Meet Your Insider
Aloha, Rainbow Warriors fans, and welcome to The Cover Window! I'm Kainoa Akana-Baird, your Hawai'i insider. When I'm not on the show, I teach big-wave surfing on O'ahu. And when I'm on the show, I do time-zone math, because when your team flies farther than anybody in college football, somebody has to keep the clocks straight. I travel with this team and I live with this team. When we win, I say "Shoots!" and throw a shaka. When we lose, I shrug: "Island time. We'll catch the next wave." Every week you'll get the players, the coaches and the matchup, with aloha. "Island time, but on schedule."
The School in 60 Seconds
Here's the time-zone math for Saturday: kickoff is 3:30 p.m. Eastern, which is 2:30 p.m. in DeKalb and 9:30 in the morning back home in Honolulu. Set your alarm, make the coffee strong, and grab a malasada. Home for us is the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, listed at 15,194. Last season was a big wave. Hawai'i went 9-4, opened the season by beating Stanford, and won the Hawai'i Bowl over Cal after coming back from 21 points down, tying the biggest comeback in program history. It was our first bowl bid since 2021. This season the surf's been flat, but the swell can turn fast.
The Coach and the Scheme
Timmy Chang was named Hawai'i's 25th head coach on Jan. 22, 2022. Before that, he was a Hawai'i legend. As our quarterback from 2000 to 2004, he set the NCAA career records for passing yards (17,072) and total offense, and he won a program-record 29 games as a starter. He was also a two-time Hawai'i Bowl Most Outstanding Player and a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Award as a senior. Before all that he was a record-setting quarterback at Honolulu's Saint Louis School. Local boy. He coached at Nevada, Jackson State, Emory & Henry and SMU before coming home. In 2025 he was the AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year. In 2026 we're a passing team: we run on only about 36% of plays, and we throw for 268 yards a game, 32nd in FBS. The run game is the problem, at 77.4 yards a game (138th). And our blockers have allowed 20 sacks. The defense holds up against the pass, allowing 202.1 yards a game (60th), but allows 182.3 rushing yards (112th).
Players to Know
QB Micah Alejado: 1,862 yards, 6 TD, 5 INT, 59.0% completions. Against New Mexico he threw for 250 yards and a touchdown.
WR Kainoa Carvalho: 32 catches, 384 yards. Good name, by the way. Excellent taste. WR Devin Alves caught five passes for 76 yards last week.
RB DeVon Rice: 314 yards and 3 TD on 70 carries. RB Cam Barfield ran 12 times for 34 yards last week.
The Conference Picture
We're 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the Mountain West, 1-3 at home and 0-3 on the road. The win: 29-19 over New Mexico State. The losses: at Stanford 37-27, UNLV, at Wyoming, San José State 20-16 (close!), at Arizona State and New Mexico 21-10 last week. Six losses, but several close ones. Next wave. For the season we have 7 passing touchdowns and 4 rushing, with 10 sacks on defense, 6 takeaways and 8 giveaways. Scoring is the big job: 15.7 points a game, 133rd. Bring the board wax.
This Week: Hawai'i (1-6) at Northern Illinois (0-6)
Saturday, Oct. 24 · 3:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. HST) · Huskie Stadium, DeKalb · MW+.
Last week: we lost 21-10 to New Mexico. Northern Illinois lost 41-23 at Wyoming.
Our offense vs. their defense: Northern Illinois allows opponents to convert 61.6% of third downs, 138th in FBS. It allows 228.5 rushing yards a game (135th), but only 187 passing yards (33rd). Maybe this is the week the run game catches a wave.
Their offense vs. our defense: Northern Illinois scores 14.2 points a game (137th). RB Telly Johnson Jr. ran for 139 yards last week, and our run defense ranks 112th. Northern Illinois scores on only 46.7% of red-zone trips (138th).
Series: first meeting.
Availability: I found no official availability report for either team as of Oct. 18, 2026.
What decides it: (1) Protecting Alejado. We've allowed 20 sacks, and Northern Illinois has 8. (2) Stopping Johnson. (3) Travel. It's a long flight to northern Illinois, and the body clock says it's breakfast time at kickoff. Stay hydrated, boys.
And to Nola Brandvik, Northern Illinois's insider: I'll trade you a malasada for an ear of sweet corn. Aloha, cousin.
Local Flavor (unsponsored, not an ad)
Watching back home? Leonard's Bakery on Kapahulu Avenue for malasadas, or Rainbow Drive-In on Kanaina Avenue for a plate lunch.
My call: Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors 23, Northern Illinois Huskies 21.