Costly miscues doom Hawaii in football home opener against Stanford

Sophomore Ashton Daniels earned the start at quarterback and threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns and added two short TD runs in the first half to help Stanford defeat Hawaii 37-24 tonight at the Ching Complex.

A crowd of 12,547 — the largest to attend a game on campus since Aloha Stadium was condemned — saw Hawaii fall to 0-2 with a lackluster performance that included two ejections.

Safety Meki Pei was kicked out of the game for a targeting penalty in the first half and linebacker Isaiah Tufaga was whistled for the same infraction in the third quarter.

Hawaii was whistled for 10 penalties for 107 yards, and they all seemed to come at crucial times.

Tufaga’s penalty on third down kept a Stanford drive alive that resulted in a field goal to push the Cardinal lead to 27-10.

Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Steven McBride on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 27-16. The 2-point try failed.

The Warriors had Stanford ready to punt twice on the ensuing drive. Defensive lineman John Tuitupou was whistled for roughing the passer on third-and-15, and a defensive pass interference on a deep ball allowed the Cardinal to kick another field goal to go up 30-16.

Schager was sacked on fourth down near midfield on Hawaii’s next drive and Daniels put the game away with a 13-yard TD pass to John Humphreys.

Schager finished 30-for-53 for a career-high 355 yards and three touchdowns with no picks, but was sacked six times and got no help from the running game.

UH finished the game with minus-5 total rushing yards.

Hawaii returns to Ching Complex to host Albany on Sept. 9.

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