HONOLULU — A 40-point spread in the season opener? A chaotic arrival for the visiting team that won all of one game last season?
The one-sided expectations matter not for Timmy Chang on Saturday when the Hawaii football team kicks off a potentially make-or-break third year of the former Rainbow Warrior quarterback helming the program. UH opens it up against a first-time foe, Delaware State of the Football Championship Subdivision at 6 p.m. at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
“In college football, the margin of error is so small,” Chang said near the start of "Week Zero" – so designated because only six FBS teams are in action across four games. “Gotta be prepared to win these games. Every game’s going to be tough.”
The Dover-based school was a late schedule replacement for Oregon, which backed out in the offseason soon after its membership change from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten.
The last time UH played a Historically Black College or University was all the way back in 1979 against Prairie View A&M. It's doubtful that many teams in the intervening years experienced quite what it it was like for the Hornets to get out to the middle of the Pacific this week.
DSU had a full vacation’s worth of stories to tell before it even arrived in the Islands with impending storms off the coasts. It experienced a scheduling issue with a bus company Tuesday morning and missed its 10.5-hour Hawaiian Airlines flight from JFK Airport to Honolulu.
Lee Hull’s Hornets, who went 1-10 last season, were forced to travel in piecemeal groups but all arrived by Thursday night. They got in a walkthrough at the Ching Complex on Friday.
UH players swore that they are giving the FCS team their full attention even with UCLA, newly of the Big Ten, set to visit for its season opener in a CBS-televised game next week.
“I don’t think anybody pays attention to that,” safety Peter Manuma said of the expected point differential. “We study hard and watch film.”
That is, what film there is to be had – not much.
“You really don’t know what they have until they warm up and get on the field,” Chang said. “You just kind of prepare based on what they’ve done the previous year. … and get ready to adjust.”
For its part, UH has committed to the old-school run-and-shoot offense, with no tight end on the field. As he did last season, Chang – who was at one time the NCAA’s career passing yardage record-holder from operating in that offense – will call the plays himself.
Strikingly, by making it to Year 3 of his four-year contract signed in January 2022, Chang is already tied for second in seniority among Mountain West head coaches, behind only Air Force’s Troy Calhoun.
UH seeks to open the season with a win for the first time in the Chang era. The Rainbow Warriors went 8-18 over his first two years, but closed last season by winning three of four, including a dramatic walk-off victory against Colorado State in the season finale to close at 5-8.
Chang shook up the coaching staff in the offseason; he brought in industry veterans Dennis Thurman (defensive coordinator), Dan Morrison (quarterbacks coach) and Jeff Reinebold (defensive tackles). Morrison and Reinebold were on June Jones’ staff for the undefeated 2007 regular season.
Former UH standout Chris Brown was elevated to associate head coach while still commanding the "Lion's Den" of linebackers. Thomas Sheffield remained special teams coordinator after his associate title was reassigned.
Thurman, a multi-stop ex-NFL assistant, is no stranger to information warfare. He has remained cagey on exactly what kind of schemes the Rainbow Warriors will run and when, while allowing that it will be an attacking defense.
“We have more than one package,” Thurman said during fall camp. “But we have certain guys who can do certain things, and we’ll keep them in the situations where we feel like they can best help us succeed. We won’t ask guys to try and do things they can’t do.”
Cornerback Cam Stone is a believer.
“It’s a lot in terms of formations, but he keeps it fairly simple in terms of the knowledge behind it and the purpose for each of these calls,” said Stone, a senior in his second year with UH who is embarking on his final year of college ball. “It’s a lot if you look at it, but in reality he’s done a great job of teaching us the schemes.”
The ‘Bows have a seasoned leader at the offensive controls in senior Brayden Schager, who decided to return to Manoa for his final season of college ball after exploring the NCAA transfer portal following last season.
Schager has made 22 straight starts and is coming off a junior season in which he led the Mountain West in passing yards (3,542) and passing touchdowns (26).
UH returns nine starters on offense, but it is effectively eight as one of them is All-Mountain West receiver Steven McBride, who was arrested on a misdemeanor charge prior to fall camp. McBride returned to team practices late in camp, but he remains ineligible for games on a nonrelated NCAA issue.
Sophomore Alex Perry and sixth-year senior Jonah Panoke are listed as the starting wideouts. One of last season’s breakout stars, Pofele Ashlock, is a starting slotback along with Koali Nishigaya.
The flow of the run-and-shoot depends heavily on the connection between the receiving corps and the quarterback, and the ball-catchers' ability to react to defenses on the fly.
“I’m very happy with where they’re at,” Schager said of the group. “We’ve got a really a good group of guys and I feel like I have great chemistry with them. I think that’s very exciting … on and off the field I feel confident in those guys. Ready to put it on the field.”
A possible instant-impact player at the skill positions could be Kentucky transfer Dekel Crowdus, who came to UH with the hope of replicating what McBride and Ashlock did in their first seasons on the Ching Complex field.
“My speed can definitely help the team to replace Steve’s spot and do what I can do to take the top off,” Crowdus said recently.
Landon Sims, the son of former UH great Travis Sims, was awarded a scholarship this week as the team’s starting running back. UH struggled mightily to establish the position last year, but Sims began to gain traction late in the season.
Another key position that changed over was placekicker, as Matthew Shipley, the hero of the 2023 finale, transferred to Arkansas. Kansei Matsuzawa, of Tokyo, won that job during camp.
Third-year sophomore Tylan Hines opens as the primary kickoff and punt returner and is listed as a backup wideout.
Nishigaya, Panoke, Manuma, linebacker Logan Taylor and defensive tackle Ezra Evaimalo were named team captains this week.
DSU returns nine starters on offense and six on defense. It has two preseason All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selections in tight end Edward Core and defensive lineman Darren Cook.
It returns its main quarterback in Marqui Adams, who tossed nine touchdowns against nine interceptions last year. Aaron Angelos, the son of UH Athletic Director Craig Angelos, was second on DSU in passing touchdowns last year with three and completed his college eligibility.
UH owns a 20-game winning streak against FCS teams dating back to 2001.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.