The 2021 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team represented the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rainbow Warriors played their home games on the campus at the Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex as members of the West Division of the Mountain West Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Todd Graham.
Despite losing three straight games en route to finishing the regular season 6–7 overall, the team was invited to play in the Hawaii Bowl as a conditionally eligible team after the NCAA added an extra bowl game to the schedule. The team accepted the bid on December 3, 2021, marking the team's fourth consecutive postseason appearance, a new program record. However, due to a COVID-19 outbreak, season-ending injuries, and transfers, the team was forced to withdraw the day before the game, marking the Hawaii Bowl’s second consecutive cancellation.
On January 14, 2022, Graham announced his resignation as head coach after reports surfaced of player unrest with his coaching style, along with a report that an apparent players-only vote to not play in the Hawaii Bowl had taken place without his knowledge. He finished 11–11 with two bowl appearances in two seasons, winning the New Mexico Bowl in 2020.
Offseason
2021 recruiting class The Rainbow Warriors have signed eight recruits out of high school as of February 3, 2021.
Transfers
Outgoing Name No. Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown New school Bubba Waʻa 67 OL Freshman Hauʻula, Hawaii Texas State Zach Bowers 56 LB Freshman Chandler, Arizona Arizona State Lincoln Victor 85 WR Sophomore Camas, Washington Washington State Miles Reed 4 RB Junior Corona, California Stephen F. Austin Mason Vega 43 DL Senior Rancho Cucamonga, California Melquise Stovall 3 WR Senior Lancaster, California Pittsburgh
Incoming Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Prev. school Colby Burton DB Senior League City, Texas McNeese State Solomon Turner LB Freshman Frisco, Texas Baylor Kolby Wyatt TE Junior San Diego, California Georgia Zacchaeus McKinney DL Junior Weatherford, Texas Oklahoma Arnold Azunna DB Senior Grand Prairie, Texas Iowa State Hugh Nelson II DB Sophomore Powder Springs, Georgia Georgia Dedrick Parson RB Junior Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Howard Caleb Phillips TE Senior San Diego, California Stanford Pita Tonga DL Senior Taylorsville, Utah Utah O'Tay Baker DL Junior Mesquite, Texas Tyler JC
Staff departures Name Position New Program New Position Notes Matt Passwaters Graduate assistant North Texas Defensive line coach Josh Omura Director of on-campus recruiting Washington State Director of transfer recruiting Brennan Marion Wide receivers coach Pittsburgh Wide receivers coach G. J. Kinne Offensive coordinatorQuarterbacks coach UCF Co-offensive coordinatorQuarterbacks coach Tony Hull Co-offensive coordinatorInside receivers coach Louisiana–Monroe Wide receivers coach
In addition to the staff departures, the program moved their chief of staff Trent Figg to an on-field coaching role to help save the university's athletic department $100,000 in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Preseason
Award watch lists
Chuck Bednarik Award Darius Muasau LB SO Doak Walker Award Calvin Turner RB SR Jim Thorpe Award Cortez Davis II CB SR Bronko Nagurski Trophy Darius Muasau LB SO Wuerffel Trophy Hekili Keliiliki RB/LB JR Paul Hornung Award Calvin Turner RB/WR SR Fred Biletnikoff Award Nick Mardner WR JR
Mountain West media days The Mountain West media days were held from July 21–22 at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada.
Media poll The preseason media poll was released at the Mountain West media days on July 21, 2021. The Rainbow Warriors were predicted to finish in fifth place in the West Division.
+West 1 Nevada 141 (19) 2 San Jose State 121 (5) 3 San Diego State 96 4 Fresno State 85 (1) 5 Hawaii 56 6 UNLV 26 +Mountain 1 Boise State 148 (23) 2 Wyoming 115 (2) 3 Air Force 104 4 Colorado State 72 5 Utah State 47 6 New Mexico 39
Preseason All-Mountain West Team The Rainbow Warriors had two players selected to the preseason All-Mountain West team.
Defense
Cortez Davis II – CB
Specialists
Calvin Turner – PR
Schedule The schedule was announced on March 5, 2021.
Hawaii was forced to withdraw due to COVID-19 and other related issues within the team. The game was canceled shortly after.
