Don’t worry if you’re running late or the cable is out at the beginning of the University of Hawaii football team’s homecoming game Saturday. The UH offense hasn’t been on time all season, so if you’re a Warriors fan it’s unlikely you will miss anything you did not want to see, anyway.
Yeah, not much of it has been a good watch this season, as UH is 2-6, including 0-3 in the Mountain West, and hasn’t won since Sept. 23. But when the Hawaii offense takes the field for the first time in a game it’s been especially atrocious.
On their opening “drives,” the Warriors have scored more points than they’ve made first downs. That might be a good thing, if the numbers weren’t three and two—total, for the entire season. When UH beat Albany on Sept. 9, Hawaii scored on its first possession—but that was thanks to special teams, because the offense started at the Albany 12-yard line after Karsyn Pupunu blocked Albany’s punt, and Matthew Shipley made a 25-yard-field goal after the offense generated 4 yards on three downs.
That’s it for the eight games so far this season. No touchdowns on opening drives, and the one field goal is a product of starting in the red zone.
The Warriors didn’t get a first down on their opening possession until their fifth game, when Landon Sims ran for 5 yards on second down after Brayden Schager passed to Pofele Ashlock for 9. But that was it, as the Warriors then failed to convert on third-and-4 and the drive stalled at the Hawaii 45. UH did win that game, though, coming back to beat New Mexico State 20-17 on Shipley’s 24-yard field goal as time ran out.
Hawaii got a first down on its first possession its next game, too, at UNLV. That one was due to a Rebels penalty, and UH punted before getting to the first-down stick again. The Warriors lost that game 44-20.
It has since lost two more Mountain West contests against less-than-stellar opponents, 41-34 to San Diego State at home, and 42-21 at New Mexico. Hawaii’s offense was three-and-out to start both of those games, too.
Overall on opening possessions, UH’s offense has completed six of 16 passes for 35 yards and rushed 12 times for 21 yards (including a 10-yard sack). That’s 2 yards per snap, or 7 per game.
Or, you can look at it this way: If Hawaii starts its first drive at its 25 on Saturday and scores a touchdown, it would be 19 more yards than it has produced on its first drives for all eight previous games, combined.
It’s as if Hawaii is spotting its opponents a possession every game — plus the more than 11/2 it has given away per outing with 17 turnovers to four.
There have been some Hawaii teams that could overcome sluggish starts and sloppy play, but this isn’t one of them. This isn’t like 2007, when UH fell behind 21-0 to Washington but came back to win.
San Jose State has been disappointing (3-5, 2-2 Mountain West) but comes to the Ching Complex with a two-game winning streak and favored by 10 points.
The Spartans beat Utah State 42-21 on Saturday, with former UH starting quarterback Chevan Cordeiro directing a 75-yard touchdown drive to open the game.
The Warriors haven’t come close to doing that the first time they’ve had the ball all season. This game would be a good one to stop that trend, unless they want to give Cordeiro a chance to celebrate a homecoming win two weeks in a row.