3 takeaways after Hawai’i falls in first-ever meeting with Sam Houston State

HONOLULU – That was rough. 

Hawai’i (1-2) saw the same questions that have plagued the program for three seasons straight sink the team Saturday against Sam Houston State (2-1) as penalties and another poor offensive showing led to a 31-13 beating from the Bearkats. It is the fifth straight non-conference road loss for the Rainbow Warriors, who dropped to 1-12 on the road and 0-3 after bye weeks under 3rd-year head coach Timmy Chang. 

UH gifted 122 yards to SHSU throughout the afternoon, committing the most penalties in a single game for a Hawai’i team since 2004 by getting flagged 14 times. The defense had moments of brilliance, but the offense never got off the plane in Hawai’i’s first road contest of 2024. 

Saturday brought more questions than answers about this year’s version of the team and the program as a whole. Here are three takeaways following Hawai’i’s Week 3 loss at Sam Houston State. 

The defense, while not perfect, deserves better 

For the third game in a row, the defense was by far the better side of the ball for Hawai’i. It was a slow start for Dennis Thurman’s unit, allowing a 75-yard scoring drive to begin the game, but the team stabilized to produce a turnover and slowed down the dynamic Bearkat offense to keep it a two-score game at the half. It wasn’t from favors of the Hawai’i offense, who gained only 83 yards and possessed the ball for less than 10 minutes in the first two quarters. 

In scorching 95-degree heat, the defense graded out well again by PFF with a clean 83.0 as a unit after producing a pair of turnovers with an interception from Cam Stone and forced fumble from Elijah Robinson. Over a three-game sample size, the Rainbow Warriors have PFF’s 22nd-best overall defensive grade in the nation (85.0) and the best mark among all Mountain West teams. 

It isn’t to say that the Rainbow Warriors’ defense had a perfect day. The unit missed 11 tackles, the pass rush failed to record a single sack and Jaheim Wilson-Jones struggled a bit in coverage with six catches allowed for 79 yards and a touchdown. Hawai’i also allowed multiple explosive plays as Sam Houston had completions of 40 and 55 yards with an 86-yard run thrown in for good measure. 

Losing against Sam Houston State makes the path to a bowl appearance a bit harder for Hawai’i as a win in Week 4 against FCS Northern Iowa would not count towards the minimum win requirement as the Rainbow Warriors beat Delaware State for an FCS victory already. For a bowl game to be in UH’s future, the defense will need to perform at Saturday’s top levels while eliminating the critical mistakes. 

Even then, it is on the offense to wake up and finally give a hand. While the defense has performed as a top 25 group, the offensive grade from PFF ranks the Rainbow Warriors as the 119th-best offense in the country (out of 134). The defense has given UH a chance to win each week. 

Unfortunately, the offense has had one successful half out of six through three games this season. That needs to change fast. 

Cam Barfield could be a gem, put pass blocking must be more consistent 

Every week feels like a new question or conversation around the running back room for the Rainbow Warriors. Hawai’i was one of the worst running teams in all of college football in 2023 and flipped over the room coming into this season as Chang and staff added Christian Vaughn from the junior college level and brought Bishop Gorman alum Cam Barfield in as a transfer from Boston College to join incumbent starter Landon Sims and bolster the attack. 

Against UCLA, it seemed like Vaughn might have some extra juice for short yardage touches as the bruising back tallied 16 yards on five carries. This week against the Bearkats, it was Barfield making his case for more action as the sophomore ran for 24 yards on five attempts. He added a reception for another 16 yards in the passing game, totaling 40 scrimmage yards in 14 total snaps. 

His breakdown on those 14 snaps: two routes, six running plays and six pass blocking plays for the 5-foot-7 playmaker. While he graded out well overall (Barfield received the 5th-highest grade among all UH players on offense at 65.7), his pass-blocking received a ghastly 10.4 in those six snaps. 

Hawai’i likely won’t ever be a running-first attack under Chang and has historically been a passing program regardless of who calls the plays. Barfield showed he can be a threat as a pass-catcher, but UH needs the smaller back on passing downs to be at least an average blocker to entrust him with a bigger role. 

Hawai’i should still give him more opportunities in the passing attack to make an impact. Barfield has shown the capability to hold up back there before – he posted an excellent 77.5 grade in five pass blocking snaps against UCLA in Week 1 – and could help spark what has been a lifeless UH offense with his speed. 

None of it matters if Hawai’i can’t stop the penalties 

Back again, discipline issues for Hawai’i showed up in an ugly way throughout Saturday’s loss. The Rainbow Warriors were flagged 14 times for 122 yards, seeing starting center Sergio Muasau disqualified in the 2nd half after picking up his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of the game. 

Everywhere UH turned, more yellow laundry was on the field in the worst moments to kill momentum on both offense and defense. After the defense gave the ball to the offense inside Bearkats’ territory down by seven in the opening quarter, Muasau’s first unsportsmanlike penalty flattened Hawai’i’s momentum and eventually led to a 41-yard field goal try sailing wide-left and no points. 

Another promising drive for Hawai’i ended before finding paydirt in the 2nd quarter when Kuao Peihopa was flagged for unnecessary roughness while getting tangled up with a Sam Houston State player. The 15-yard penalty pushed the Rainbow Warriors back from the SHSU 8-yard line to the 23-yard line and forced Chang and company to settle for three to make it a 7-3 game. 

Hawai’i saw how helpful opposing penalties can be when the Rainbow Warriors gained 36 yards in a single play to start the 2nd half when Schager connected with Nick Cenacle for a 21-yard completion and Sam Houston was flagged for roughing the passer. The chunk yardage aided UH on the first and only touchdown drive of the day, eventually resulting in a 5-yard touchdown reception by Pofele Ashlock. 

To turn the vibes around the team and program around after an embarrassing loss, it is vital that Hawai’i fixes the penalty problems that have picked on the program for years now.