Hawaii vs Michigan: The Wolverines dominate on both sides of the ball

The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors travelled to Ann Arbor taking on the No. 7 ranked Michigan Wolverines in their second game of the season. Michigan did not name a starting quarterback until the first time the offense took the field after a 3-and-out by the ‘Bows on their first possession.

Wilton Speight came out under center for Michigan and the Hawaii defense was able to start well against him, picking off a pass on Speight’s first attempt. After interception the Michigan defense was able to shut down Ikaika Woolsey and company, a trend that would continue throughout the game.

The ‘Bows defense could not stop an offense that was rolling and went to score 35 unanswered points at halftime. One positive from the first half was at the end of the second quarter when Nick Rolovich changed the system by going to four or five wide receivers. Spreading out the field led to a passing attack that worked its way to the red zone for the first time.

Once in the red zone the offense imploded, on first and goal the snap rolled along the ground to Woolsey, second and goal they took a sack for a big loss. A pass sailed over the head of Marcus Kemp on third and goal but Hawaii was saved on a personal foul against Michigan freshmen Rashan Gary, giving them another chance.

The first half ended with Woolsey scrambling and trying to throw the ball out of bounds to stop the clock with two seconds left so Hawaii could attempt a field goal before the halftime. The only problem was Woolsey never escaped the pocket and was called for intentional grounding and the penalty resulted in 10 second run off and brought the half to an end.

The second half was more of the same for the Rainbow Warriors on both sides of the ball with the offense struggling and the Wolverines continuing to move the ball up and down the field.

Michigan scored early in third on 43 yard run from freshmen running back Chris Evans, who would finish with 112 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Woolsey threw a pick six on the next drive to Michigan’s Delano Hill, and Hawaii would shut out on the third quarter 21-0. After the pick six, Dru Brown entered the in place of Woolsey at quarterback, and would show his ability to move the ball on the ground as well as in the air.

In the fourth quarter Hawaii was able to get on the scoreboard with Rigoberto Sanchez hitting a 55 yard field goal making the game 56-3. Michigan would go on one last scoring drive to make the game 63-3, which would be final score, after Karan Higdon run in for the touchdown from five yards out.

Brown was somewhat of a bright spot for the ‘Bows showing is versatility on the field and leading the team on it only scoring drive, he would finish 5 of 10 passing for 63 with one interception that was returned for a touchdown and led the team in rushing with 49 yards on five carries.

After a tough game against on the top teams in the nation, The ‘Bows head back to the island to face UT Martin in their first home game of the season.

Coach Rolovich will get a week of practice to evaluate the quarterback position and get the team ready to face a team that they should handle and earn the first win of the season against.