Three Hawaii football keys against Sam Houston

HONOLULU – Football can be a fickle game.

After fans felt an immaculate high after the University of Hawai’i defeated Stanford on a walk-off field goal in Week 0, the vibes crashed down to earth in Week 1 when the Rainbow Warriors hit the road and left Arizona with more negatives than the blowout loss.

UH watched with bated breath as starting quarterback Micah Alejado stayed down for an extended period of time after getting stepped on in Arizona, leaving in the third quarter and not returning to the field in the eventual 40-6 loss to the Wildcats.

Backup QB Luke Weaver, a JUCO All-American transfer from Modesto College (CA), got his first taste of extended action in place of the injured redshirt freshman signal caller and showed off some impressive traits along with some head-scratching mistakes as he completed 50% of his passes, showed off a scrambling skill and turned the ball over three times in a quarter-and-a-half of action.

Hawai’i (1-1) now returns home for Week 2 action, preparing to host Sam Houston (0-2) for the second all-time meeting between programs and first matchup in the islands. The Bearkats blitzed the visiting Rainbow Warriors in the first meeting, using an explosive running attack (257 rush yards) and timely passing game to secure a comfortable 31-13 victory in 2024.

Both teams look very different in 2025 as longtime Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler accepted the head gig with Temple in the offseason and Hawai’i graduated three-year starter Brayden Schager while resetting the majority of the QB room. The lone returner from last year’s depth chart, Micah Alejado, was in a boot at Tuesday’s practice and ditched the boot while sitting out on Wednesday.

The Bearkats, who are now led by longtime collegiate offensive coordinator Phil Longo, will be forced to prep for both Alejado and Weaver. Despite ceding the Tuesday and Wednesday first-team reps in practice to Weaver, Alejado was a surprise starter last Saturday and will likely try to talk his way into playing against Sam Houston if he has enough mobility by the weekend.

As the Rainbow Warriors look for the first 2-1 start to a (non-COVID) season since 2019, here are three keys that will help lead Hawai’i over the visitors from Conference USA:

Slow down the Sam Houston ground game

Seem familiar?

Elite running attacks have consistently played kryptonite to Hawai’i’s defense. Look no further back than last weekend when the Wildcats ran all over the unit, gaining more than 200 yards on the ground in the blowout.

The Bearkats added themselves to a laundry list of teams to lean on the ground game in last year’s win over the Rainbow Warriors, going for more than 250 yards while stifling the UH pass rush as well.

Luckily for Hawai’i, former Sam Houston RB Jay Ducker (15 rush, 148 yards vs. UH in ’24) followed his head coach K.C. Keeler to Temple and won’t be making the trip to the islands this season. Back for the Bearkats is redshirt senior QB Hunter Watson, who has shown off dual-threat ability throughout his career and leads this year’s group in yardage passing (310) and rushing (108) after two games.

Though under different leadership, this year’s Sam Houston squad still employs a balanced offensive diet of running and passing plays. The Bearkats have averaged 159 rushing yards and 198 passing yards per game this season and deploy a bevy of different backfield bruisers to stay fresh as three different backs haven gotten 10 or more carries through two games.

Sam Houston also has been prone to breaking off big runs this season, already totaling three runs of 50+ yards through two games. That’s the most 50+ yard runs in a single season since 2021 for the Bearkats, back when the program was a dominant force in the FCS.

Longo and the Bearkats will want to establish the run once again against UH on Saturday. Whether it’s Watson, RB Coco Brown or the backup QB, Hawai’i has to be ready to shut down the ground game of the visitors and make Sam Houston protect in third-and-long situations.

Keep Qua’Vez Humphreys quiet

Last season, Sam Houston WR Qua’Vez Humphreys needed four total receptions against the Rainbow Warriors to eclipse the 100-yard mark for the game and brought in two touchdowns. The 6-foot-2 receiver was one of the lone players to score on UH standout CB Cam Stone, going up top for an eventual 55-yard catch and run during the 31-13 blowout.

Humphreys has had a slower start to the 2025 campaign, only catching one pass for nine yards in a Week 0 loss against Western Kentucky before getting completely shutout from the stat sheet in last weekend’s loss against UNLV. The Bearkats passing attack as a whole struggled through two games finding a go-to target as just two players (RB Elijah Green & WR Aviyin Smith-Mack) have more than three receptions so far.

HC Phil Longo said earlier in the week that it’s possible that Hunter Watson and redshirt freshman QB Mabrey Mettauer could both see action against the Rainbow Warriors and that both are mentally preparing as such. Watson showed an affinity for the big frame of Humphreys at times last year and Mettauer may lean on the bigger-bodied pass catcher as he works into the college game.

Hawai’i had question marks entering the season in the defensive backfield after graduating Stone and losing C-Bo Brown in the transfer portal to Virginia Tech, leaving nickelback Elijah Palmer as the lone returning starter from last year’s group. The Rainbow Warriors did see the return of Virdel Edwards II from a season-long injury rehab to begin 2025, providing an intriguing big option of their own to counter Humphreys and keep him quiet.

The Sam Houston offense has struggled a bit to get off the ground. Hawai’i needs to keep that trend going to pull another home win in as many chances in 2025 and denying Humphreys of an impact would go far in that effort.

Protect, punish, protect

The UH offensive line is always a lightning rod for criticism. Through two games, the unit has allowed nine sacks and shown very little push in the run game. Despite four different backs already seeing action for the Rainbow Warriors, Micah Alejado has the longest scamper of the season on a 30-yard scramble – the longest run any UH back has mustered up is 13 yards.

In fairness, the line took a blow when starting guard Kuao Peihopa got injured just before the season-opener against Stanford and saw the veteran lineman sit out against the Cardinal and again last week in Arizona. Judah Kaio has struggled in his absence, allowing two sacks and seven pressures while having the second-worst run blocking grade (per PFF) on the starting five in two games of action.

Regardless of the starting quarterback for Hawai’i when they kick off against the Bearkats on Saturday, the offensive line will be tasked with playing better in all fronts. If a hobbled Micah Alejado guts it out again, pass protection needs to show something much better than last weekend.

If Luke Weaver gets the nod at QB for the Rainbow Warriors, getting some push up front in the running game would go a long way in getting back into the win column. The Hawai’i offensive linemen love contact and physicality and finally have a chance against a non-Power 4 opponent to show any ability to move people.

Weaver would also benefit from better pass protection in extended action, but Sam Houston will be looking to build off of last week’s performance rushing the quarterback after posting a 71.7 pass rush grade (via PFF) against UNLV. Longo wants to get more out of his pass rush, talking this week about needing the defense to get the quarterback off the spot to help a talented defensive backfield.

If Hawai’i protects in the pass game and punishes in the run game against a fellow Group of 5 program, Weaver or Alejado should be able to steer the ship to a victory at home and even the all-time series against the Bearkats at one-all.