Chang hopes Warriors learn from Power Five losses

Timmy Chang refused to bury the evidence.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s 55-10 road loss to Oregon, the Hawaii football team’s second-year head coach made sure video copies of the game would be reviewed — and preserved — as learning tools.

“They’ll be in (the archives) forever,” Chang said. “There were good lessons. You teach from them, you learn from them.”

The Warriors are 1-3 — their setbacks were to Power Five opponents Vanderbilt, Stanford and Oregon — heading into this Saturday’s nonconference game against New Mexico State at the Ching Complex. While Chang insisted the Warriors had viable game plans against Vanderbilt and Stanford, little went right against Oregon, which scored on its first seven drives.

During his playing career with UH, the former record-setting quarterback endured blowout losses to USC (61-32 in 2003) and Boise Sate (69-3 in 2004). When Chang was a freshman in 2000, the Warriors opened with a 45-20 loss to Portland State, the last time they lost to an FCS opponent. After each overwhelming setback, then UH coach June Jones — Chang’s mentor — analyzed every breakdown during team meetings; absorbed every painful detail of drops, overthrows and missed blocks, and then planned for the next opponent.

“For me, I took the June approach,” Chang said. “You grow through tough losses and you hope, as coaches and players, you grow. You learn from (the loss to Oregon). Then it’s on to the next one. ‘Let’s go get better.’”

Each week since the start of training camp in late July, the UH coaches have added and deleted to the run-and-shoot offense and attacking 4-2-5 defense. But they have remained true to the principles.

“We’re adjusting inside the offensive and defensive rooms a little bit,” Chang said. “It’s nothing noticeable unless you’re inside our rooms. There are little tweaks we make here and there. But continuity is important. Stability is important. Players who have great understanding (of the schemes), coaches who are on the same page — it’s only going to get better, right?”

On offense, the Warriors have had to tap their depth because of ailments. Tylan Hines, who was voted by teammates as a co-captain, was supposed to serve as a “slashback” — a hybrid running back and receiver. But Hines suffered an ailment in the second quarter of the season opener, and was limited for the next two games and unavailable against Oregon. Landon Sims, a back with a mix of speed and power, has missed two games because of an injury. Wideout Jonah Panoke, right guard Maurice Ta‘ala, and tight end Greyson Morgan also did not play against the Ducks. But Jordan Johnson has conquered academic issues to emerge as an elusive back. Kansas transfer Steven McBride, Pofele Ashlock and Alex Perry are speedy targets.

“We’re young,” Chang said. “Listen, it’s not an excuse. The reality is we’ve got a lot of guys developing.”

Chang said there is no panic or frustration. “Because there’s a plan in place,” Chang said. “The plan is to continue to get better.”

The Warriors are hopeful of a good showing against New Mexico State, which is in its first year with Conference USA after competing as an independent the previous five seasons. In last year’s meeting between former Western Athletic Conference members, NMSU rolled to a 45-26 victory in Las Cruces, N.M. It was the first time the Aggies defeated the Warriors after losing 10 in a row in the series.

Of the remaining schedule, Chang said, “these are games we need to play some good football. And this is where there needs to be a good turning point and an understanding of what we need to get done.”