HONOLULU — The Hawaii football quarterback competition remains wide open.

On the heels of a 63-10 loss to Vanderbilt in the 2022 season opener in which first-year coach Timmy Chang played two signal-callers, Brayden Schager and Joey Yellen, Chang indicated Tuesday that any of three QBs could get a chance to play in Saturday’s game against Western Kentucky at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. Cammon Cooper, a left-hander who transferred from Washington State in the offseason, is also in the mix and will get practice reps this week.

What You Need To Know

  • The Hawaii football team remains without a declared No. 1 quarterback going into its second game of the season Saturday against Western Kentucky of Conference USA

  • Sophomore Brayden Schager, who started last Saturday's 63-10 loss to Vanderbilt, and junior Joey Yellen, a transfer from Pittsburgh, remain in competition for the job along with Washington State transfer Cammon Cooper

  • Coach Timmy Chang said he is looking for consistency, attention to details and fundamentals in his quarterback as well as the entire 115-player roster and his coaching staff

  • The status of starting UH receivers Jonah Panoke and Zion Bowens is uncertain for the WKU game

There is no set expiration date on the competition, Chang, the former UH quarterback, said.

“You know, when you see it and someone’s able to take the reins and put the ball in the end zone consistently and do the job consistently, then that’s when it will probably end,” Chang said.

Consistency was elusive against the Commodores for both Schager, a sophomore who served as Chevan Cordeiro’s backup last season, and Yellen, a junior transfer from Pittsburgh who is playing for his third FBS team.

Both quarterbacks were effective in their first handful of throws. Starter Schager was 4-for-6 passing during UH’s inaugural drive that resulted in a Dedrick Parson 37-yard touchdown run, and Yellen, who started the second half, completed 10 of his first 11 passes.

But both faltered increasingly as they remained on the field. Schager finished 18-for-35 for 161 yards. Yellen was 10-for-20 for 89 yards and was dropped in the backfield twice. Neither recorded a touchdown or an interception.

The bottom line was that UH struggled to sustain drives. It was 5-for-16 converting on third down and 0-for-4 on fourth down.

UH went through film of the Vandy game on Monday and got back out to the grass of Cooke Field on Tuesday morning. Players and coaches both said that team spirits remained intact after the thorough beating administered by the Commodores, a low-tier team in the SEC.

In team drills, Yellen got some of the first looks along with Schager and Cooper.

The 6-foot-3 Yellen began his career at Arizona State and served as a backup the last two years to eventual NFL first-round draftee Kenny Pickett at Pitt.

“It was good to get some game tape in. It was the first time I played in meaningful minutes in two years,” Yellen said. “So, it was the first time (in a while) I had some real game tape to kind of work off of.

“I thought there were some real positives there. I thought I could definitely be more consistent in some of the throws, some of the pocket movement. Some was good, some was bad. Just getting a feel again for playing in a real, live game, where you can be hit.”

Schager said right after the loss, "We're going to be good. I don't know when that's going to be. I don't know when we're going to start to make the turn, but it's going to happen. ... We've got to keep doing what we're doing. This one's tough, but we've got to take it on the chin like Coach Chang said and just move on to next week." 

UH, in its new hybrid offense, struggled to stretch the field and was forced to operate extensively underneath. The Rainbow Warriors’ longest connection was a 31-yarder from Schager to redshirt freshman Jalen Walthall.

“That’s the cat-and-mouse game that has to be played, right?” Chang said. “You have to be able to stretch the field to get underneath … that’s what has to happen.”

However, the status of two of UH’s top receivers is in question for the WKU game. Junior Jonah Panoke, who led the ‘Bows with career highs of seven catches for 101 yards against Vandy, watched Tuesday’s practice from the sidelines, as did senior Zion Bowens. Bowens caught one pass for 10 yards before being knocked out of the game with an apparent injury.

“That’ll be a decision probably made a little bit later,” Chang said of the players’ status.

Yellen compared the new opportunities afforded to backups like Walthall and Grey Ihu to his own circumstances, analyzing fresh film and looking to improve.

“It’s not fun when you lose two of your better guys pretty early on. We have confidence in all of these receivers,” Yellen said. “I thought some guys came in there and did a good job.”

Western Kentucky of Conference USA won its season opener, 38-27, over Austin Peay of the FCS on Saturday. WKU is coached by former UH assistant Tyson Helton, who served on June Jones staff from 2000 to 2003, overlapping extensively with the playing career of Chang.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.