the Rainbow Warriors.”

Sep 23, 2017; Laramie, WY, USA; A general view of the Hawaii Warriors helmet before game against the Wyoming Cowboys at War Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports

$350 million will come directly from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and the other $50 million will come from the Stadium Development Special Fund. The budget includes funds for an entertainment district and real estate development at the Halawa site.

With Gov. Ige’s signature, a timeline for the stadium’s completion can begin to take shape. The new stadium, which is tentatively expected to be completed in time for the 2026 season, will be built on the existing Aloha Stadium, which still needs to be demolished. A developer will need to be selected as well. Both are expected to be completed by late 2023 or early 2024, per KHON2. Construction is slated to take approximately two to three years.

“Football is the program that generates most of the revenue that supports all of the other sports and with that money in hand, we can start to make a very specific plan to develop a great new stadium and give the Rainbow Warriors a great place to play,” said University of Hawaii President David Lassner to KHON2.

The current Aloha Stadium ceased operations in December 2020, citing financial difficulties due to the pandemic. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported in 2019 that the stadium need roughly $30 million in repairs.

“The stadium facility has been in dire need of significant repair and maintenance for many years. The stadium authority has considered repairing, upgrading, and replacing the existing facility to optimize the public’s enjoyment and ensure public safety. Redeveloping, renovating, or improving these public lands in a manner that will provide suitable recreational, residential, educational, and commercial areas, where the public can live, congregate, recreate, attend schools, and shop, as part of a thoughtfully integrated experience, is in the best interests of the State and its people,” the Hawaii state legislature reported in 2019.

The 50,000-seat stadium was home to the Rainbow Warriors for over 40 years. It was also the longtime host of the Pro Bowl, various bowl games, state championships and concerts.

Governor’s race

A possible barrier to the new Aloha Stadium’s completion is the upcoming governor’s race in Hawaii. During a June candidate forum hosted by the Star-Advertiser, U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele, a Democratic candidate for governor, said he would scrap the new Aloha Stadium plan as governor.

“You are not serious about housing and affordable housing on the island of Oahu if you want to build a stadium in Halawa,” Kahele said. “As governor of Hawaii, I oppose building a stadium in Halawa.”

Kahele proposed that 10,000 homes be built on the existing Aloha Stadium site to address the affordable housing issue instead.

Hawaii’s primary is scheduled for August 13.

According to a July 6 Civil Beat/Hawaii News Now poll, Lt. Gov. Josh Green has 48% of the vote compared to Rep. Kahele with 16% and businesswoman Vicky Cayetano with 15%.

Conference realignment

 In the wake of USC’s and UCLA’s surprise move to the Big Ten, many schools, like the University of Hawaii, have been left with questions regarding the future landscape of college athletics.. Will the Pac-12 merge with the Big-12 or will they look to fill their conference with Mountain West schools?

While there has been no conclusive answers to these questions, some have wondered if Hawaii’s current stadium situation could influence which conference the school ultimately ends up at. Rich Miano, former UH standout and current color analyst for UH home games on Spectrum, explained the importance of getting the ball rolling on a new Aloha Stadium.

“When you look at the college football landscape you would need a crystal ball and then some to figure out if it is going to be the autonomous five, is it going to be two super power conferences,” Miano said. “But one thing that is very important for the UH is to try and position themselves so they do not be left out of this and with a stadium, you would think you would have a much better chance.”

In terms of the remaining Pac-12 schools, the smallest stadium, by capacity, is Oregon St.’s Reser Stadium, which will seat approximately 26,000 during the 2022 season. After renovations are complete, Reser Stadium will seat between 34,000 and 39,000 in 2023. The next smallest is Washington St.’s Martin Stadium which seats approximately 33,000.

Until the new Aloha Stadium is complete, the Rainbow Warriors will continue to play home football games on campus at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, which seats around 9,000. It was reported that the UH had plans to expand capacity to 15,000 but because of a materials shortage, those plans were put on hold.

Capacity for the new Aloha Stadium is listed as a “minimum of 30,000” based upon “historical and projected events and attendances, in conjunction with the availability payment cost projections.”

While seating capacity will not be a deciding factor in conference realignment decisions, it’s hard to imagine the Pac-12 looking favorably on a program with a home football stadium that seats less than many FCS schools.

Still, as State Sen. Glenn Wakai theorized to KHON2, if the Pac-12 were to add teams, Hawaii’s current stadium situation could pose a barrier.

“If it ends up being the Pac-4 they’re going to need to add some teams, could Hawaii make a play for that in 2025 and out, at this point, no but if we get a stadium I think that only helps in the argument to invite us,” Wakai said.

The Rainbow Warriors, led by new head coach Timmy Chang, will welcome Vanderbilt University to the island on August 27 to open the season.


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