It took eight months for the University of Hawaii football team to announce a starting quarterback.

It took a day to reopen the competition.

Head coach Timmy Chang said Brayden Schager and Joey Yellen will be “battling” for the No. 1 quarterback’s job for Saturday’s game against Western Kentucky at the Ching Complex.

In Saturday’s opener, Schager, a second-year Warrior from Dallas, played in the first half of what would be a 63-10 loss to Vanderbilt, then returned with 9:56 remaining in the fourth quarter. He was 5-for-10 for 50 yards in the final two series, finishing 18-for-35 for 161 yards. He did not throw a scoring pass and was not intercepted.

Yellen, who transferred from Pittsburgh in May, was 10-for-20 for 89 yards after starting the second half.

After the season-opening game at the Ching Complex, several coaches went to their third-floor offices to review videos and begin preparation for this coming Saturday’s game against Western Kentucky. The coaches spent Sunday in video sessions and strategic meetings.

“We’ve just got to get better,” Chang said. “The film showed we’ve got to get better in the simple things we do — the fundamentals, leverage, how we attack, taking care of the football, tackling, blocking, being physical. That’s what we’re trying to get better at.”

It appeared there were several times when defenders over-ran plays, leading to longer gains. “At the end of the day, we lacked a lot of fundamentals in terms of tackling,” defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said. “If you don’t tackle well, you’re not going to play good defense.”

The Warriors surrendered 601 yards, including 404 on the ground. Vanderbilt quarterback Michael Wright, who was not sacked in 28 pass plays, ran for 146 yards, including 87 on a touchdown sprint.

The Warriors also were caught out of alignment on Vanderbilt’s first touchdown when the Commodores shuttled players to add three blockers to a goal-line formation. The Warriors had felt the referees were supposed to allow time for defensive substitutions.

“The kids played hard, and they didn’t quit,” Yoro said. “We’re back to work. We know how to fix things.”

Vanderbilt also capitalized on two perfect-storm plays when contact freed the football from UH running back Dedrick Parson. Both times a Vanderbilt defender caught the popup and raced for touchdowns.

“It’s just the first game with these guys,” Chang said. “We all wanted to do better. I wanted to do better. … We’ll go back to work and attack this thing.”