Stanford had frequent success offensively versus Hawaii but their inability in the red zone was a big reason for their 23-20 season-opening loss in week zero. The Arizona coaching staff can improve on the blueprint Stanford used to beat Hawaii at home in their Saturday night home opener.
Stanford was on offense for 36:06, ran 43 times for 177 yards and one touchdown, had four drives of 10 or more plays and two of 15 or more. Three Stanford drives lasted at least six minutes. Those four long drives ended in a TD, two field goals and a missed field goal attempt.
Stanford drove the Hawaii 24 late in the fourth quarter with a 20-17 lead and threw an interception. A field goal would have at least pushed the lead to six and probably led to overtime with Hawaii scoring on field goals twice in the last 2:01.
A Stanford TD on their penultimate drive would have given the Cardinal a 27-17 lead with at least under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Stanford had two TDs, a field goal and a missed field goal in their four red zone trips.
Stanford committed to the run at Hawaii. Micah Ford had 26 carries for 113 yards and one TD. Sedrick Irvin had 10 carries for 46 yards and Cole Tabb four carries for 26 yards. Oregon State transfer Ben Gulbranson completed 15 passes in 30 pass attempts for 109 yards, no TDs and one
Stanford finished eight of 17 on third down. Five of the seven Stanford third-down conversions were three yards or less to go when the Cardinal ran for 30 yards. Gulbranson had five completions in 10 attempts for 72 yards with three first downs, two completions of 15 or more yards and one of 25 plus on third down.
Hawaii plays what has become a standard 4-2-5 defense. New Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege was at Marshall in the same role in 2024 when the Thundering Herd were 18th nationally, averaging 201.69 rushing yards per game. Establishing the run is critical for Arizona versus Hawaii.
Safety Peter Manuma tied for the Hawaii lead with eight tackles, had one tackle for loss and the Rainbow Warriors' only sack against Stanford. Linebacker Jamih Otis also had eight tackles versus Stanford. Hawaii playing last week gives the Arizona staff 2025 game film to game plan against the Rainbow Warriors.