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Every time University of Hawaii quarterback Chevan Cordeiro went down under a pile of San Diego State defenders on Saturday, the name of the stadium, Dignity Health Sports Park, seemed just a little more ominous.
Fortunately, the services of the nation’s fifth-largest hospital system were not needed on a day in Carson, Calif., when Cordeiro was sacked seven times in a 34-10 blowout by the Aztecs.
But in a season in which he has been sacked 17 times through just four games, a lot is going to have to change in a hurry as 13-point favorite Boise State comes to town if the Rainbow Warriors (2-2) are going to have a winning season with their sophomore quarterback surviving long enough to take them there.
A hurry is pretty much an apt description of the way Cordeiro was forced to operate most of Saturday amid the constant defensive pressure, completing 17 of 35 passes for 209 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Instead of the run-and-gun offense, it was more reminiscent of chuck and duck on the run.
And, indeed, that has often been the drill this season beginning with four sacks by Fresno State and five at Wyoming.
In giving up an average of 4.25 sacks per game overall, UH this week ranks 120th among 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.
There is no official mark in the UH record book for the number of sacks yielded by the Rainbow Warriors in a season or the highest number absorbed by one quarterback. But a couple of good reference points are the 0-12 season of 1998, when Dan Robinson was sacked 28 times, and the 3-8 campaign of 1997 when Tim Carey and Josh Skinner shared the misery, each being subjected to 20-plus sacks.
In Robinson’s case, it was so bad that his family counseled him to give up his senior season of eligibility and not come back for 1999, the better to assure the future dentist could still have a career in medicine. But, fortunately, June Jones arrived on the scene and Robinson agreed to stick around and help guide what became the biggest single-season turnaround in the NCAA at that point to a 9-4 record.
In 2008, a 7-7 season in which the opposition included Florida, Cincinnati, Washington State and Notre Dame, Greg Alexander was sacked 32 times and Inoke Funaki taken down 21 times, UH said.
The thing now is while Cordeiro has an admirable toughness and tenacity to him, there is nobody behind him who has taken snaps in a Division I game. So, it would behoove UH not only to keep him upright but improve the protection and, if necessary, tailor some of the offense to giving him more short route passing options than seemed available at Wyoming or against San Diego State.
On Saturday the seven sacks (there were sacks on consecutive plays in one series) helped short circuit six of UH’s 15 possessions, drives that ended in punts, turnovers or a missed field goal. Small wonder the Warriors struggled to find offensive rhythm or consistency.
While the UH defense came up with a remarkable 15 tackles for loss, it wasn’t enough to keep the Rainbow Warriors in the game when their own offense couldn’t score.
As UH coach Todd Graham put it afterward, “You just cannot win games if you don’t score points.”
And, of course, it is hard to score points when your quarterback is either running for his life or is in the bear hug of a defender.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
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