Previously: Hawaii Offense I hope you enjoyed reading about the Hawaii Offense yesterday because that piece, as rough as it was, is significantly better than what you are about to read. During my The Enemy, Ranked series, I ranked Hawaii's DL, LB, and Secondary as the worst on the schedule and now you are going to see why. The Rainbow Warriors are 0-2, and their defense has been the culprit. They are near the bottom of Bill Connelly's rankings and at 506.5 yards per game allowed, Hawaii's defense is already on track for ghastly counting metrics. This one is going to get ugly. The Film: Still using the Vandy tape for reasons stated in the previous piece, namely the Commodores being a closer analogue to Michigan from a talent standpoint than Western Kentucky and the accessibility of the tape. The consequence of this decision is I had to watch a game in which Hawaii gave up 600 yards to Vanderbilt. Personnel: Click here or on the graphic to make big. PDF. It's a record! Seven of eleven starters received the cyan circle and twelve total players received it, breaking a record of eleven players held by the 2019 MSU Offense. There were more who may have merited it, but I felt that this was sufficient to get the point across. After all, the record has been set. The defensive line features probably the best player on the defense, Blessman Ta'ala. He's not great, and he didn't merit a star, but Ta'ala is also the least problematic piece on the defense. He's a big beefy nose who doesn't really move. Which is good when fellow DT starter John Tuitupou is getting ejected from the line on seemingly every play. Jonah Kahahawai-Welch is the primary starter at one EDGE position, often playing from a stand-up position, and he provides little pass-rush while struggling to set the edge. Mataio Soli is a rotational EDGE playing opposite JKW and is the nominal starter, doing a better job at staying disciplined in run defense while also providing zero pass-rush. Andrew Choi spells Soli and is a clear downgrade, while Ezra Evaimalo rotates in when Tuitupou has been whipped too much, giving the Hawaii coaches a replacement who will get whipped marginally less per-snap. The LB level has two consistent starters, Penei Pavihi and Isaiah Tufaga. Pavihi, the returning starter, is the better player but that's like saying Zavier Simpson is a better free throw shooter than Shaquille O'Neal. Technically true, but not much of a compliment. Pavihi graded out poorly in my charting and deserved the cyan, but Tafaga was an unmitigated black-hole disaster. Neither of these guys come off the field, but the coaches likely wish they did. Younger reserves Noah Kema and Logan Taylor have only played small roles so far and both would likely be eaten alive if they were pressed into larger duty. Hawaii plays a true 4-2-5 on nearly every play, using two outside corners + a nickel and two safeties. JoJo Forest did alright in coverage in the game I saw but was a poor tackler and his PFF grades against WKU were ugly enough for me to feel comfortable giving him a cyan. Hugh Nelson and nickel Malik Hausman get my votes for the 2nd and 3rd best players on the defense, though even Nelson was on the borderline of a cyan from the game I saw. They can mostly do okay against a team like Vanderbilt (don't ask about Michigan). Virdel Edwards II is a HSP who comes on in place of Hausman from time to time and was a disaster in every phase of the game against Vanderbilt. Reserve corners Noa Kamana and Devyn King should not see the field in meaningful moments. Safeties Leonard Lee and Matagi Thompson were much like the LBs, in that one was not great and the other catastrophe. Thompson reprises Tufaga's role as the black-hole disaster, while Lee resembles Pavihi in the "disappointing eyesore" category. Both struggled in taking proper angles to ballcarriers, supporting the run, or tackling anyone in a Commodore uniform. Peter Manuma is the third safety but you probably won't see him much. [After THE JUMP: Well here we go]