Roster
Depth chart
Game summaries
At UCLA
Statistics HAWUCLA First downs 16 20 Total yards 269 392 Rushing yards 26 244 Passing yards 243 148 Turnovers 2 0 Time of possession 30:43 29:17 Team Category Player Statistics Hawaii Passing Chevan Cordeiro 25/47, 220 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Dae Dae Hunter 7 rushes, 20 yards Receiving Calvin Turner 5 receptions, 50 yards UCLA Passing Dorian Thompson-Robinson 10/20, 130 yards, TD Rushing Zach Charbonnet 6 rushes, 106 yards, 2 TD Receiving Kazmeir Allen 2 receptions, 47 yards, TD
To open the season the Rainbow Warriors traveled to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to face Dorian Thompson-Robinson and the UCLA Bruins out of the Pac-12 Conference. Hawaii got the ball to begin the game and went three-and-out. A botched punt gave the Bruins' offense the football at the Bows' 15. However, the Hawaii defense held the Bruins to a 27-yard field goal by Nicholas Barr-Mira, giving UCLA a 3–0 lead. Corderio and the Bows' offense went three-and-out again on their second series. Thompson-Robinson would then proceed to lead the Bruins 87 yards in 9 plays, capped by a 21-yard run by Zach Charbonnet. UCLA now led 10–0. The Bows' offense continued to struggle as Chevan Cordeiro was intercepted by Datona Jackson. The Bruins took over at the Hawaii 9. Four plays later, Brittain Brown scored on a 1-yard run, putting UCLA ahead 17–0. The Hawaii offense responded by finally driving into UCLA territory, but it was forced to settle for a 48-yard Matthew Shipley field goal to cut the deficit to 17–3. The Bows' defensive woes continued as Charbonnet scored again, this time from 47 yards out, putting UCLA ahead 24–3. The Bruins led 24–3 at the end of the first quarter. To begin the second quarter, the Bows' drove into UCLA territory. However, the ball went over on downs after Cordeiro failed to connect with Caleb Phillips on 4th-and-9. UCLA responded by taking a 31–3 lead after Charbonnet's third touchdown of the game, a 21-yard run. After trading punts, the Bows' offense achieved a 1st-and-goal at the Bruins' 9. However, the ball went over on downs after Cordeiro failed to connect with Nick Mardner. The Bruins took a 31–3 lead into the locker room.
The Bruins opened the second half by driving 75 yards in 5 plays, culminated by a 44-yard touchdown from Thompson-Robinson to Kazmeir Allen. Barr-Mira's extra point was no good, so the Bruin's lead was now 37–3. The special teams woes for Hawaii continued as Matthew Shipley's punt was blocked by Ale Kaho and recovered by David Priebe for a Bruins touchdown. UCLA's lead was now 44–3. After trading punts, Cordeiro executed a 9-play, 90-yard drive, finding Caleb Phillips for the Bows' first touchdown of the season. The UCLA lead was now 44–10. After a three-and-out for the Bows, Cordeiro on his next series was intercepted by Jay Shaw. True freshman Brayden Schager out of Highland Park, Texas saw his first collegiate action on the Bows' final series, driving to the UCLA 31 before failing to connect with James Phillips on 4th-and-3. Redshirt freshman quarterback Ethan Garbers finished out the game for the Bruins. The Bruins won the contest 44–10. Cordeiro completed 25 of 47 passes for 220 yards, a touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Schager was 3 of 6 for 23 yards. Thompson-Robinson completed 10 of 20 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. Charbonnet ran for 106 yards and 3 touchdowns on only 6 carries. The Bruins' rushing attack outgained that of Hawaii 244 to 26.
