Hawaii Warriors Football

To his credit, Norm Chow enters his press conference every Monday, faces the press under sometimes difficult circumstances and provides some of the most honest and poignant answers that one will ever hear coming from a head coach.

As quoted from his October 1 press conference on the University of Hawaii YouTube Channel, he admitted "They're embarrassed." Chow, referencing his team following the 47-0 defeat at the hands of BYU, added: "We're all embarrassed."

The Warriors could not get their running game started against BYU, and their failure to put together sustained drives caused the Hawaii defense to spend an excessive amount of time on the field. Once the Warriors got behind, the necessity to abandon the run gave way to the Cougars teeing off on quarterback Sean Schroeder.

“We have to be more balanced," Chow explained (UH YouTube channel). "We have to keep the defense off the field.”

Unfortunately for the Warriors, the schedule does not provide a breather this week. They are back on the road and facing another high-powered offense that currently averages 35 points per game. The San Diego State Aztecs (2-3) also average nearly 234 yards per game on the ground and 191 through the air.

Led by Adam Muema (529 yards, six TDs) and Walter Kazee (362 yards and five TDs) the rushing attack is potent, and the passing game is sound behind quarterback Ryan Katz (65-of-108 for 957 yards and 9 TDs).

Katz spreads the ball around, having utilized 12 different receivers so far this season. However only Gavin Escobar (15 receptions) and Colin Lockett (11 catches) have double-digit receptions through five games.

If there's a place that they Warriors can attack against the Aztecs, it may well be through the air. In their loss against Fresno State last week, San Diego State surrendered 536 yards and five touchdowns via the pass alone.

"Over the last three weeks, we have been absolutely terrible in pass defense," stated Aztecs head coach Rocky Long (GoAztecs.cstv.com) at his October 2 press conference. "Special teams haven't been very good either."

So far this season, Warriors quarterback Sean Schroeder is 73-for-129 for 700 yards and six TDs. He has also thrown five interceptions. Against BYU last week, Schroeder was under constant pressure from the Cougars defensive line, going just 12-for-27, a mere 108 yards in the game with no TDs and one interception.

"We're through pouting, we're through brooding," Chow told the reporters at this week's press conference (UH YouTube channel).

At 1-3, the Warriors need a win to turn the tide of an injury-plagued season, which would help build momentum as they head home to host the New Mexico Lobos on October 14.

“There’s only one thing we [can] do," said Chow defiantly (UH YouTube channel), "and that’s come back fighting.”

Game Time: 8:00pm ET; 5:00pm PT, Saturday October 6.
Television: CBS Sports Network

For Norm Chow, answers for the problems ailing his defense have been about as easy to find as gasoline in Honolulu for under $4.00 a gallon.

Hawaii's defense surrendered seven touchdowns as BYU shut out the Warriors 47-0 before a crowd of 62,022 at LaVell Edwards Stadium. It was the third loss for Norm Chow's team this season.

BYU took control of a contest that was close after one period, scoring two more touchdowns before halftime to take a 20-0 lead against a Warriors team that sputtered on offense. BYU also benefited from three Hawaii turnovers in the game.

The Cougars' defense stuffed the Warriors ground game, holding running back Will Gregory to just 68 yards on 20 carries. When the Warriors tried to throw the ball, quarterback Sean Schroeder struggled, completing just 12 of 27 passes for a mere 108 yards and an interception. One third of those completions were pulled in by Hawaii's leading receiver in the game, Billy Ray Stutzmann, who also accounted for 65 yards.

"We've got to grow up," said Chow in this postgame comments [as reported by ESPN.com]. "This is a big-boy business."

By comparison, BYU rolled up 540 yards of offense, 396 of them on the ground. Running back Jamaal Williams' 155 yards were supplemented by 143 more from freshman quarterback Taysom Hill. The pair accounted for three of the Cougars' rushing touchdowns.

Scarier than the performance of the defense was the fact that two Warriors' defenders—Siasau Matagiese and Geordon Hanohano—were carted off the field with injuries following helmet-to-helmet collisions. Initial x-rays were negative.

According to the Associated Press article [via FoxSports.com], team officials reported that both players had movement in the limbs following the incidents and had been released from the hospital. The status of either player for next week's game has yet to be determined. 

The three losses for the Warriors this season have all been blowouts, with a combined score of 165-34. With a record of 1-3, Hawaii next travels to Qualcomm Stadium to face the San Diego State Aztecs on October 6, before returning home to host New Mexico.

