Hawaii Warriors
2012 Overall Rank # 76
# 6 Mountain West
Hawaii Team Page
The Hawaii Warriors are entering a new conference and have a new leader after their former Head Coach Greg McMackin was basically fired, but officially retired. They are now turning to the guide of Norm Chow, who is in his first year as a collegiate Head Coach.
2011 Record: (6-7, 2-4)
2011 Bowl: None
Coach: Norm Chow (0-0 at Hawaii, 0-0 overall)
Offensive Coordinator: Tommy Lee
Defensive Coordinator: Thom Kaumeyere
Returning Leaders:
Rushing: Joey Iosefa, RB, 573 yards
Passing: David Graves, QB, 768 yards
Receiving: Billy Ray Stutzmann, WR, 910 yards
Tackles: John Hardy-Tuliau, DB, 54
Sacks: Art Laurel, LB, 9
Interceptions: John Hardy-Tuliau, DB, 3
Other Key Returnees: WR Jemiah Ostrowski, RB Sterling Jackson
Key Losses: QB Bryant Moniz, DB Aaron Brown, LB Corey Paredes, WR Royce Pollard,
Strengths:
The Warriors put themselves on the map several years ago when they switched to a pass happy spread offense and ran it better than anyone in the nation. They threw the ball all over and that trend still continues today. Their passing attack is one of the best in the nation, especially statistically. Although they are replacing the graduated Bryant Moniz, Hawaii has had a long list of capable signal callers, so there is no reason to doubt David Graves, who looks poised to have a big year. The passing offense is what will carry this team to victory on a regular basis. Overall the Warriors offense is very efficient. The Warriors also did a good job creating pressure, ranking 15th in the nation in sacks per game.
Weaknesses:
The Warriors gave up 3.15 sacks per game, 110th best in the nation. Obviously you expect them to allow more sacks than a typical team with their high pass to run preference, but over three sacks is too many. This was the root of their problems offensively, as when there is a lot of pressure, it is difficult for the quarterback to go through his reads and feel comfortable. Being able to make reads is key in this offense, so if they are able to protect better the offense will perform better. Additionally this leads to more turnovers and the defense was unable to generate enough turnovers to match, resulting in a negative turnover ratio. When you lose the turnover battle you lose the game more often than not. This is something that Coach Norm Chow needs to correct.
The Bottom Line:
The Warriors cobra quick striking offense is deadly and will be their ticket to success in 2012. However this team still lacks elite level talent and has struggled the past few seasons. Hawaii looks to be a decent, but not great, team in 2012. But with a new head coach, sometimes a fire is lit and the team outperforms expectations, so Hawaii is a team to keep an eye on to disrupt their new conference.
Projected Bowl: Hawaii Bowl
2011 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 95.38 (113 in the nation, 8th in conference)
Passing Offense: 308.77 (12, 1)
Total Offense: 404.15 (43, 4)
Scoring Offense: 31.46 (36, 3)
Rushing Defense: 142.46 (53, 3)
Pass Defense: 244.92 (85, 5)
Total Defense: 387.38 (66, 4)
Scoring Defense: 29.08 (80, 4)
Turnover Margin: -.15 (74, 4)
Sacks: 2.69 (15, 1)
Sacks Allowed: 3.15 (110, 8)
