False Start

Of all the Hawaii football team’s problems, one of the most troubling, for openers, is the struggles of the opening quarter. Opponents are outscoring the Warriors 97-24 in the first quarter of games this season. Opposing teams hold aggregate advantages of 21-7 in the first five minutes and 77-14 in the first 10 minutes.

The Warriors can’t make heads or tails of it.

The first three times they won the coin toss, they deferred the option until the second half. The past three times they won the toss, they chose to receive. Neither worked. This season, seven of their opening drives have resulted in punts; one ended with an interception.

"We’ve talked about it," coach Norm Chow said of the opening stumbles. "We had a (coaches’) meeting about it. Nobody could come up with an answer."

The discussion extended beyond the staff. On Monday afternoon, members of the players’ leadership council met to offer input.

This season, the Warriors have tried different jump-starting methods. They have used a boom box for pregame music in the locker room and have tried requiring the players to use earbuds or headphones.

They have performed the haka on the field and in the locker room.

Chow said he prefers to arrive at the stadium 2 hours, 10 minutes before kickoff. On Saturday against Fresno State, the Warriors arrived 2 hours in advance. Instead of taping their ankles at Bulldog Stadium, they were taped at the hotel.

"We’ll try anything," Chow said.

The next tactic will be to have more aggressive pregame warmups.

"Maybe more hitting," Chow said. "We’ll see if that helps."

During his weekly news conference on Monday, Chow expressed a willingness to make other changes. He said he likely will expand the number of times the Warriors use a no-huddle, faster-paced offense.

"Maybe (we’ll) throw the ball around more," Chow said.

On defense, he expects more zone coverages.

But Chow cautioned: "We’re not going to make wholesale changes. That shows panic, and you’re never going to see us flinch."

Once again, Chow reaffirmed his commitment to starting quarterback Sean Schroeder.

"This is a good player," Chow said. "And I know everybody is yelping about change and all of that. This is a guy we think gives us the best chance."

Chow said Schroeder arrives early each morning to watch videos and is at the front of the line when the weight room opens.

"That tells me a lot," Chow said.

Chow said many mistakes credited to Schroeder are not his fault. For instance, there was a play where the blockers incorrectly went in one direction while Schroeder rolled to the opposite side.

"You don’t see that," Chow said, noting critics instead demand to "change quarterbacks. He doesn’t know what he’s doing."

Chow said he wants Schroeder to work on ball security. Schroeder has half of the Warriors’ 20 fumbles and 14 lost fumbles. Six of Schroeder’s seven lost fumbles came on sacks.

"I don’t know how you stop that," Chow said. "He gets hit from behind. ‘Just because I get hit, doesn’t mean I have to fumble the ball.’ "

The Warriors still were awaiting the results of the MRI on cornerback Mike Edwards’ left shoulder on Monday evening. If Edwards is not available against Boise State this Saturday, the Warriors will go with a four-man rotation of cornerbacks Ne’Quan Phillips, Tony Grimes, John Hardy-Tuliau and Dee Maggitt.

Chow said receivers Chris Gant and Chinedu Amadi will be available as kick returners in Edwards’ possible absence.