"Nobody is feeling sorry for us," offered Chow [as quoted by ESPN.com]. "We can't feel sorry for ourselves."

After making his team practice both Sunday and Monday following their defeat by a margin of 45 points, Norm Chow sat at his Monday press conference [University of Hawaii Athletics YouTube channel]  and summarized the game against Nevada by saying simply, "All the wheels came off."

Hawaii travels east this week to take on the BYU Cougars (2-2), who have lost their last two games by a combined total of four points, including a loss to Boise State, 7-6. Chow spent 24 years at BYU as an assistant, including their National Championship year of 1984. While he recognizes his stint at BYU as a period of learning, his loyalties are clearly with the University of Hawaii.

"It's just a game that we have to get back on track with," explained Chow [per his press conference video] about the upcoming contest with the Cougars. BYU leads the series between the two teams, 20-8, and has won eight of the last nine games.

This season, the Warriors average 337 yards per game, with 11 touchdowns. Defensively, however, the Nevada game exposed the Hawaii defense, now ranked No. 116 in the NCAA. Hawaii surrendered 355 yards on the ground to Nevada in addition to the 69 points put up by the Wolf Pack.

"I could see the hurt in their eyes when it was all over," Chow revealed about the Warriors' state of mind at the conclusion of their game against the Wolf Pack.

The Warriors will need to lean heavily on their offensive weapons this week, namely running back Will Gregory (202 yards, one touchdown), John Lister (76 yards, two touchdowns), and the arm of Sean Schroeder, who has thrown six touchdown passes.

With a record of 1-2 this season, the Warriors have been blown out in both their losses (USC and Nevada) which does not bode well against a BYU Cougar team that has outscored their opponents by 52 points already this year. Freshman QB Taysom Hill has three rushing TDs, while senior quarterback Riley Nelson (64-of-109 for 754 yards) has thrown for five scores this season.

The Warriors' secondary will need to shut down BYU's leading receivers Cody Hoffman (21 catches, two touchdowns) and Kaneakua Friel (15 catches, four touchdowns) and make the Cougars a one-dimensional team. Through four games, BYU averages only 3.7 yards per carry and could only manage one score on the ground in last week's loss to Boise State, 7-6.

For the Warriors, the season needs to turn around now. Another loss would drop them two games below .500 with the prospect of facing San Diego State (2-2), New Mexico (2-2) and Colorado State (1-3) in the ensuing three weeks.

"Adversity reveals character," Chow explained at Monday's press conference, "and we're going to find out the character of our kids real soon."

Game Time: 6:00pm (Mountain Time), September 28; television broadcast on ESPN.

After seven straight losses to the Warriors in Honolulu, the Nevada Wolf Pack came into Aloha Stadium determined to make the memory of their 2012 excursion to Hawaii a pleasant one. By the time they were finished ripping the Warriors' defense to shreds, all that was left for Hawaii head coach Norm Chow to do was to begin searching for answers to the many questions plaguing his team.

After Nevada scored first on a 55-yard pass from Cody Fajardo to Stefphon Jefferson, the Wolf Pack would never trail in the game. Midway through the second quarter, Warriors fans saw their team draw to within three points when quarterback Sean Schroeder hit Jeremiah Ostrowski with a 36-yard TD strike to make the score 20-17, but that would be as close as Hawaii would get.

That is the point at which junior running back Stefphon Jefferson took over the game.

Jefferson scored seven touchdowns in the game and single-handedly demolished the Warriors defense on his way to 170 yards rushing. The Wolf Pack rolled up 575 yards of total offense on their way to a gaudy 69 points in the game before a crowd of 31,417.

"It was terrific," said Nevada head coach Chris Ault [as quoted in Nevada's game summary on NevadaWolfPack.com]. "I thought we played well on both sides of the ball."

Coming into the game, the Warriors' defense had allowed an average of less than 63 yards a game, but Nevada pounded the ball for 355 yards on their way to the most lopsided victory between the two schools since 1948, when Nevada beat Hawaii 73-12.

Sean Schroeder was 11-of-40 in the game with two TDs and two interceptions for the Warriors, who fell to 1-2 on the season. Will Gregory led Hawaii in rushing with 92 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown.

"It's just one game," said Norm Chow after the contest [as quoted by the Associated Press on Sports.Yahoo.com]. "Obviously, we didn't play as well as we could."

The Warriors must next travel to Utah to face BYU on Friday, September 28.

