College Football: Arizona Wildcats vs Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Sports Betting Guide
The second year of the Kevin Sumlin experiment in Tuscon gets underway Saturday night when his Wildcats make the nearly 3,000-mile trek to Hawaii to play the Rainbow Warriors. Khalil Tate returns for the Wildcats and will try to bounce back from an injury-ridden and overall disappointing 2018 season. In the running back position for Arizona, 1,400-yard rusher JJ Taylor returns with four of his top five linemen in tow. For the Rainbow Warriors, quarterback Cole McDonald will be looking to improve on his 40-TD season in 2018 and has the returning weapons to do it. Saturday evening will be the first of three straight games they play against PAC-12 teams before ramping up for Mountain West play. Let’s take a deeper look at this Week 0 matchup to see where we can find an edge.
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Arizona Wildcats @ Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Saturday, August 24th, 2019 – 10:30 pm EST
Hawaii +11, O/U 74 (via PointsBet)
After a 2017 season that saw Tate put up over 1,400 yards and 12 TDs on the ground, an ankle injury largely limited him in 2018 when he rushed for just 237 yards and one TD. Beyond injury, an overlooked cause of the rushing production drop off was the desire to improve his passing game for NFL scouts. While great for Tate’s long-term prospects, the team suffered and the realization in Tuscon is now “bring back the wheels.†With both Tate and running back Taylor back for their senior seasons, the pressure is on for Sumlin to not let this team miss consecutive postseasons for the first time since 2006 and 2007.
With names like Sumlin and Tate, the Wildcats have been getting more of the preseason hype heading into this season. The Rainbow Warriors, however, are quietly brewing offshore and seem poised for another bowl season in 2019. After starting off 6-1 in 2018, McDonald got hurt against Wyoming in early October and they stumbled to an 8-6 finish. Not only does McDonald return, but so do two All-Conference receivers in Jojo Ward and Cedric Byrd. This Hawaii team also returns a staggering 18 starters including arguably the best DE and CB in the Mountain West in Kaimana Padello and Rojesterman Farris.
Over the last five seasons, Hawaii is 3-1-1 ATS in their home opener including a 59-41 SU win as an 11-point underdog last season when hosting Navy. They are also 8-2 ATS over their last 10 against PAC-12 opponents and catch a Wildcats team who are just 7-17 ATS on the road over their last four seasons, ranking them dead last in the FBS over that span. The last trend I’ll leave you with, which I think is the most meaningful of the three, is this Hawaii program is 7-0 ATS over their last seven season openers. Underdogs in all of their last five, they won three of those SU in which they were a combined +26. Prior to the injuries and unforeseen issues that can plague a season, these first few games come down to coaching and preparation which I give the edge to Hawaii on Saturday.
Bottom Line?
The Rainbow Warriors have long been the team that bettors across the world were throwing up that 2 am Hail Mary on to get back their losses from the day. As many of them could probably have guessed, over the last four years they also rank second to last ATS among FBS teams at just 31% ATS. They face a brutal schedule of which I think seven wins is their ceiling, but I see them keeping this opening game close against an over-hyped Wildcats team.
TJ Perun is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from TJ, check out his archive and follow him @JohnnyCovers.