Hawaii's mistakes and Stanford's new looks lead to another loss
Sep. 2—Another week, another disappointing blind date for the Hawaii football team. Stanford broke out an uptempo offense in racing to Friday's 37-24 victory before 12, 547 at the Ching Complex.
Another week, another disappointing blind date for the Hawaii football team.
Stanford broke out an uptempo offense in racing to Friday's 37-24 victory before 12, 547 at the Ching Complex.
"It was a heartbreaker, " said weakside linebacker Logan Taylor, whose Rainbow Warriors fell to 0-2. "We wanted that win, but it's a lesson."
For the second week in a row, the Warriors faced an opponent making its 2023 debut. After losing 35-28 to Vanderbilt in Nashville on Aug. 26, the Warriors had six days before playing host to Stanford. The Cardinal entered with new play-callers on offense (first-year head coach Troy Taylor ) and defense (Bobby April, who previously coached Wisconsin's outside linebackers ). The Cardinal exited training camp with three quarterback contenders.
"When we talk about it in theory, we knew we had to keep adjusting, " said UH head coach Timmy Chang, whose analysts went through Taylor's and April's video archives. "We didn't know for sure until we saw it. ... You have to prepare for everything."
Ashton Daniels, a skilled runner who threw six passes as a freshman last year, earned his first start at quarterback. Relying on check-downs, slants and tight end Benjamin Yurosek, Daniels was 25-for-36 for 248 yards and two touchdowns on a windy Manoa evening. Daniels, who was not sacked, gained 42 yards on scrambles and keepers.
The Cardinal pressed the accelerator, especially after crossing the first-down marker. The uptempo pace, as well as quick throws, declawed the Warriors' pass rush and blitzes. While Taylor has employed several styles, a constant has been his use of a tight end as a line-attached blocker or slot receiver with sure hands and vertical-route speed. In 11 targets, Yurosek caught nine passes for 138 yards.—RELATED : Dave Reardon :
"In the first half, it was about trying to make the adjustments we needed to make, " UH defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said. "They did a good job with tempo, which created some confusion and chaos with us."
E.J. Smith—son of Emmitt Smith, the NFL's career rushing leader—ran the final yard of a 12-play drive to stake the Cardinal to a 7-0 lead. After UH tied it on a 7-yard scoring pass from Brayden Schager to Pofele Ashlock, Stanford answered with Yurosek's 32-yard scoring catch and Bryce Farrell's 2-yard touchdown. Joshua Karty connected on field goals of 25, 25 and 46 yards to extend his streak to 21 in a row dating to September 2022.
But the Warriors contributed to the Cardinal's success with what Chang termed as "uncharacteristic " mistakes. The Warriors dropped several key passes, committed three holding penalties, and extended a Stanford drive with two third-down penalties, including a roughing-the-passer infraction. Safety Meki Pei and linebacker Isaiah Tufaga also were ejected after being assessed targeting penalties.
"From what I saw on the replay, those were effort plays, " Yoro said of the penalties. "Those were not flagrant, undisciplined things. We need to coach off those things. We need to get the guys corrected. But I thought the two targeting penalties were bang-bang (plays ). Guys are going to play hard, and sometimes those things are going to happen. We'll look at the tape and adjust the things we're doing. Some mental things during tempo, and some bad play-calling on my part ... we'll grow from this."
The Warriors struggled early. Their first three drives were three-and-outs, netting 2 yards on nine plays. They also had difficulty impeding heat-seeking David Bailey, a sophomore edge defender. Bailey had four tackles for loss, including three sacks. After being treated on the field for an apparent injury in the fourth quarter, he came back to make his final sack.
But the Warriors showed progress. They averaged 0.2 yards per play in their first three drives, and 5.8 after that. Schager, who misfired on his first four passes, finished 30-for-53 for 355 yards. He was sacked six times behind an offensive line that was without injured right guard Maurice Ta 'ala. Ka 'ena Decambra rotated between right tackle and right guard.
"I thought we left a lot of things on the field, and we could have done a lot more things, " Schager said. "It's frustrating, and it's going to be frustrating. But we have a lot of talent in that locker room."
Ashlock, the defending Mountain West Freshman of the Week, caught eight passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Slotback Koali Nishigaya added six catches for 52 yards. And wideout Steven McBride made an acrobatic catch with his left foot barely inbounds to complete a 24-yard touchdown.
"The potential is there, " Nishigaya said. "We have to go back to the drawing board, evaluate the film, and go from there."