Norm Chow is attempting to build a perennial winner in Hawaii, but in order to do that he needs to not only win games this season—he also needs to secure talented recruits to optimize his program.

After a season-opening loss at USC in Week 1, the Warriors returned home and trounced the visiting Lamar Cardinals, 54-2. But, unless Hawaii can maintain their winning ways, the difficulty in luring top prospects to the Aloha State will only increase.

To date, Hawaii has only secured verbal agreements from four recruits for 2013, but the Warriors have a long list of potential targets. While the majority of the prospects are rated as 3-star talent (all player ratings are per Scout.com), the top players on the Warrior "wish list" are being pursued by some of the most successful programs in the country.

Tahaan Goodman (4-star) - Safety - The Warriors have their work cut out for them in landing Goodman, as the California prospect is being pursued by no less than 15 other schools, including current Top 25 teams such as Arizona, Florida, LSU, Nebraska, Oklahoma, UCLA, and USC.

At 6'2" and 190 pounds, Goodman runs the 40 in 4.52 seconds, and according to Greg Biggins of Scout.com, the young safety "could be the most complete safety" of the many west coast prospects, as he "has a great frame, runs very well and is a sure tackler." Goodman is not likely to make any decisions in the immediate future, as he is scheduled to visit LSU on November 3.

Tyler Foreman (4-star) - Safety - Like Goodman, no less than six Top 25 teams are looking to secure Foreman's talents for the next four years.

At 6'2" and 190 pounds, Foreman was assessed by Scout.com as "a huge kid who looks like a linebacker but can definitely play safety," having "great closing speed and tremendous ball skills." Foreman (only assessed as a 3-star prospect by Rivals.com) is reportedly scheduling an official visit to Utah in the near future.

Dashon Hunt (4-star) - Cornerback - Reportedly having only a medium level of interest in Hawaii, the Warriors made an offer to Hunt in order to keep pace with the 13 other programs vying for the 4-star defensive standout.

According to Scott Kennedy (Scout.com), Hunt had been committed to UCLA, but now the 5'9", 175-lb defensive back appears to be keeping his options open—despite reportedly (per BeaverBlitz.com) attending the UCLA - Nebraska game on September 8.

John Ross (4-star) - Wide Receiver - A talented athlete, Ross is described by Scout.com as an "[e]xplosive receiver who could also be an elite cornerback." As a receiver, he "does a good job of getting separation and getting off jams at the line of scrimmage."

Hawaii needs to express more interest if they are really looking to secure the California native, as Ross reportedly made a recent unofficial trip in early September to Washington and attended the Huskies game against San Diego State. In addition, he is currently scheduled to visit Oregon on October 5.

It has been three months since the Warriors have secured a verbal commitment from any prospects, and their recruiting class rank is currently 108. Hawaii next faces the Nevada Wolf Pack on September 22, followed by games against BYU and San Diego State. If Norm Chow can begin accruing victories, he may begin to start building the future of Hawaii football by drawing the interest of high-grade recruits.

“I don’t think you can take the vacation part from it away. We’re going to go swimming. We’re going to have a luau. We’re going to go to Pearl Harbor. I’m excited about that. We don’t play until Saturday night.  We’re going to enjoy it, but we realize what we have to do.”—Lamar head coach Ray Woodward in anticipation of his team's trip to Hawaii [as quoted in The Record on TheRecordLive.com]

The Lamar Cardinals may have enjoyed their "vacation" in Hawaii, right up until Saturday night.

Norm Chow's Warriors, beaten badly in their first game by USC, returned home after a bye week and took out their frustrations on the Cardinals, who appeared outmatched in every phase of the game.

"We needed to get that losing taste out of our mouths," admitted DL Paipai Falemalu, [reported by Oskar Garcia of the Associated Press on Statesman.com] whose performance on defense with a sack and five tackles led the Warriors.

The Warriors held Lamar to just six first downs and 44 yards rushing on 28 attempts, forcing three Cardinals turnovers in the game.

"We're not going to beat anybody playing like we did tonight," offered Lamar head coach Ray Woodward [as quoted in the Cardinals game summary on LamarCardinals.com], "but I think they had a lot to do with that. Our effort was good, our execution wasn't."

Warriors QB Sean Schroeder (15-of-23, 150 yards) threw three touchdowns in the game to complement Hawaii's 222 yards rushing, as Norm Chow's team controlled the ball for more than 34 minutes in the game. The Warriors even had a kickoff return for a touchdown.

