Hawaii Football Preview With 2011 Schedule and Predictions
After several winning seasons capped off by a 12-0 regular season and a trip to the Sugar Bowl in 2007, Head coach June Jones left Hawaii and many thought the program would falter. Greg McMACkin took over and after two mediocre 7 and 6 win seasons, Hawaii went 10-4 last season and many are predicting the team to compete for the WAC title in their final year in the conference. Certainly with Boise State gone, their odds of doing so improve.
The biggest problem looks to be the offense where they return just 2 or 3 starters. They return QB Bryant Moniz and wide receiver Royce Pollard to an offense that was #1 in the nation in passing and #10 in the nation in scoring. The may or may not be returning one starting lineman from a year ago so the line will like have a learning curve. Defensively this team is underrated. They were in the top half of the nation defensively ranking 2nd or 3rd in the WAC in most defensive categories. They also led the WAC in turnover margin at +12 which was also good enough for 14th in the land. They return 6 starters to the defensive unit and should oNCe again be in good shape there.
There was a wide enough GAp between Hawaii and some WAC opponents to suggest that this team will compete for the title even if they are down a notch this season. They beat Fresno and LA Tech by 20 points. They blew out Utah State, Idaho, San Jose, New Mexico State and UNLV and they knocked off Nevada 27-21. The only WAC team to beat them was Boise State and they are no longer in the conference.
There isn’t a single Game on the Hawaii Schedule in 2011 that you can peNCil in a loss. Each and every Game is a winnable one iNCluding their non Conference Schedule which includes Colorado, Washington, Tulane and BYU. 9-4 Sounds about right for this team in 2011. It will be interesting to see how they do in their first two Games against Colorado and Washington.
From a betting standpoint, watch out for Nevada on November 12th. They host Hawaii on that date and will be looking for a little revenge for last season. Note that Hawaii was 11-3 against the spread last year!
2011 Hawaii Football Schedule
9-3-11 COLORADO
9-10-11 at Washington
9-17-11 at UNLV
9-24-11 UC-DAVIS
10-1-11 at Louisiana Tech
10-15-11 at San Jose State
10-22-11 NEW MEXICO STATE
10-29-11 at Idaho
11-5-11 UTAH STATE
11-12-11 at Nevada
11-19-11 FRESNO STATE
11-26-11 TULANE
12-3-11 BRIGHAM YOUNG