Scouting Report: UCLA vs. Hawai’i

This post was updated Aug. 23 at 12:36 p.m.

For the first time in 637 days, the Rose Bowl is opening up for Bruin fans to cheer on their team. UCLA football will host Hawai’i on Aug. 28 in Pasadena for its opening matchup of a potentially make-or-break campaign for coach Chip Kelly. Will UCLA be able to pick up its first season-opening win since 2017 when Josh Rosen led a 28-point comeback against Texas A&M, or will it be more of the same for Kelly and the Bruins? Here’s the first scouting report of the season by assistant editor Francis Moon – who is excited to be back in Westwood for the start of the season.

Hawai’i’s offense

Offensive scheme: Run and gun

Run-pass percentage: 51.4% pass, 48.6% rush

Strength: Quarterback

Weakness: Skill position depth

X-factor: RB Dae Dae Hunter

Hawai’i’s offense revolves around its dual-threat quarterback.

Chevan Cordeiro showed he can cause problems for opposing defenses with both his legs and his arm, throwing for 2,083 yards and 14 touchdowns last season while also leading his team in rushing attempts, yards and touchdowns by a sizable margin.

The fourth-year sophomore also showed off his big-play ability on the ground with a 54-yard rushing touchdown against UNLV, the longest run by any Hawai’i player all season.

Running back/wide receiver Calvin Turner Jr. – Cordeiro’s top target – led his team in receiving yards and ranked second among returning players in rushing yardage, finding the end zone 10 times in his first season with the Rainbow Warriors. The Jacksonville transfer is a do-it-all athlete who lined up at running back, wide receiver and wildcat quarterback while also returning kickoffs and punts last year after playing quarterback and defensive back during his first three collegiate seasons.

With three returning starters on an experienced offensive line, Turner and running back Dae Dae Hunter have the potential to boost the team’s rushing production from its backfield.

Aside from the Cordeiro-Turner duo, the Rainbow Warriors’ offense is good but not great. It has the potential to show improvement in its second year under coach Todd Graham and his run-and-gun system.

Wide receiver Jared Smart accrued 320 receiving yards and led the team in receptions with 36 in 2020, but the team has no established third receiver heading into the season. Several players such as Hunter have the chance to emerge in the offense after the team’s second-leading rusher, running back Miles Reed, entered the transfer portal following last season.

If the Bruins focus on containing Turner while putting pressure on Cordeiro to make other members of the Rainbow Warriors’ offense beat them, the veteran UCLA defense should get the upper hand and limit the number of first downs from the opposing offense.

Hawai’i’s defense

Defensive schemes: 4-3, 3-3 stack, odd front

Blitz tendency: Medium

Strength: Secondary, turnovers

Weakness: Defensive line

X-factor: LB Penei Pavihi

Hawai’i displayed a new and improved defense last season, and it is returning almost every starter.

The Rainbow Warriors ranked 68th nationally in yards allowed per game – one spot ahead of the Bruins – and had one of the top pass defenses in the country at No. 21. For a historically offensively-focused program, their improvement in defensive production was a notable shift under Graham in his first year with the team.

Graham implemented a wide variety of defensive schemes including a 4-3, 3-3 stack and odd front to diversify his team’s defensive ability. In the year prior, Hawai’i’s base formation was a 4-2-5 alignment.

Much of the credit for the development goes to their secondary, which helped produce the most interceptions of any team in the Mountain West Conference last season.

Cornerback Cortez Davis showed his shutdown ability last season by giving the opposing team’s best wideout – who he often lined up against – fits. Notably, Davis held Nevada wide receiver Romeo Doubs, one of the top receivers in the country, to just one catch for 10 yards.

Starting at both safety and linebacker, defensive back Khoury Bethley led the team with six pass breakups and tied for the team lead in tackles for loss with nine. Bethley acts as the vocal leader on the field, not just for the secondary but for the entire defense.

In front of the defensive backs, Hawai’i features linebacker Darius Muasau, who produced 7.8 solo tackles per game last season – the fourth-highest mark in the country last season. Its front seven, however, is arguably the weakest part of the defense and could provide holes for UCLA running backs junior Zach Charbonnet and redshirt senior Brittain Brown all game.

The Rainbow Warriors’ rushing defense ranked 105th in the country last season and lacks significant depth even though they return their entire starting defensive line.

Regardless, UCLA can’t overlook this up-and-coming Hawai’i defense. Senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson needs to be mindful of the ball-hawking secondary, which will attempt to make life difficult through the air for the Bruins in order to leave Los Angeles with an upset victory.