Chang’s process resulted in UH’s upset of Air Force

The Hawaii football team trusted the process.

Saturday night’s 27-13 dismantling of Air Force was a result of weeks of experiments, developments and tireless work, according to the UH coaches.

“People might think: Why didn’t we do this earlier?” said head coach Timmy Chang, whose Rainbow Warriors won two in a row to improve to 4-7 and 2-4 in the Mountain West. “I believe it was a process. We were correcting one thing at a time, building one block at a time. That’s where we are.”

The Warriors entered as 20-point underdogs to the Falcons, whose offense eats yards and time, and who attack defensively with an 11-to-the-ball swarm.

“When you face the most efficient team in the country, you’ve got to find a way to match those things,” Chang said. “You’ve got to match the physicality. You’ve got to match the efficiency. You’ve got match doing your job, and doing it at a high level.”

This season, Chang took over the play-calling on offense and resurrected the four-wide attack he ran successfully as a record-setting UH quarterback in the early 2000s.

But facing more three-safety defenses protecting against deep passes and with a thinning running back group, the Warriors eased in new elements in recent weeks. They huddled before snaps to improve communication and slow the pace, and worked in run/pass-option plays to take advantage of quarterback Brayden Schager’s running ability.

“He’s not standing back there taking shots from them,” Chang said of mobilizing Schager, who averaged 8.9 yards on keepers and scrambles. “We’re starting to implement things that are helping our guys out.”

The meshing of schemes resulted in improved production in rushing and pass efficiency in a ball-control offense.

After the game, Chang praised Schager’s leadership and growth in the evolving system. It came a day after Chang provided honest critique of Schager’s play in practice.

“I’m hard on him because I want him to be the best,” Chang said. “He can take that. He’s getting better in front of our eyes.”

Schager said: “It’s a special relationship. I know he has to be hard on me to get the best out of me. That’s how I operate. Whenever there’s pressure on me or someone’s hard on me, I tend to do better. That’s the case, and he knows that. It’s all love. I know he wants the best from me.”

Defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said the UH offense was able to sustain drives — and put up points — to keep the defense fresh. Yoro praised the defensive line for creating the push to open the way for the linebackers and safeties.

“It came down to the energy, the effort, and the execution,” Yoro said. “Those are the things we preached all week. I thought the guys did a hell of a job. It’s about a mentality when you play a team like Air Force. The guys took on that mentality, I thought, and the (position) coaches did a good job instilling it in position groups.”

Linebackers coach Chris Brown said mike linebacker Isaiah Tufaga was “the glue for the whole defense. He’s the leader. He’s the one who gets everybody lined up. He’s the one who gets everybody together. He makes all the calls. When the calls come in from the sideline, he’s the one who lines up the D-line and talks to the safeties. The safeties talk to the corners. Everything works together. He’s the heart and soul of the whole defense.”