What We Learned: Hawaii vs. Vanderbilt
Photo Credit: Eagle Tribune
FINAL: Hawai’i 28 - Vanderbilt 35
The game started off with a weather delay as the rain continued to pour. It did not take long for Vanderbilt to get on the scoreboard either. Vanderbilt was flying around on defense and had a strong first drive that resulted in a touchdown. Patrick Smith took the football 21 yards for a touchdown, but they missed the 2-point conversion, starting the game 6-0 over Hawai’i.
The Rainbow Warriors got the ball back, and quarterback Brayden Schager (Dallas, TX) moved the ball well, hitting his wide-open receivers. Schager had plenty of time to throw and was calm in the pocket. This drive culminated with a passing touchdown for Hawai’i to take the lead 7-6. That lead did not last long as Vandy took the kickoff return for a touchdown with the two-point conversion making it 14-7.
With time to throw, Vanderbilt QB AJ Swann was moving the ball smoothly as he did not throw any interceptions to three touchdowns. He had another great drive ending in a touchdown over the middle to Will Sheppard, making the game 21-7.
It did not take long for Hawai’i and Schager to put a drive together of their own, capping it off with a 45-yard touchdown pass to WR Steven McBride. Schager started the game by completing 13/14 passes for over 100 yards and 2 touchdowns before making his second incompletion, an interception in the end zone. It was a tough throw and a good play by the defensive back with about 6 minutes left before halftime. The Hawai’i defense came up strong again, though, and it started with their pass rush getting a sack. The Rainbow Warriors did not allow any more scoring heading into halftime. Both teams also combined for 26 rushing yards total in the first half. They spread the ball out and kept passing.
The Hawai’i special teams were poor all game and basically led to their loss by giving Vanderbilt good field position. On the Vandy punt return early in the third quarter, Vanderbilt capitalized on the field position with QB AJ Swann throwing to WR Will Shepard again, making the score 28-14 Commodores.
After the Vandy touchdown, Hawai’i started to run the ball with Landon Sims and found success. Although the drive ended with an incomplete pass to the corner of the end zone with Schager on the run avoiding a sack, should they have attempted a field goal? On the next drive, Hawai’i dropped an interception that probably should have been a pick-six. One small mistake from the Hawai’i DB and instead of 6 points, the ball is being driven the other way by Vandy looking to put the game away. AJ Swann then throws a beautiful ball for another Commodores touchdown, making it 35-14. Hawai’i has almost the full fourth quarter to try to come back and at least cover the 17-point spread.
Shager throws a beautiful ball downfield, picking up some nice yardage. Finally, one that was not behind the WR. On the next play, the WR drew a pass interference call in the end zone, and now the Rainbow Warriors were in the red zone. Hawai’i scored a touchdown with 11:20 left to go in the game, making it 35-21.
Hawai’i made another stop, giving themselves a chance to close the gap even more with seven minutes to go. The next play, Schager threw a bomb to get down to the Vandy 20-yard line. WR Pofele Ashlock got his touchdown to cut the game down to seven - 35-28 Commodores. Pofele Ashlock is a freshman from Euless, Texas, who finished the game with 7 receptions, 127 yards, and 1 touchdown. Hawai’i had another opportunity to tie the game, but Schager threw an interception.
What We Learned:
This was an even game in my opinion, which says more about Hawai’i than Vanderbilt. Vandy defeated Hawai’i 63-10 last year and now barely survived a rainy night game at home. Even though the Commodores are an SEC school, they did not look like it defensively. QB Schager moved the ball up and down the field on Vandy. Like we discussed with UTEP, you cannot expect to win games when you have at least three turnovers (turnover on downs counts). There is such a thing as getting bad bounces in football, and that happens. It just wasn’t the case with Hawai’i. Vanderbilt played the tighter game with no turnovers and better special teams play that included a kick return for a touchdown, pinning the ball on the one-yard line on a punt, and then flipping that field scoring a touchdown. Hawai’i was also 3-11 (27%) on third down. This game was a track meet, and in those games, the team that forces turnovers and makes stops usually wins the game. Vanderbilt QB AJ Swann also made the difference by throwing for over 250 yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers. It does not matter how good and fast Hawai’i looked; they did not make the football plays to win the game. Bottom line: When you do not have a top-tier QB, a team like Hawai’i has no choice but to make the small plays to win football games. The same goes for Vanderbilt, but they were able to make those plays and win the game. Credit to both coaches for having these programs headed in the right direction after being in the cellars of college football these past few years. The difference is Timmy Chang and his Rainbow Warriors have a solid chance at competing for the Mountain West Conference title. That Vanderbilt defense will need to improve to attempt to reach at least six wins this season.
DDSN Player of the Game:
Sophomore QB AJ Swann: 19/30 for 258 yards with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
