HONOLULU — The Hawaii football team opened a season with a victory for the first time in the three-year Timmy Chang era. It scored its most points in any of those 27 games to date. And it did it in an on-again, off-again storm of swirling wind and rain.
Despite all that, it was difficult for the Rainbow Warriors to feel wholly satisfied with Saturday night’s 35-14 victory over Delaware State of the FCS at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
[Note: See below for more photos of Hawaii against Delaware State.]
UH was favored by nearly 40 points at kickoff of the Week Zero game but found itself tied with the Hornets – who went 1-10 last season and experienced a delay of multiple days traveling out to the islands – early in the third quarter.
With 10,279 in house for the opener (12,206 tickets issued) UH tried out a new “ku” chant over the public address system on opponent third downs. Mother Nature's conditions were the more formidable for both teams, though, until finally the ‘Bows scored the game’s last 21 points to take the victory. That number is also the length of UH’s winning streak against FCS opponents dating back to 2001, when Chang was in a green and black uniform.
“Anytime you can get a win you’re going to take it,” Chang said. “A lot to learn from in all three phases, I believe.”
The going gets much tougher right away as UCLA comes to town next weekend. The Bruins, who will make their debut under a new head coach and as a member of the Big Ten Conference, are favored by two touchdowns.
That was all the Rainbow Warriors could muster in a lackluster first half, with seven of the points coming from a 44-yard punt return score by Tylan Hines.
Senior quarterback Brayden Schager said he had a high-volume discussion with his fellow offensive players at halftime.
“(I) basically just said it was embarrassing to score seven points in the first half against an FCS school, playing in the run and shoot,” Schager said. “It’s not the standard of what we do. Sometimes you need a little butt-chewing in order to get everybody right and I think came out with a bit better mentality in the second half.”
Schager finished at 50% completions (17-for-24) with two touchdowns, no interceptions and 203 yards. He also scored multiple rushing touchdowns in a game for the first time, including a punch-in sneak that made up for an underthrown ball to an open Pofele Ashlock at the 1-yard line and capped the scoring with under four minutes left.
The senior allowed that the wind was some of the strongest he’s played in during his four-year UH career, but would not make excuses. After experiencing growing pains in the run and shoot last year, it’s an offense he now says feels at his most comfortable in.
“We gotta get that (completion rate) a lot higher, and we will,” he said. “There’s some good that came from this game tonight, so we just gotta take that and move on with it.”
Hines, in his debut as UH’s primary returner, was a highlight in a game that featured 13 punts by halftime. He had the first UH punt return touchdown in 12 years, since Scott Harding took it back from 69 yards against UNLV in 2012.
The third-year sophomore said he was “blessed” to be back in a featured role since missing most of last season with injuries.
“I just made a play,” Hines said of his effort on the first of three balls he fielded on the night. “A hole opened up, I just bounced to the left and took it to the house.”
The former running back did not, however, catch a pass in his new role as wideout. With senior Steven McBride expected to miss most or all of the season due to an eligibility issue, sophomore slotback Pofele Ashlock has emerged as Schager’s single most popular target. Ashlock caught five of the nine passes thrown his way for 81 yards Saturday.
UH got its scoring started with an 11-yard back-corner toss from Schager to Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala in the first quarter and separated from DSU with Schager’s 29-yard overhead strike to Kentucky transfer Dekel Crowdus in the fourth.
Special teams was lauded for providing damage control for UH.
New punter Lucas Borrow averaged 44 yards on eight line-drive-style punts and pinned the Hornets inside the 20 three times – at the 5, the 1 and the 7.
“That’s a huge factor,” Chang said. “Field position really helped us.
“And Tylan’s a weapon, and we’ll continue to use him. Special teams will help us win games.”
Kansei Matsuzawa went 5-for-5 on extra points as Matthew Shipley’s successor at placekicker. UH did not attempt a field goal.
In its first game under new coordinator Dennis Thurman, the UH defense was hit or miss. It had lapses just before halftime – DSU quarterback Marqui Adams evaded a blitz and sidestepped safety Peter Manuma on his way into the end zone for 10 yards – and coming out of intermission. Adams found tight end Ryan Lee on a 42-yard long ball that set up a 6-yard score on the ensuing play.
But sophomore linebacker Jamih Otis received a game ball for his breakout night. He totaled a game-high 11 tackles – 2.5 for loss – with a sack and a quarterback hurry. The defense sacked Adams five times, with Jamar Sekona and Jackie Johnson III getting in on the first of their careers.
Saturday was also the debut of sideline tablets for in-game video as well as new helmet communications for one player on the field per team. The comms were hit-and-miss for UH in the rough weather, but teams in the other three Week Zero games on the day also reportedly had issues.
Schager said the team had adequately prepared a backup system in case the headset failed.
“Things gotta get ironed out,” Chang said. “Whether it’s wiring and something’s not right in the helmet, or the satellite’s not picking it up … for the rest of the country that’s playing next week, everybody’s gotta be ready to adjust.”
UH and UCLA will kick off at 1:30 p.m. on CBS. It will be the first game on network television to be broadcast from the Ching Complex.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.