Warriors focus on forcing turnovers

During the University of Hawaii football team’s scrimmage-like session on Wednesday, a pass bounced off nose tackle Kory Rasmussen’s hands.

Even though linebacker Simon Poti snagged the ricochet for an interception, Rasmussen stared at his betrayers — his hands — and cussed angrily.

Even in practices, missed turnovers are a curse.

“It’s a little inside thing since the Ohio State game,” Rasmussen said, explaining his reaction. “(Defensive tackle) Ka‘au (Gifford) deflected a pass (in that game). He didn’t catch it. I always give him grief about that. I should have caught that one (in practice). To win football games, you have to win the turnover battle.”

The takeaway from the first five games is the Warriors have not amassed enough takeaways. They have forced four turnovers this season – three fumbles and an interception — while giving away 11. The Warriors are tied for 115th among 127 FBS teams in turnover margin, an average of minus 1.40 per game.

Middle linebacker Julian Gener’s acrobatic interception in the opener is the Warriors’ only pick this season.

Since recovering a fumble in the third game against UC Davis, the Warriors have not forced a turnover, a span of 2 hours, 24 minutes, 14 seconds.

“We’re not doing very well with the turnovers,” head coach Norm Chow said. “More importantly, we have to get turnovers. It’s not always about turning the ball over, it’s about getting the ball back. We have to get better at that.”

The Warriors devote a portion of every practice to ball-stripping, defensive-catching and interception-return drills. But the Warriors have dropped five potential interceptions this season, including one that ping-ponged to a receiver for a catch. Last week, outside linebacker Jeremy Castro’s interception was voided because of a roughing-the-passer penalty.

“It brings back memories of last year,” said Castro, whose sure interception slipped between his hands. “I finally caught one and … well, everything happens for a reason. Interceptions will come.”

Ne’Quan Phillips, who plays cornerback and nickelback, said he is puzzled by the lack of takeaways.

“But if we continue to play tough, hard-nosed defense, they’ll eventually come our way,” Phillips said. “We have some guys who had an opportunity to make turnovers, but we just dropped them. We have to capitalize on them when we can.”

A contributing factor might be the Warriors’ inconsistency in forcing obvious passing situations. Opponents needed to go at least 7 yards on 33 of 80 third-down plays.

“The thing I know about turnovers is when they start to come, they’ll come in bunches,” defensive coordinator Tom Mason said. “Hopefully, we’ll break out of the slump. We have to keep emphasizing that. If we do that, and rely on our fundamentals, we’ll be fine.”