Wolf Pack hopes to find its offense on the island

A look ahead to Saturday night’s (9 p.m.) Mountain West football game between the Nevada Wolf Pack (2-4, 0-2) and Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (1-5, 0-1) at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu:

HOW TO WATCH, LISTEN: Nevada Sports Net, 94.5 FM.

THE SPREAD: Nevada by 6.5 points.

THE RIVALRY: Nevada leads, 15-11, but has lost nine of 15 games in Honolulu. Nevada’s lone loss in 2010 (the Pack had a 13-1 record) was at Hawaii, 27-21. The Pack also lost the last time it was in Honolulu, 24-21, for one of its only two losses in 2020. Nevada was the first team from the mainland United States to play in Hawaii when it won 14-0 on Christmas Day, 1920, behind touchdown runs by Ed Reed and Herb Foster. Nevada beat Hawaii, 34-17, last season in Reno behind 395 yards and two touchdowns by quarterback Carson Strong. The Wolf Pack forced five turnovers, including interceptions by Daiyan Henley (two), Lawson Hall and Trevor Price.

AT STAKE FOR NEVADA: The Wolf Pack has lost four games in a row overall and its first two league games and is in danger of falling out of the West Division race. No team in Mountain West history (since 1999) has ever lost its first three league games and ended up winning a division (the league was separated into two divisions for the first time in 2013) or overall title.

AT STAKE FOR HAWAII: Hawaii has yet to win a game against an FBS (Division I-A) team this season. It’s only victory under rookie head coach Timmy Chang was 24-14 over Duquesne, an FCS (Division I-AA) school, on Sept. 17.

NEVADA LAST WEEK: The Wolf Pack lost to Colorado State and former Nevada head coach Jay Norvell, 17-14, in Reno on Oct. 7 on a last-second field goal. Colorado State’s two touchdowns came on an interception and fumble return and its game-winning field goal was made possible after the Wolf Pack was called for running into the kicker the play before (a missed field goal). It is the first game Nevada has lost without giving up an offensive touchdown since a 9-7 loss to Stephen F. Austin in 1987.

HAWAII LAST WEEK: The Warriors nearly upset San Diego State last Saturday in Honolulu. San Diego State won 16-14 on a 26-yard field goal by Jack Browning with seven seconds left. Dedrick Parson’s 22-yard touchdown run and an extra point by Matthew Shipley gave Hawaii a 14-13 lead with 79 seconds to play.

THE HEAD COACHES: Hawaii’s Timmy Chang and Nevada’s Ken Wilson are the only two rookie head coaches in the Mountain West this season. Chang, who turned 41 on Sunday, is the second-youngest head coach in the Mountain West behind Boise State’s Andy Avalos (who will turn 41 on Nov. 5). Wilson, 58, is the fifth-oldest head coach in the conference. Chang was an assistant at Nevada from 2017 through last year under Norvell and also went with Norvell to Colorado State last December before being named Hawaii’s head coach on Jan. 22. Chang, who coached tight ends and wide receivers at Nevada, played quarterback at Hawaii from 2000-04 and set NCAA records for completions (1,388) and yards (17,072).

WARRIORS AT OR NEAR BOTTOM OF LEAGUE: Hawaii is 11th in points scored (16.8 per game) and 12th in points allowed (40.5 a game) in the 12-team Mountain West this season. Hawaii is also 12th in rushing defense (233.2 yards a game), 11th in sacks (five) and 12th in first downs allowed (23.3 a game).

SMALL CROWDS AT HAWAII: Hawaii has averaged just 9,227 fans for its three home games this season. Nevada has not lost a game on the road in front of a crowd of less than 10,000 since a 64-45 loss at San Jose State (7,882 fans) in 2001. It also must be noted, however, that the last time Nevada was in Hawaii it lost in 2020 (24-21) in front of zero fans (because of the COVID-19 pandemic). This is the second season Hawaii, which used to play at 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium, has played its home games at the T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. The Rainbow Warriors’ new home stadium has a seating capacity of just 9,300 and will be expanded to 17,000 seats next season. Hawaii did not allow fans into its home games for the entire 2020 season at Aloha Stadium and the first three games last year at the Ching Complex because of the pandemic. A crowd of 1,000 was allowed in for the fourth game last year and the final two home games averaged 6,407 fans. The biggest crowd the Wolf Pack has played in front of at Hawaii (4,000 showed up in 1920) was 42,031 in 2010 (a 27-21 loss) at Aloha Stadium. The Pack also lost, 38-31, in front of 40,225 at Hawaii in 2008.

WHAT NEVADA NEEDS TO DO TO WIN: The Wolf Pack needs to find a consistent offense. Nevada has scored just 34 points over its last three games. Hawaii is among the worst teams in the nation (128th of 131 FBS teams) against the run, allowing 233.2 yards a game, as well as the most rushing touchdowns (18) in the country. So it would make sense for the Pack to give the Rainbow Warriors a healthy dose of running backs Toa Taua and Devonte Lee. Taua had 131 yards and Lee had 81 the last time the Pack was in Hawaii in 2020.

WHAT HAWAII NEEDS TO DO TO WIN: Protect the football. No team, especially one that is 1-5 and among the worst FBS schools statistically in the country, can afford to turn the ball over. Hawaii turned the ball over five times last season in its loss at Nevada. Nevada is tied for third-best in the country with a plus-9 turnover margin, while Hawaii is tied for 106th at minus-4. The Rainbow Warriors, though, have intercepted six passes this season. Hawaii might also try to run the ball. Warriors running back Dedrick Parson rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown last week against San Diego State and has 336 yards and seven touchdowns this year. He’s scored a touchdown in every game this year but one (at Michigan). Dae Dae Hunter, who plays for Liberty this year, rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns for Hawaii against Nevada last season.

PREDICTION: Nevada 27, Hawaii 19. Nevada suffered an emotional, heartbreaking and, in some ways, embarrassing loss last week at home against winless Colorado State. The Wolf Pack, losers of four in row, has not won a game since beating Texas State, 38-14, on Sept. 3 and needs a victory in the worst way. A victory over a 1-5 Hawaii team in front of a small crowd on the road won’t cure all that ails the Wolf Pack. But a loss could destroy any confidence this struggling team might have left for the rest of the year.