The Vanderbilt Commodores came out of the gate rocking last night in Honolulu, as they crushed the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii 63-10. Here are three takeaways from Vanderbilt at Hawaii.
With Vanderbilt at Hawaii, many thought this game would be a weird one for the Commodores to pull out. After all, the flight to Honolulu does strange things to teams.
But, on a beautiful Saturday evening in the capital of aloha, it was Vanderbilt football who shocked everyone in the college football world, demolishing Hawaii after a 35-point third quarter.
The Vanderbilt run game was the star of the show, as the Commodores ran for 404 yards and five touchdowns. Meanwhile, Hawaii looked lost after the opening drive and never could recapture the success they saw from said first possession.
Takeaway #3: Hawaii has a long, long road ahead of them
When Timmy Chang took over the Hawaii job in January, the transfer issue was well-known. As the broadcasters noted, there were 51 new players for the Rainbow Warriors. Granted, they lost a lot, but the addition of some power five transfers could have made a dent in the experience department.
Instead, Hawaii must come away from this game feeling as if there is no way to go but up.
They were thoroughly outclassed by the SEC’s projected bottom-dweller, gaining only 4.4 yards per play compared to Vanderbilt’s 8.3. After the first drive, there were some successes in the short passing game, especially with peek slants combined with inside zone.
But, there were lots more failures, as the score shows. They were unable to stop Vanderbilt’s quasi-option attack, and had two crucial fumbles that took all the air out of the building.