Oregon will face a significant early test from Hawaii’s passing attack.
The Rainbow Warriors enter Saturday’s game at Autzen Stadium No. 14 in passing yards per game because they lead the country in passes thrown. Beyond the total yards, Hawaii (1-2) takes a lot of vertical shots and is one of the nation’s leaders in passes of 10-, 20- and 30-plus yards, along with the likes of USC, Washington and Colorado, all of which Oregon also plays this season.
“They air it out,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “Their quarterback has probably the strongest arm as far as getting the ball down the field that we’ve seen so far this year and they connect on deep shots. I think they throw for (324) yards a game. I know he’s looking for more balance but they create explosive plays with those throws down the field and they have some guys that can really stretch the field.”
Hawaii already has two receivers with over 15 receptions with Pofele Ashlock leading the way with 315 receiving yards and Steven McBride with 210 yards. Only Washington also has multiple 200-yard receivers already this season.
“They got a nice receiving corps,” cornerback Jahlil Florence said. “They like to throw the ball deep a lot. Their quarterback throws deep mostly every play. We’re going to have to be ready to run and be ready to cover these guys this week.”
Hawaii is back to running the Run and Shoot offense under former UH quarterback and second-year head coach Timmy Chang and are a much more competitive team this season, albeit amid a large scale rebuild.
Lanning said the scheme poses a unique challenge due to how receivers run routes based on how opposing defenders are playing in coverage.
“They have to be really in sync and they’ve found a way to be in sync,” Lanning said. “You’ve seen them score some points against other Power Five opponents this year; they will challenge you from an offensive perspective.”
Quarterback Brayden Schager is completing 62.5% of his passes for 972 yards with 10 touchdowns, but has also thrown five interceptions already.
Oregon (2-0) had three interceptions in its win at Texas Tech and was an opportunistic defense last season as well, tying for 10th nationally with 16 interceptions. The Ducks also committed three pass interference penalties last week and that’s been an area the defense has addressed in practice this week with another pass-heavy opponent.
There will be opportunities for each side to make plays on Saturday.
“I think as a backend you got to love the challenge that you’re faced with coming into these type of games,” safety Evan Williams said. “It’s no secret that they’re going to air the ball out. Now it’s a challenge up front to say, ‘How are you going to combat this? How are you going to face these challenges that are coming at you?’ I love stepping up to the plate during these type of games because it’s time to make plays and you know the ball is going to be around you, the ball is going to be in the air and somebody’s going to go get it. Our backend is really looking forward to making plays and capitalizing and improving off last week.”
