Hawaii football hasn’t been to a bowl game since the end of the forsaken 2020 COVID season. For that reason alone, Hawaii moving to 3-1 on the season after defeating Portland State 23-3 is an obvious positive. It’s not even the third week of September and the Warriors are already halfway to bowl eligibility. That said, the win against the Vikings wasn’t as comprehensive as some hoped for.
Let’s take a look at the key moments from the victory:
-Timmy Chang warned his players all week about complacency.
Hawaii closed as 38-point favorites, a rare spread for the program. Portland State had been horrible up and until this point, but as Chang feared Hawaii came out slow against the Vikings. Trading punts, the Rainbow Warriors and Vikings were tied at 0-0 after one quarter.
-An interception of John-Keawe Sagapolutele by Hawaii safety Elijah Palmer provided the jolt the Warriors needed to kick the malaise. That turnover kick started a scoring drive that was capped by a 16-yard pass from Luke Weaver to Cam Barfield, giving Hawaii a 7-0 lead.
-Cam Barfield continued to make his name known in the second quarter, adding to Hawaii’s lead with a 31-yard sprint to the end zone to make the score 14-0. Hawaii’s fortunes on offense could take off if Barfield provides a consistent running element.
Though, it was a bizarre evening for Barfield. He scored twice, the first one he headed over to the sideline and accidentally bumped helmet-less Micah Alejado on the head. Oops. On the second touchdown, he picked up a taunting penalty. An almost perfect evening for Barfield.
-Hawaii’s defense came up huge in the second quarter on a 4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Jalen Smith making a key one-on-one tackle to force the stonewalling stop. Hawaii turned the Vikings over on downs twice in the second quarter, Dennis Thurman’s defense was excellent.
-Kansei Matsuzawa, the Tokyo Toe, was excellent again this week. Although, I think fans were hoping to not have to see him make three field goal attempts. Matsuzawa was sporting a really cool kanji jersey.
-Hawaii finished the game with 13 penalties for 138 yards, an abysmal total that Timmy Chang and his staff cannot be happy about. Hawaii did not allow a touchdown against Portland State, that’s fantastic, but the undisciplined play was a setback for a program wanting to cut down on flags, especially of the personal foul sort.
-Hawaii did not start a bunch of starters, including two wide receivers, the starting center, and obviously Alejado. I think Chang was playing the odds this week.
-Timmy Chang indicated that Micah Alejado will return next week against Fresno State for Hawaii’s pivotal conference opener at Clarence T.C. Ching Complex.
