Saturday night College football and we will see the Washington Huskies take on the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in Hawaii. The game has a start time of 10:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on CBSSN. Current Vegas odds have the Huskies listed as 17.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 55.
Analysis: The Washington Huskies are off a nice 9-4 season, which snapped a string of three 7-6 seasons in a row. Now Steve Sarkisian has departed and in steps Chris Petersen, who had a great run at Boise State. QB Cyler Miles has been suspended for the opener vs Hawaii, due to an altercation at the Super Bowl, which means either Jeff Lundquist or Troy Williams will start the opener vs Hawaii. The Huskies Miles do lose two of 4 of their top 6 pass catchers from last year, but Jaydon Mickens is back, after catching 65 passes for 688 yards and 5 TDs last year. The Running game will not be as explosive as last year due to the departure of Bishop Sankey. Swayne Washington (322 yards LY) and Deontae Cooper (270 yards) are the best options to replace Sankey and both will be running behind an OL that has all 5 starters back. The defensive line for the Huskies is highly rated, checking in at 13th in the nation. The line has all 4 starters back, including Hau’oli Kikaha, who 13 sacks last year, with 3 of the 4 starters being seniors and there is solid depth behind this group.
1-15! That is the mark that the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors have put up in their first two years in MWC play. Im not sure this year will be a whole lot better, even with 48 lettermen back including 13 starters. The Rainbow Warriors averaged a modest 27.4 ppg last year, but they do lose QB Schroder and their top WR from last year’s offense. Ikaiki Woolsey won the QB job in spring, but should he falter then look for Taylor Graham to take over. The running game for the Rainbows looks to be solid with Joey Iosefa back, after rushing for 590 yards and 5 TDs last year. WR could be a problem as they have to replace Chris Grant, who was their top wideout last year. Scott Harding does return after grabbing 56 balls for 631 yards last year. The defense is where this team must make great strides, after allowing 38.8 ppg last year. 22 lettermen, including 6 starters do return to this side of the ball so improvements should be made. Hawaii does lose its top 5 tacklers from last year, but they have a couple of standouts to watch in DE Beau Yap, who had 5.5 sacks and 6 more TFL and NT Moses Samia, who and 6.5 TFL and 3 PBUs.
Pick: The Huskies are a very good team this year and really have a shot at a nice easy win to open their season. In this game they get to flex their muscles vs a Hawaii team that will struggle big time this year. Hawaii went just 1-11 last year and look like it will be another long one for them. They just aren't able to recruit solid players right now and along with poor expected play on the field they have been dealing with some off the field issues that includes talk of the football program folding. Washington went a solid 9-4 last year and have 14 starters back, plus new coach Chris Petersen steps in and he knows how to blow out much the weaker teams that he faces. Hawaii is just 5-11 ATS in their last 16 home games and I feel that trend will continue here as the Huskies win by at least 21.
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