The Hawaii Warriors will be searching for their first win this season when they take on the Oregon State Beavers of Corvallis, Ore., at 2 p.m. Saturday. The game, which will be nationally televised on the Pac-12 Network, will feature
The Hawaii Warriors will be searching for their first win this season when they take on the Oregon State Beavers of Corvallis, Ore., at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The game, which will be nationally televised on the Pac-12 Network, will feature two teams coming off opening season losses last week.
Although suffering a 30-13 loss against the than ranked #24 USC Trojans last Thursday in Honolulu, the Warriors’ defense showed promise against a talented Trojan squad.
Hawaii’s defense was able to hold the Trojans to 364 total yards and forced USC to go 3 of 14 on third down conversions.
The Warriors’ defense will need to have a similar performance and will have to have their offensive line and quarterback, Taylor Graham, show up.
Graham, an Ohio State transfer, completed just 16 of 41 throwing attempts for 208 yards. Graham reached the endzone once and was picked off four times.
The main issue for the Warriors that became evident in their season opener was the lack of protection and blocking from their offensive line.
Hawaii’s line gave up seven sacks and was unable to provide blocking for their rushing attack as the Warriors gained 23 yards on 31 running attempts.
The Warriors must do a better job up front if they want to keep Saturday’s game competitive against a hungry Beaver squad.
Ranked #25 in the nation to open the season, the Beavers are now unranked following their opening game blunder against Eastern Washington.
Oregon State, who was a 27-point favorite against the Eagles, allowed a fourth quarter touchdown with just 18 seconds left, giving Eastern Washington a 49-46 win in Corvallis.
The Beavers will be looking to bounce back from a game in which they gave up 625 total yards and won’t be taking the Warriors lightly.
This will be the Warriors eighth meeting against the Beavers and first since their 45-7 loss back in 2008.
The Beavers are 27 point favorites for Saturday’s matchup.
• Tyson Agbayani, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or tagbayani@thegardenisland.com.
