Rainbow Warriors face challenges before Stanford arrives
Aug. 28—After Saturday's 35-28 road loss to Vanderbilt, Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang gave his football players 24 hours to sulk.
"The coaches had no time for that," Chang said. "We went straight to work to get ready for (Friday's home opener against) Stanford."
On the charter flight from Nashville, the UH coaches reviewed and graded videos from Saturday's game and continued preparation work on Stanford. After arriving in Honolulu early Sunday, the coaches went straight to their UH offices.
Beginning today, the Warriors will have split practices. Work to convert the grass football and soccer fields into a soccer and track complex will begin soon. That will leave the Warriors with Ching Complex's field as the only site for their football practices.
The Warriors will divide their practices into three segments: 90 minutes for the offense, 30 minutes for special teams and 90 minutes for the defense. Most NCAA teams have multiple fields for all the units to practice in the same time frame.
With the wide-open offense, UH needs the full length of the field to work on deep passes and drives. In schematic drills, the first and second units go against scout teams simulating an opposing team's plays. The grass practice was large enough to accommodate the position drills and team sessions. The Warriors often practiced simultaneously on the grass field and at Ching. Ching's practice area is limited to the inside of a track.
"How can we practice throwing the ball 50 yards down the field when both the offense and defense and special teams and big guys all have to share one field?" Chang said. "Can't do it. The offense needs to keep working up and down the field and the end zones. That's why we have to practice the way we do. These are the adjustments you have to make to be as efficient as you can to just win games."
To prepare for the six days between their first two games, the Warriors spent three days of training camp working exclusively on Stanford. "We jumped ahead," Chang said of using camp to prepare for Vanderbilt and Stanford. "That was part of the plan."
The revised version of the run-and-shoot — which often features a tight end in place of a slot receiver — amassed 351 passing yards against Vanderbilt. Brayden Schager completed his first eight passes and finished 27-for-35 with three touchdowns. Of Kansas transfer Steven McBride's 10 receptions, two went for touchdowns, including a 45-yarder. Slotback Pofele Ashlock had seven catches for 127 yards.
"That's what they brought me here for, to be the down-the-field man," McBride said, "and that's what I'm gonna be."
Running back Tylan Hines was limited to nine carries — only one in the middle quarters — after suffering from humidity-related cramps. Hines is expected to practice today.
Except for a scramble pass that went for 41 yards and a free-play, 32-yard scoring throw when a blitzing linebacker jumped off sides, the Warriors played well defensively. Vanderbilt was held to 2.8 yards per non-sack rush. Missed tackles did not harm the Warriors. "The ones we missed were negated by someone else making the tackle," defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said. "Last year, I felt if we missed a tackle, it was 20 more yards. I felt we tracked well (against Vanderbilt)."
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