"It was nice to play well in all three phases of the game," Chow said [as quoted by Oskar Garcia of the Associated Press on Statesman.com].

Schroeder spread the ball around to nine different receivers, which, in addition to 48 rushing attempts by seven different Hawaii players, kept the Cardinals defense guessing all night.

"We are going to play every play as hard as we can," declared Chow after the game [as quoted by Oskar Garcia of the Associated Press on Statesman.com]. "We're not going to look up at the scoreboard, we're going to keep playing, and I think the kids did a good job of that."

With the victory, the Warriors improved to 1-1 this season and will host the Nevada Wolf Pack (2-1) on September 22.

After posting a 10-4 record in 2010 and being invited to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, the Hawaii Warriors dipped to 6-7 last season, losing four of their last five games.

Perhaps it was that drop off, or perhaps it is the uncertainty of the new regime under head coach Norm Chow, but recruiting at Hawaii is plodding along at a snail's pace. At present, only four players have committed to play at Hawaii in 2013, with the last one giving verbal agreement nearly three months ago.

Current 2013 commitments (all player ratings are per Scout.com) to the Warriors include:

John Wa'a - OG (commit date 03/11/12)

At 6'3" and 279 pounds, the Hawaii native was pursued by Colorado, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State, but the 2-star prospect chose to stay local and declared (per Stephen Tsai of the Star Advertiser on StarAdvertiserBlogs.com) "I want to be a Warrior" in 2013. One of the main considerations for Wa'a was staying close to family.

"All of my family is here," Wa‘a said,  "I can't live without them."

Rashaan Falemalu - LB (commit date 04/08/2012)

A 2-star teammate of John Wa'a, the 6'2", 210-pound linebacker also plays tight end. Just as with Wa'a, family may have been a prime consideration in the linebacker's decision. Falemalu is the younger brother of current Warriors defensive end Paipai Falemalu.

Charles Tuaau - DE (04/16/2012)

Pursued by six other schools including USC and Nebraska, the 2-star prospect received offers from the Cornhuskers as well as New Mexico State, but chose Hawaii. Tuaau currently plays at Riverside junior college in California.

Aaron Zwahlen - QB (06/24/2012)

The 6'3", 195-pound Thomas Downey High School (California) QB is a 2-star prospect who had been pursued by 21 other schools. Despite reportedly having no interest in any other college but Hawaii, Zwahlen received offers from Idaho and Washington State.

"Hawaii felt like home," Zwahlen revealed upon committing in June (as reported by Stephen Tsai of the Star Advertiser on StarAdvertiserBlogs.com). Likely influential in Zwahlen's decision is the fact that his father—Lynn Zwahlen—had played under Norm Chow when he was the receivers coach at BYU.

While the National Letter of Intent signing day (February 6, 2013) is still some five months away, there is no denying that Norm Chow has his work cut out for him. With just four committed recruits—none of which have higher than a 2-star rating—the Warriors need a winning season to spur the interest of high-level prospects. By comparison, nine other Division I programs have 20 or more commitments at this time, with Texas A&M and Georgia each with 28.

It's difficult to find positives in a game when the opponent scores a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, leads 35-0 at halftime and rolls up 475 yards of total offense.

In addition, the nine penalties and four turnovers committed by the visiting Hawaii Warriors only served to make the task of facing the USC Trojans all the more difficult.

Head coach Norm Chow saw his season debut spoiled by USC, but even he was somewhat taken aback by the relative ease with which the top-ranked Trojans dispatched the Warriors.

"We thought we would give them a better battle," said Chow after the game [as reported by the Associated Press on ESPN.com]. "We made too many mistakes, but we didn't quit."

One of the most costly mistakes was Trojan defensive back Hayes Pullard's interception and return of a Sean Schroeder pass in the first quarter that put Hawaii behind, 20-0.

The Warriors later saw USC drive 99 yards for a score as well as return a kickoff for a touchdown in the contest before a crowd of 93,607 in the Coliseum.

On the plus side, the Warriors racked up as many first downs as the Trojans (20), had a better third down efficiency (7-for-16 as opposed to the Trojans, who were 4-for-14), and had a greater time of possession than USC (32:31 to 27:29).

Schroeder, who was 24 of 39 (61.5%) in the game for 208 yards with one TD and one interception was sacked five times in the game.

"I try to pride myself on being tough and staying in there," offered Schroeder about the protection from his line [as quoted on HawaiiAthletics.com].  "Our offensive line played its butts off and I'm proud of them."

