PPV College football is back for Week 2 as Rainbow Warriors, still looking for their first win of the season, host UAlbany at Clarence T.C. Ching Complex this weekend.
The distance between the schools is 4940 miles, which makes UAlbany one of the furthest distance for a Hawai’i opponent in program history after Maine (5,150 miles), Boston College (5,071), Yale (5,002), Massachusetts (5,005), and Army (4,949). Click here to watch Albany (NY) vs. Hawaii football without ordering a spectrum PPV.
This weekend marks the first time both teams will face each other on the football field.
How to watch Hawaii football vs Albany on Spectrum PPV anywhere
Venue: Honolulu, O’ahu, Clarence T.C. Ching Complex (15,000)
Date: Saturday, September 9
Start Time: 11:59 pm ET
Live Stream: Watch on PremiumTV
UH football Preview:
The debut of the newly expanded Clarence T.C. Ching Complex (whose seating capacity expanded from 9,000 to over 15,000) didn’t end well as the University of Hawai’i football team fell to Stanford 37-24 in their home opener on Friday, with the latter improving to 4-0 in the series.
Rainbow Warriors (0-2) have suffered consecutive losses against power five conference opponents Vanderbilt (28-35) and Stanford (37-24) despite looking far from bad.
Good for them; their next opponent is an FCS team, and UH has an excellent record against such opponents, winning the last 19 games dating back to 2001 (last losing against Portland State in 2000 with 45-20), with an average winning margin of 26.7 points per game.
UH is 3-5 on home soil under head coach Timmy Chang and would like to improve the record and snap a three-game losing streak dating back to last season.
But to do that, they need to show a much more balanced and level-headed performance to get into the winning track. Meanwhile, a UH loss would mark the second straight year that the Warriors started the season with three consecutive defeats.
Scouting Hawaii:
Through two games, along with Brayden Schager and Ashlock, few other Hawai’i players have started the season in style. Landon Sims (9 attempts, 38 yards) and Taylor Hines (14 attempts, 20 yards) are leading in the backfield.
Meanwhile, Logan Taylor and Isiah Tufaga lead the team with 14 tackles each. Tufaga also leads the Warriors in sacks with two so far this season.
Rainbow Warriors have received some good news for the defensive side of the ball; transfer cornerback Cam Stone’s leg injury is reported to be not very bad.
He was taken off the playing field in a golf cart on Friday, and it is now reported that his injury was only a hyperextended knee. That said, he may not be back this week, but he won’t be out of the action for more than that.
UAlbany:
UAlbany (1-1) opened the season with a 34-13 home win over Fordham but suffered a loss 21-17 against Marshall in Huntington, where the Great Danes were leading by as many as 10 in the third quarter before the Herd scored the final 14 points of the game.
Coming to the game, UAlbany has a 14-game road losing streak dating back to the 2021 spring season (the last win was at New Hampshire 24-20). Moreover, they last won against a FBS opponent in 2016 (vs. Buffalo).
It’s worth mentioning that the UAlbany head coach didn’t make the trip to Honolulu because of illness, the first game Gattuso will miss in his ten seasons of leading the Great Danes.
Offensively, UAlbany has yet to concede a turnover. While they’re the only CAA team that has played two games so far, quarterback Reese Poffenbarger leads the league in passing yardage (447) and passing touchdowns (five).
Defensively, Juncaj is the player to watch who, in Week Zero against Fordham, racked four sacks, a program record for a single game. He was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Week (first in his career) after the Marshall game.
The defense collected ten sacks in the win, also a single-game record for UAlbany (the previous record, eight, was set in 2017 against New Hampshire).
Linebacker Dylan Kelly has had a solid start to the season. He leads the team with 24 tackles, 15 of which have been solo.
Brevin Eastin leads the team in both receptions (eight) and yards (74) through two games. Jackson Parker is following him closely behind with 73 yards on seven receptions.
In the backfield, Nate Larkins is the player who has been given the most attempts so far, totaling a net of 108 yards on 25 attempts, averaging 4.3 yards per carry, followed by Faysal Aden, totaling 40 yards on 13 attempts for an average of 3.1 yards per carry.
Reese Poffenbarger has compiled a 126.98 QBR, completing 45 of 78 pass attempts (57.69%) for 447 yards and five touchdowns. Moreover, he is also averaging 42 rushing yards per game thus far.
UAlbany vs. Hawai’i: Stats Comparison
In two games this season so far:
The Great Danes haven’t committed a turnover, while UH has not forced a single turnover in two games.
The Great Danes’ defense has recorded ten sacks (all against Fordham) in two games, while Hawai’i has allowed nine.
Players to Watch:
UH quarterback Brayden ranks no. 2 nationally in total passing yards (706). He threw for a career-high 355 yards, beating his previous best of 351 set six days earlier at Vanderbilt, and three touchdowns. Schager also set a career-high 30 completions on 53 attempts.
Freshman wide receiver Pofele Ashlock is no. 1 in receiving yards (241). He crossed the century mark for the second straight game with eight receptions for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Slotback Koali Nishigaya is another player who had the most productive game of his UH career with six catches for 52 yards.
