A week after picking up a signature win against Stanford, Timmy Chang and his Rainbow Warriors went on the road to face another former Pac-12 school. This time, unfortunately, Hawaii completely unfolded. Conceding five turnovers to the Arizona Wildcats, Hawaii lost 40-6. While it is just one game, quarterback Micah Alejado seemed to re-injure his ankle, leaving his status for the coming weeks up in the air.
Let’s take a look at how we got to 40-6:
-Hawaii started poorly again this week, this time quickly
going three-and-out on offense. From there, Arizona’s Noah Fifta went to work, engineering a 4-play, 47-yard drive that resulted in a 13-yard touchdown run from running back Kedrick Reescano.
-Feeling the weight of the poor start, Hawaii shifted to the run-and-shoot version of a clock control offense. On 15-plays, Hawaii chewed up 7:23 off the game clock. The drive ended in a successful field goal from Kansei Matsuzawa. It was clear that Chang was calling plays that didn’t put Micah Alejado at risk.
-Hawaii’s defense stepped up on the following drive, forcing a Michael Salgado-Medina punt. This was the last positive sequence for Hawaii before the game began to unravel. Alejado would fumble on the next drive and only two plays later, transfer running back Quincy Craig sprinted 54-yards to the house. Hawaii down 14-3 didn’t respond well after the early adversity.
-The half ended with a scramble on special teams, the field goal unit sprinting onto the field and snapping the ball with 0:01 on the clock. Hawaii did not have a timeout. Matsuzawa nailed the kick and is 5/5 on the season. He and punter Billy Gowers have been bright spots.
-That was the end of Hawaii’s sense of competitiveness in the game. Down 17-6 at half, Hawaii needed a strong start to the second half and instead turned into a turnover machine. The Wildcats forced five turnovers, including three interceptions and two fumbles. Only one of those interceptions belonged to Alejado.
-Luke Weaver replaced Alejado in the third quarter in what is sure to be a hotly debated topic amongst Hawaii fans and media. Down 31-6, the game completely out of control, Chang elected to keep Alejado in the game. On a 2nd-and-10 from the Hawaii 38, Alejado injured himself midplay but managed to complete a 10-yard pass to Jackson Harris. Impressive, but Alejado went down to the ground and needed help off the field. Weaver relieved him from there, but the damage was done. Alejado’s status will once again be a question this week.
-On a bizarre note, Arizona’s defense has a unique celebration ritual. After each forced turnover, the team would take a football with the opposing team’s branding and stab it onto a cactus shaped sword. This caused some commotion on social media, but I don’t think these were Hawaii’s actual game balls. They were purchased by Arizona for the celebration. A spendy and provocative celebration.
-Hawaii lost 40-6, turned it over a bunch and experienced some injuries. Wide receiver Nick Cenacle left the game with a knee injury and didn’t return.
-With a three-game home stretch starting with Sam Houston, Timmy Chang and co. need to give serious thought about Micah Alejado’s longevity. The fortunes of this season rest on his shoulders. Luke Weaver had an uneven, turnover-laden performance, but maybe it is best for him to start against Sam Houston and Portland State. Allow Alejado to heal up for the pivotal conference matchup against Fresno State. Expect this topic to be the focus for Hawaii football in the coming weeks.