Portland State
Statistics PRSTHAW First downs 24 25 Total yards 477 573 Rushing yards 77 268 Passing yards 400 305 Turnovers 4 4 Time of possession 29:12 30:48 Team Category Player Statistics Portland State Passing Davis Alexander 23/47, 400 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT Rushing Malik Walker 11 rushes, 58 yards, TD Receiving Beau Kelly 6 receptions, 132 yards, TD Hawaii Passing Chevan Cordeiro 18/25, 305 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Dae Dae Hunter 16 rushes, 128 yards, TD Receiving Nick Mardner 4 receptions, 97 yards, TD
At Oregon State
Statistics HAWORST First downs 26 28 Total yards 454 558 Rushing yards 88 256 Passing yards 366 302 Turnovers 2 1 Time of possession 26:00 34:00 Team Category Player Statistics Hawaii Passing Chevan Cordeiro 24/49, 366 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT Rushing Chevan Cordeiro 13 rushes, 48 yards Receiving Nick Mardner 6 receptions, 110 yards, TD Oregon State Passing Chance Nolan 21/29, 302 yards, 2 TD Rushing B. J. Baylor 18 rushes, 171 yards, 3 TD Receiving Anthony Gould 7 receptions, 119 yards, TD
San Jose State
Statistics SJSUHAW First downs 15 16 Total yards 291 369 Rushing yards 56 127 Passing yards 235 242 Turnovers 2 1 Time of possession 28:01 31:59 Team Category Player Statistics San Jose State Passing Nick Starkel 23/50, 235 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Kairee Robinson 21 rushes, 55 yards Receiving Dominick Mazotti 2 receptions, 59 yards Hawaii Passing Chevan Cordeiro 18/39, 242 yards Rushing Dae Dae Hunter 15 rushes, 51 yards Receiving Nick Mardner 5 receptions, 97 yards
At New Mexico State
Statistics HAWNMSU First downs 21 22 Total yards 492 401 Rushing yards 215 121 Passing yards 277 280 Turnovers 3 4 Time of possession 22:49 37:11 Team Category Player Statistics Hawaii Passing Chevan Cordeiro 16/25, 277 yards, TD, INT Rushing Dedrick Parson 11 rushes, 89 yards, TD Receiving Nick Mardner 4 receptions, 120 yards, TD New Mexico State Passing Jonah Johnson 28/47, 280 yards, TD, INT Rushing Juwaun Price 9 rushes, 72 yards Receiving Jared Wyatt 9 receptions, 114 yards
No. 18 Fresno State
Statistics FRESHAW First downs 31 21 Total yards 505 348 Rushing yards 117 232 Passing yards 388 116 Turnovers 6 1 Time of possession 31:18 28:42 Team Category Player Statistics Fresno State Passing Jake Haener 28/50, 388 yards, 3 TD, 4 INT Rushing Ronnie Rivers 15 rushes, 74 yards Receiving Zane Pope 5 receptions, 113 yards, 2 TD Hawaii Passing Brayden Schager 11/27, 116 yards, 2 TD Rushing Dae Dae Hunter 21 rushes, 127 yards Receiving Calvin Turner 4 receptions, 41 yards, TD
At Nevada
Statistics HAWNEV First downs 17 25 Total yards 393 477 Rushing yards 188 82 Passing yards 205 395 Turnovers 5 0 Time of possession 26:01 33:59 Team Category Player Statistics Hawaii Passing Brayden Schager 22/38, 205 yards, 4 INT Rushing Dae Dae Hunter 8 rushes, 174 yards, 2 TD Receiving Calvin Turner 8 receptions, 83 yards Nevada Passing Carson Strong 34/54, 395 yards, 2 TD Rushing Toa Taua 21 rushes, 84 yards, 2 TD Receiving Cole Turner 12 receptions, 175 yards
New Mexico State
Statistics NMSUHAW First downs 28 25 Total yards 485 482 Rushing yards 257 263 Passing yards 228 219 Turnovers 2 2 Time of possession 32:30 27:30 Team Category Player Statistics New Mexico State Passing Jonah Johnson 24/54, 228 yards, 2 INT Rushing Juwaun Price 17 rushes, 159 yards, 2 TD Receiving Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda 6 receptions, 82 yards Hawaii Passing Brayden Schager 25/29, 219 yards Rushing Dedrick Parson 25 rushes, 161 yards, 3 TD Receiving Nick Mardner 4 receptions, 81 yards
At Utah State
Statistics HAWUSU First downs 19 30 Total yards 360 564 Rushing yards 12 158 Passing yards 348 406 Turnovers 3 2 Time of possession 25:40 34:20 Team Category Player Statistics Hawaii Passing Chevan Cordeiro 23/39, 296 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Dedrick Parson 10 rushes, 30 yards Receiving Dedrick Parson 7 receptions, 115 yards, TD Utah State Passing Logan Bonner 21/30, 361 yards, 4 TD Rushing Elelyon Noa 23 rushes, 111 yards, TD Receiving Deven Thompkins 7 receptions, 176 yards
No. 24 San Diego State