Behind Enemy Lines: A look inside the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors

2019 Preview: Hawaii

Fresh off two consecutive home wins against UMass and VMI, the Black Knights embark on the long trip to Hawaii to take on the Rainbow Warriors. Army West Point needs a win against Hawaii to keep their chances for bowl eligibility alive.

When: 12:30 AM (EST). Sunday, November 30th at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, HI.

Series Record: This will be the fifth meeting of the two teams with Hawaii holding a 3-1 advantage in the series that started in 2003.

Last Meeting: Sep 15, 2018 at Michie Stadium. Hawaii jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on an opening 5 play. 75 yard drive that featured the passing and running of Cole McDonald and receiving of John Ursua. Army was forced to punt on their first possession but then stopped Hawaii on downs and scored to tie the game at 7-7. After stopping Hawaii again, Army launched a 12 minute drive that ended in a TD 2 minutes into the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead. Hawaii scored again to tie the game at 14-14, but Connor Slomka scored from 48 yards out to give Army a 21-14 lead at the half. The third quarter was a defensive battle with both teams forced to punt in their two possessions. Army started the fourth quarter with a 12 play, 73 yard drive to increase their lead to 28-14, but McDonald quickly answered with an 80 yard touchdown pass to Ursua to pull within 7. Army marched to the Hawaii 28 yard line, but the Rainbow Warriors stopped Kelvin Hopkins on a 4th and 1 conversion attempt to keep Hawaii’s chances alive with 3 minutes left in the game. McDonald took to the air reaching the Army 11 before the Black Knights stopped him on 4th and 8 to preserve the 28-21 win.

Hawaii started the 2018 season with three straight wins over Colorado State, Navy, and Rice before losing to Army at Michie Stadium. They continued with another 3 wins over Duquesne, San Jose State, and Wyoming before losing their second game of the season at BYU. They lost three straight conference games to Nevada, Fresno State and Utah State before ending the regular season with two straight wins over UNLV and San Diego State (in OT) to end the regular season with an 8-5 record. They lost to Louisiana Tech in the Hawaii Bowl.

Hawaii started their 2019 season with two straight home wins over PAC 12 teams Arizona and Oregon State, but lost their third game to another PAC 12 opponent at Washington. They won their homecoming game against FCS opponent Central Arkansas and opened their conference schedule with a win against Nevada before dropping two conference games to Boise State and Air Force. They picked up a second conference win at New Mexico but lost at home to Fresno State. They have won their last three games against San Jose State, UNLV and San Diego State to earn a trip to the MWC conference championship game vs Boise State in December.

2019 Stats after 9 games:

- Scoring Offense: 34.0 points per game

- Total Offense: 860 plays for 5758 yards (6.69 yards per play)

- Rushing Offense: 349 attempts for 1795 yards (5.1 ave) and 18 rushing TDs

- Passing Offense: 511 attempts with 322 completions for 3963 yards and 33 TDs with 16 interceptions

Rainbow Warriors to Watch on Offense

Quarterback: RS Junior Cole McDonald is back at quarterback for Hawaii. He has attempted 400 passes with 259 completions (64.75%) for 3151 yards and 26 TDs with 13 interceptions. He has rushed for 397 yards in 76 attempts for a 5.22 average per carry with 6 rushing TDs.

Running Backs: Sophomore Miles Reed is the leading rusher for Hawaii with 712 yards in 142 attempts (5.01 ave) with 6 rushing touchdowns. McDonald is the second leading rusher for Hawaii.

Receivers: John Ursua is gone, but Senior Cedrick Byrd is back to lead Hawaii in receptions with 83 catches for 927 yards and 9 TDs. Another returning senior Jo Jo Ward is a close second with 53 catches for 889 yards and 10 TDs, along with junior Jared Smart with 68 catches for 792 yards and 3 TDs.

2019 Stats:

- Scoring Defense: Allowed 31.8 points per game

- Total Defense: Allowed 5063 yards in 806 plays for an average gain of 6.28 yards per play

- Rushing Defense: Allowed 2256 yards in 405 attempts for a 5.57 average and 27 rushing TDs

- Passing Defense: Allowed 2807 yards in 401 attempts with a completion rate of 58.8%

Minutemen to Watch on Defense

Senior LB Solomon Matautia is the leading tackler for Hawaii with 64 tackles including 4.0 TFLs.

Sophomore DB Khoury Bethley is the second leading tackler with 58, including 1 TFL.

The Black Knights defenders have had their problems defending against high percentage passing quarterbacks this season, and they will be facing another good one in the Hawaii game. McDonald is an accurate passer who is also a threat running the football.

For what it’s worth, however, Air Force dominated the Rainbow Warriors 56-26 in their meeting in Hawaii earlier this season. The Falcons ran for 363 yards and completed 6 of their 7 pass attempts for another 169 yards.

This is a must win for the Black Knights, but not for the Rainbow Warriors who have already qualified for a bowl game and will be playing in the conference championship the following week. They are coming off a critical win against San Diego State that clinched the western division championship and getting ready for an even bigger game against Boise State for the MWC conference championship.

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