Schroeder spread the ball around to eight different receivers in the game, and freshman running back Will Gregory averaged nearly five yards a carry (10 carries for 48 yards), but the Warriors young team was simply outmatched in week one of the season. Still, coach Norm Chow sees plenty for his young team to build upon.

"We started only one senior and a bunch of kids who never played before," Chow said in his postgame conference [as quoted on HawaiiAthletics.com]. "I told our kids we could still go 10-1."

The Warriors have a bye week before returning for a home contest at Aloha Stadium against the Lamar Cardinals on September 15. Lamar was defeated in its season opener by Louisiana-Lafayette, 40-0.

Freed from the shackles of NCAA probation, the Southern California Trojans begin their chase of a national championship when they play host to the Hawaii Warriors Saturday night at the Coliseum in Los Angeles (7:30 pm ET).

And they do so as one of college football's biggest Week 1 favorites (currently 42 points at most shops tracked by OddsShark.com).

USC opened as 38-point chalk, but the number has climbed as Vegas and international bettors continue to throw money on the Trojans. The total set at 63. 

The Trojans have not lost a home game in September since 2001 and are in no danger of falling to the Warriors. But, spotting them six touchdowns on the spread?

"It's a big number, but we have said this before—the bigger the point spread in Week 1, the harder it seems to be for the underdog to cover," said OddsShark.com handicapper Jack Randall, referring to an article here at Bleacher Report earlier in the week.

"We expect that number to creep down a bit before game time and the matchup report shows one shop was already at -41.5 this morning."

USC, ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP poll, has 16 starters back this season from a team that went 10-2 last year. The Trojans would have won the Pac-12's South Division last year, but they were still on probation.

QB Matt Barkley (39/7 TD/INT last year) eschewed the green pastures of the pros to come back for his senior season, and he's joined by 1,000 yard rusher Curtis McNeal, WRs Robert Woods and Marqise Lee (a combined 180 catches/2,400 yards LY), four starters along the offensive line and seven starters on defense.

And if that wasn't enough, USC added Penn State transfer Silas Redd, who rushed for 1,200 yards last year.

Hawaii, on the other hand, gets just 10 starters back this year from a team that went 6-7 last year. Six starters are back on offense, but they'll have to replace the pass-catch combination of QB Bryant Moniz and WR Royce Pollard.

And only four starters return on defense, a unit that gave up 387 YPG last season.

So new head coach Norm Chow, a former USC offensive coordinator, has his hands full in his first season with the Warriors. 

These teams last met two Septembers ago when the Trojans went to Hawaii and came home with a 49-36 victory in their first game under Coach Kiffin. But it was the Rainbows who covered the point spread as 20-point home dogs.

Free NCAAF Pick: USC is going to win this game, it's just a matter of when Kiffin calls off the dogs. Last year the Trojans finished their season with a 50-0 victory over UCLA; expecting a similar result Saturday night, we'll give the points and take Southern Cal.

It is the offseason and no program is immune from issue in that regard. Today we leave the mainland for an issue in Hawaii. One of the men expected to compete for the Warriors' starting quarterback job under new head coach Norm Chow has been arrested under suspicion of DUI.

Cayman Shutter, a sophomore at the University of Hawaii, was arrested early in the morning, or late at night, yesterday while speeding and weaving on the H-1 Freeway.

Another athlete makes a bad decision and now his future with the program is in jeopardy. While the Hawaii student-athlete handbook does not have any hard and fast rulings with respect to arrests, it does let us know that a misdemeanor charge warrants discipline from the team's coach. That means Norm Chow, has the ball in his court. As of now, no suspension has been handed down and Chow has opted to wait until a later date to offer comment on the situation.

On the field, Hawaii is a school that started their spring ball a little over a week ago, this could turn the three-man race for quarterback into a two-man battle. Shutter was splitting reps with David Graves and Ikaika Woolsey up until his arrest. A setback such as the impending suspension would definitely hurt his chances of winning the job, especially as he competes against Graves, the more experienced of the three.

Right now the move is to wait and see what becomes of Shutter's football future. With a likely suspension coming down it appears Chow will be picking from Woolsey, an early enrollee from California, and David Graves who has appeared in 16 contests to date. Woolsey is a "Norm Chow guy" as the new coach recruited the freshman for the job, but Graves has thrown for over 800 yards in his career, backing up Bryant Moniz.