Hawaii Football: Rainbow Warriors QB Micah Alejado Is A Rising Star

Hawaii’s Air Raid passing attack has produced plenty of talented quarterbacks over the years, including Colt Brennan, who ranks No. 6 all-time in NCAA history with 131 career touchdown passes. 

Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang started 50 games for the Rainbow Warriors between 2000 and 2004 and finished his playing career with 117 touchdown passes. Even with the program’s impressive history of developing quarterbacks, Chang said Hawaii’s current starter, redshirt freshman Micah Alejado, has a chance to rewrite the team’s record books.

Chang said he saw it in the first game of the season. After Alejado was knocked out of the game with an ankle injury, he returned to lead a game-winning drive in a 23-20 win over Stanford. After the winning kick cleared the uprights, Alejado was on the sideline celebrating and hopping around on his one good ankle. Chang said that spoke volumes about his dedication to the team.

“Micah is one of the most ultimate competitors,” Chang said. “That’s what you want in a quarterback.”

Alejado has looked comfortable running the offense in his first full season as the starter. He’s completing 65.7% of his passes, and he’s thrown for 2,380 yards, 18 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

He has thrown for more than 400 yards in a game twice this season, and he has three touchdown passes in five straight games. Alejado totaled four touchdowns in a 44-26 win over Utah State, throwing three and running for one. 

Alejado also has Hawaii (7-3, 4-2 Mountain West) in the running for its first Mountain West Championship in program history, especially after engineering a 38-7 win over San Diego State last week. The Rainbow Warriors are one of five teams with two conference losses, and they’ll likely have a chance to play for the title if they win the rest of their remaining games. 

Who Is Micah Alejado?

Landing Alejado was a huge recruiting win for the Rainbow Warriors. He was born in Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawaii, but he was a four-year starter at national high school powerhouse Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. He ended his prep career with 9,233 passing yards, 125 touchdowns, and just four interceptions. 

Alejado led the Gaels to three straight Nevada state championships and led Bishop Gorman to a MaxPreps High School National Championship in 2023. He threw 35 touchdowns and no interceptions that season.

He was a consensus three-star recruit and the top quarterback in the state of Nevada, and he chose Hawaii over scholarship offers from Nevada, UNLV, Utah State, Old Dominion, and Portland State. Alejado said after signing in December 2023 that UNLV made a late push for his services.

Alejado has a lot working in his favor at Hawaii. Averaging 44.2 pass attempts a game helps pad his stats. Throwing to talented receivers such as Pofele Ashlock (58 catches for 633 yards and six TDs) and Jackson Harris (42 catches for 731 and 10 TDs) makes his job a lot easier. 

But Alejado’s arm strength, accuracy, and athleticism combined with his steady demeanor and solid decision making are why he’s the Mountain West’s next star quarterback. 

Job No. 1 for Hawaii this offseason and every year moving forward will be keeping him out of the transfer portal. 

Mountain West Championship Odds

Boise State is once again the favorite to win the Mountain West Championship, via BetMGM, but the Broncos don’t have much of a lead on San Diego State.

Boise State was the college football betting odds favorite until quarterback Maddux Madsen went out with an injury in a loss to Fresno State on Nov. 1. The Aztecs were the favorite last week, but that changed again after their lopsided loss to Hawaii. 

Here’s how the odds break down: