An early look at the 2014 Hawaii Rainbows Offense
Aug 29, 2013; Honolulu, HI, USA; Hawaii Rainbow Warriors coach Norm Chow reacts during the game against the Southern California Trojans at Aloha Stadium. USC defeated Hawaii 30-13. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
With the college football season set to kickoff in just over two months for the Washington Huskies. It is not to early to take a sneak peek at the Hawaii Rainbows starting with the offense.
The Rainbows under third-year head coach Norm Chow were horrendous record wise at 1-11 in 2013. Chow, is 4-20 overall in his first two seasons as the head coach of Hawaii. Thus, the 2014 season is a very critical one for Chow as he has to show improvement in the win column.
The Rainbows statistically were not quite as bad as their 1-11 record indicated during the 2013 season. Offensively, they were able to move the football as the season wore on. For example, Hawaii gained over 600 yards of offense in their final two games at Wyoming, and on senior night against Army.
The problem was defensively, the Rainbows could not stop anyone late in the season. For instance, in the Wyoming game the Cowboys gained 793 yards of offense. This wasted Sean Schroeder’s 499 yard performance in Laramie.
Hawaii returns quality players at the skill positions. Senior Wide Receiver Chris Gant had 973 yards receiving, ans Joey Iosefa is the leading returning rusher with 590. The question to be answered is who is going to throw the ball to Gant.
Sophomore Ikaika Woolsey took most of the snaps during spring practice for the Rainbows. Woolsey, and senior Taylor Graham are expected to battle it out in fall camp for the starting quarterback spot.
If Woolsey gets the job this should play right into the hands of the veteran Husky defense. It also should help take the pressure off of a young secondary that is talented but inexperienced.
Look for defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski to have a very aggressive approach early on to cause Hawaii to turn the ball over. The ability of the Washington turn the Rainbow offense over and create short fields for the offense is going to critical in this game.
It is so critical because it is quite possible that Jeff Lindquist or Troy Williams could be the starter if Cyler Miles gets suspended for this game. This scenario would then lead to a conservative game plan offensively to protect a young quarterback. It also would give the defense a sense of urgency to dominate the football game.
Overall, the Washington defense should have little trouble containing the Hawaii offense. The Huskies will create enough turnovers to propel themselves to an easy win on August 30.