What was supposed to be a day to remember turned into a nightmare to forget.

Timmy Chang’s debut as University of Hawaii football coach dissolved into a 63-10 loss to Vanderbilt in the 2022 opener at the Ching Complex.

The Rainbow Warriors took the first lead on Dedrick Parson’s 37-yard scoring run on a misdirection play, and then things went in the wrong direction.

The Commodores amassed 601 yards, including 404 on 44 rushes, scored on two fumble returns, and pieced together a 35-0 smackdown in the third quarter. It was the most points the Warriors allowed for a head coach’s debut. Chang, who was hired in January, was a record-setting quarterback for his alma mater in the early 2000s.

“I’ve got to be better,” said Chang, who offered a message of unity in an address to the team. “I want them to stick together. This is adversity. We have to turn around quick if we want to have the season we want.”

Under new offensive coordinator Ian Shoemaker, the Warriors drove 75 yards in eight plays against the Southeastern Conference opponent from Nashville. Overloading the right side, Parson took a handoff and raced around left and up the field for a 7-0 lead. But the Warriors would average only 3.9 yards per play in their final 13 drives.

The Commodores, who made only nine sacks in 12 games last year, had three on Saturday. The Warriors’ running game could not gain traction, and their vertical attack was impacted when speedy Zion Bowens suffered an injury in the first quarter. Chang said Bowens’ situation is being evaluated.

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In the opening quarter, the Commodores drove to the UH 1, where they began several lineup shuffles to create a formation of two tight ends and a fullback. The Warriors tried to answer, but had only 10 defenders on the field when Michael Wright threw the scoring pass to a wide-open Will Sheppard in the right side of the end zone.

“We thought the refs were going to give us an opportiunity to sub,” UH defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said. “We subbed in a package for that, and we were mis-aligned.”

Later, the Warriors were forced to burn a timeout when they were a man short while setting up to punt.

The Commodores broke the 7-all tie with 21 seconds left in the first quarter. Parson sprinted to his right before colliding with safety Max Worship. The ball popped up to linebacker Anfernee Orji, who raced 28 yards for the touchdown.

It was the first fumble for Parson since the 2021 opener against UCLA. “I take that on the chin,” Parson said. “I put that all on me as far as the momentum shift of the game. That’s something I can’t do.”

In the third quarter, Elijah McCallister knocked the football free from Parson’s grip. CJ Taylor’s 14-yard fumble return made it 42-10.

“I can’t get away from my fundamentals,” said Parson, who has worked on what he termed a double-vise grip and knowing when a play is at its end. “That’s the biggest thing for me, getting away from my fundamentals. I know I can make a lot of people miss, break a lot of tackles … These fumbles can’t happen. I believe if those fumbles don’t happen, we win the game. The momentum doesn’t shift how it does in a quarter. I believe we’ll be having a different conversation now.”

The game also featured two different quarterback narratives. Wright, who was named Vanderbilt’s starter this summer, rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns, including an 87-yard sprint. Wright also was 13-for-21 for 146 yards and two scores. He was not intercepted nor sacked. He also was able to elude a spy defender assigned to him.

“Athletic quarterback,” Chang said. “As a staff, we knew he would cause us problems with his legs, and he did. And he kept some drives alive. And he kept us on the field longer than what we wanted to be. And that’s the difference.”

Yoro said of Wright: “He’s dynamic in what he does. You give him a little air and he’s going to roll. We didn’t do a good job of containing him like we needed. And those explosive plays hit — and in the third quarter, they were hitting.”

Chang and Shoemaker decided on Wednesday that Schager, a second-year Warrior, would start at quarterback. Schager was 6-for-13 for 59 yards in the first half, after which UH trailed 21-10. With the offense stagnant, UH opted to turn to Joey Yellen to open the third quarter. Chang said the quarterback competition between Schager and Yellen, who transferred from Pittsburgh in May, had been close.

“We wanted to give Joey another opportunity to show what he can do, and really, what we have as a team,” Chang said.

But Yellen’s performance was swallowed in Vanderbilt’s scoring surge. The Commodores needed 56 seconds to go 75 yards in three plays on their first drive of the second half. It took 1 minute, 49 seconds for their ensuing scoring drive. Taylor then scored on the fumble return, and later, Wright went 87 yards for the Commodores’ 28th point of the third quarter.

Yellen was 10-for-20 for 89 yards in five series before Schager returned in the middle of the fourth quarter.

Chang did not indicate whether the competition would be re-opened ahead of this coming weekend’s game against Western Kentucky.