The shoe is on the other foot for Hawaii coach Norm Chow.
The shoe is on the other foot for Hawaii coach Norm Chow.
During Chow’s long tenure as an assistant at BYU, there was no bigger game for the Rainbow Warriors to get up for than the Cougars, a former Western Athletic Conference rival.
Lately, Boise State has been Hawaii’s nemesis, winning the last four meetings by an average of more than 34 points.
The teams meet in their Mountain West Conference opener Saturday at the blue-turfed Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 at 4:15 p.m. HST. UH has never beaten Boise on the road.
“(Boise) deserves a lot of credit,” Chow said to the media Monday in Honolulu. “They’ve done it the right way. They have nice facilities and they’ve done a nice job recruiting.
“They recruit guys that may be just on the edge, and have a chip on their shoulder and maybe should have been recruited by USC.”
Chow said he breaks the season down into increments, and though the first one was as tough as expected, he said the Rainbow Warriors (2-2) are good to go.
They figure to be battle-tested having already played at No. 1 Ohio State and then-No. 22 Wisconsin, however the offense failed to score a point in either game.
Asked about a potential payoff of playing on the road against tough nonconference competition, Chow joked, “I think the payoff is all the money the school is making.”
“No question, when you play good teams you can not make mistakes,” he said. “We made too many (against Wisconsin). Hopefully, we’ll learn from it because we’ll continue to play good teams.”
The Broncos (3-1) started the season ranked No. 22 but fell from the polls after a 35-24 loss to BYU on Sept. 12, but they’ve since reeled off convincing victories at home against Idaho and at Virginia. Last Friday, redshirt freshman quarterback Brett Rypien threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover in a 56-14 victory against the Cavaliers.
Installed as a 24 1/2-point favorite, the Broncos are balanced offensively, averaging 230 yards through the air and more than 170 on the ground. Boise’s defense has been stout against the run, allowing under 45 yards a game, and UH managed only 15 yards on the ground in the 28-0 loss to the Badgers – though Chow said that statistic was misleading since three sacks chewed into the rushing total.
“You have to admire those guys,” Chow said. “They are a team and play a team defense.
“They don’t have the big stars. They have two good corners. They play as a team and anytime you do that you have a chance.”
Despite being shutout for the second time in as many road games, senior quarterback Max Wittek saw the performance as a positive step forward for a Hawaii offence that is ranked 124th in the Football Bowl Subdivision, averaging 296.8 yards. On the season, Wittek is completing 49 percent of his passes for 730 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions.
“We did a lot of great things,” he said. “We need to sustain drives. If we can keep those drives going. Put collection of plays together, rather than just a few, we should be just fine.”
He’ll continue to look for senior wide receiver Quinton Pedroza, who had a career-game against the Badgers with 10 catches for 134 yards.
Playing in opposite divisions of the Mountain West, the teams haven’t met since Nov. 12, 2012, a 49-14 Broncos’ victory in Honolulu during Chow’s first season.
Boise State owns a 10-3 series edge against UH and is a national-best 106-10 in conference games since the start of the 2000 season, but Pedroza wasn’t treating the Broncos like a nemesis.
“I view every opponent the same,” he said. “They are all human. Some stronger, some faster, but I prepare for Boise the same way I do every other opponent.