5 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors the Ducks need to know for Saturday’s game
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.
QB Brayden Schager
Schager is a veteran quarterback as a junior as he started 10 of the 12 games last season and the first three of this year. At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, he’s a prototypical pro-style passer and he throws a lot. Schager has averaged 43 pass attempts.
So far in 2023, Schager has completed 62.5 percent of his throws, averages 324 yards per game, and has 10 touchdowns. But he has been plagued by throwing the ball to the wrong team with five interceptions.
WR Pofele Ashlock
Schager has two main targets out wide and one of them is receiver Pofele Ashlock. The redshirt freshman has had a nice beginning to his career on the island. He leads the team with 19 catches for 315 yards (105 ypg) and three touchdowns.
Ashlock’s biggest game came against Stanford where he caught eight passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns.
WR Steven McBride
The other main target Schager likes to go to is senior wide out Steven McBride. At 6-foot-1 and just 165 pounds, the native of Napoleonville, La. is the speedster and deep threat. He leads Hawaii with five scores, including two touchdowns at Vanderbilt.
This is McBride’s first season on the island after spending three years at Kansas. He has already surpassed his stats at Kansas in just three games at Hawaii. McBride has 17 catches and averages 70 yards a game.
LB Logan Taylor (Ruled Out)
Note: LB Logan Taylor was ruled out for the remainder of the 2023 season on Tuesday after suffering a torn ACL.
After missing the entire 2021 season due to injury, Taylor rebounded in 2022 and led the Rainbow Warriors with 85 tackles, 49 solo and four for loss. He’s following last season up with a similar year in 2023. Taylor leads the teams with 18 tackles and he already has four tackles for a loss.
LB Isaiah Tufaga
Isaiah Tufaga is second on the team with 17 tackles, four for a loss, and leads the team with two sacks. He started the first seven games of last season before missing the remainder of the year with an injury.
The senior from Laie, O’ahu began his career at Oregon State where he appeared in nine games and started in three of those contests.
