In the short run, the Hawaii football team is seeking long runs.
After a productive first seven games — in which Fred Holly III established himself as a No. 1 back and Dayton Furuta became “Froooot!” — the Rainbow Warriors’ rushing has run aground.
In constructing a 6-1 start, the UH running backs averaged 5.29 yards per carry. In the past three games, all losses, the backs are averaging 3.22 yards per rush.
The recent struggles are amplified on first-down rushes, including non-sack keepers and scrambles by quarterback Cole McDonald. The Warriors averaged 4.36 yards on first-down rushes in the first seven games, 2.58 yards in the next three.
“It’s obvious, as you can tell, not the same,” Holly said.
Part of the problem is competition, part of it is execution.
“I think it’s a mixture of teams playing the run against us a little bit better, and we’re not executing the run as well as we had been,” said offensive coordinator Brian Smith, who coaches the running backs. “There’s been some more movement up front that’s been tough on the (offensive) line. Those are the things we’re working to get a lot better at. It’s really a combination of (opposing teams) and us not executing as well as we need to.”
The past three opponents — Brigham Young, Nevada and Fresno State — used shifting fronts to bracket the Warriors’ takeoff area and darting linebackers to clog the running lanes. Furuta noted that Fresno, which has one of the nation’s stingiest defenses, was “gap sound. (The Bulldogs’) scheme was right. They didn’t make mistakes. We needed them to get out of the gap. but they were disciplined. They were true to their reads. They just played a really good game.”
Four UH running backs combined for 27 yards on 13 carries against the Bulldogs.
The UH running backs averaged 21 carries in the first seven games. In the past three games, their average workload was 16.3.
“I don’t know if I would say we’re calling (for rushes) a bunch less,” Smith said. “I would say the production’s low, and that’s probably preventing some of the calls. When you’re running the ball well, you’re getting more favorable downs, you have more options. If you’re not running the ball well, you’re in a lot more longer yardage (on second and third downs), and that’s going to force you to throw probably a little more than you want to.”
Smith noted the rushing totals are skewed because in many situations, McDonald is designated as a runner.
“When we talk about the running game, we’re talking about called runs, we’re talking about RPOs (run-pass option),” Smith said. “There are some things that are called for Cole. There are some things that are read option where he has the ability to pull it. He’s dangerous with his feet. I think it’s important to take advantage of that. It’s hard for defenses to account for a quarterback in a spread option in the run game.”
McDonald said he relishes a role as a second running back when Furuta or Holly is covered.
“It just opens up the lane for me to take off,” McDonald said. “I feel I can use my legs sometimes, too. I ran track in high school.”
McDonald said he is fully healed after missing a game because of an undisclosed injury four weeks ago. Holly also has declared himself physically fit after recovering from a hamstring ailment. Holly averaged 4.59 yards on 74 carries in the first seven games. He had four carries the past three games. Now, Holly said, “I’m good enough to play at a high level.”
OPPONENT ATT. YDS TD AVE.
Statistics of running backs only
Colorado State 23 103 0 4.47
Navy 20 104 1 5.20
Rice 20 120 2 6.00
Army 5 22 0 4.40
Duquesne 25 189 1 7.56
San Jose State 29 107 1 3.69
Wyoming 25 133 0 5.32
BYU 15 55 1 3.67
Nevada 21 76 0 3.62
Fresno State 13 207 0 2.07
