Crossing patterns enable Hawaii’s receivers to keep defenses wondering who to cover

On the first drive of his first University of Hawaii football season, wideout JoJo Ward found a reason to smile.

First noticed in a pre-snap look and then confirmed after the football was in quarterback Cole McDonald’s hands, Ward and his UH teammates found a vulnerability in Colorado State’s defensive coverage. Moments later, the Rainbow Warriors celebrated their first touchdown of the season. One of the happiest was Ward, who did not even touch the football on the play.

“You’ve got to play your role,” said Ward, who ran a stutter-stepping crossing route in which two defenders collided, freeing slotback John Ursua to catch a 4-yard scoring pass from McDonald. “The play was meant for me to get (Ursua) open. It came out victorious at the end.”

The Warriors’ successful aerial attack — they average 427.0 passing yards per game — is rooted in football’s version of the screen-and-pop offense. The receivers often use the divide-and-conquer approach, running tandem routes to an area, and then splitting in opposite directions, with the intent of drawing away a defender.

What confounds defenders is that the UH routes are not always linear, instead often resembling a nervous man’s scribbling. The Warriors use mesh routes, a legal tactic in which they run crossing patterns without making contact with a defender.

Two of Ursua’s touchdowns came after defenders collided trying to track receivers.

“The offense is made to do that,” Ursua said. “If you’re a selfish player in this offense, it’s not going to work out for this team. We always strive to get each other open. I have routes for specific plays against specific coverages where I have to open up Cedric (Byrd) or Jo. And vice versa. … It’s definitely not a game of, ‘Hey, look at me, pass me the ball.’ It’s more so, ‘Hey, how can I get my man open? How can I get Cole an easier target?’”

Receivers coach Andre Allen implores his players to run every route at top speed, which keeps defenders from deciphering which receiver is a decoy. Allen also said the free-flowing scheme allows for every receiver to be a potential target.

“Just because they’re not the No. 1 option, it doesn’t mean the ball won’t come to them,” Allen said. “They’re buying into what we’re teaching them, and the philosophy of the offense, and it’s paying off.”

McDonald, the backup quarterback in 2017, is credited with spurring unity in the passing game. McDonald and Byrd, who transferred from Long Beach City College in January, are housemates. McDonald was one of the first to greet Ward, who moved to Honolulu a week before the start of training camp. “He took me under his wing,” Ward said of McDonald. “He helped me learn the offense. We connected on and off the field.”

Ursua was held out of several preseason practices because of leg issues. But in a warm-up-time decision, Ursua was declared fit for the opener against Colorado State two weeks ago. Ursua, Byrd and Ward were in sync immediately. In two games this season, they have combined for 46 catches and nine touchdowns.

“We talk about being unselfish,” McDonald said. “There are certain coverages they know, ‘OK, I’m going to get the ball here, I’m not going to get the ball there.’ It’s really an unselfish position to be in. And it’s also a glorified position. You get a lot of balls, a lot of touchdowns. Then again, at times, you’re running off defenders for guys. You’re trying to set up good routes so I can get the ball out in open spaces.”