by Team Del Genio
Thursday, Aug 31, 2023Hawaii may not contend for the Mountain West Conference championship this season, yet bettors should pay attention to this team since they could be a profitable underdog as the season moves. They were better than their 3-10 record indicated last year.
The Rainbow Warriors were not ready to play in their opener last season against the Commodores. Rookie head coach Timmy Chang took over a program that could not field a complete roster eight months prior in the Hawaii Bowl with the team imploding in backlash of the coaching tactics of the previous head coach Todd Graham. Many players transferred away. Yet Chang and his coaching staff kept working, and the team showed improvement just two weeks later in a 56-10 loss at Michigan where they were more competitive despite being installed as 52-point underdogs by the oddsmakers. Of course, that Wolverines' group was on their way to compete in the college football playoff.
Chang decided to incorporate run-and-shoot passing principles into the offense soon after to bring back the offense he operated as the Rainbow Warriors quarterback in the early 2000s. That change in scheme helped make the offense distinct while the team had a new sense of identity that traced back to previous traditions of the program. Hawaii covered the point spread in seven of their last eight games. They upset Nevada by 15 points despite being a six-point underdog. They upset UNLV as an 11-point underdog. They only lost to San Diego State by two points (as a 23-point underdog) and on the road at Colorado State by four points. They then lost to Colorado State by four points and Utah State by seven points.
Chang had the opportunity in the opening week of the season to use their rematch with Vanderbilt as a benchmark game for his players to prove that they are much better than they were last season at this time in their opening game of the 2022 season. It was only a 21-10 lead for the Commodores at halftime in last year’s game before Vanderbilt scored 35 unanswered points in the third quarter. This year’s team has better depth and has learned to fight back.
Last Saturday, they were trailing by a 35-14 score before scoring the final two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lose by only a 35-28 score. In the end, it was a Vanderbilt 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that made the difference for the 17-point home favorites. Hawaii outgained the Commodores in yardage, 391-297, and their nineteen first downs were two more than what Vanderbilt gained. Junior quarterback Brayden Schager completed 27 of 35 passes for 351 yards with three touchdown passes. Chang had to be encouraged by how he operated the run-and-shoot with just eight incomplete passes. He only completed 55.3% of his passes last year.
With the narrow loss to begin their season, the Rainbow Warriors have covered the point spread in five of their last six games when the oddsmakers install them as an underdog getting 10.5 to 21 points. Hawaii may struggle to become bowl-eligible this season, yet they should offer some intriguing opportunities for bettors this season as an underdog.
Good luck - Team Del Genio.
The Rainbow Warriors were not ready to play in their opener last season against the Commodores. Rookie head coach Timmy Chang took over a program that could not field a complete roster eight months prior in the Hawaii Bowl with the team imploding in backlash of the coaching tactics of the previous head coach Todd Graham. Many players transferred away. Yet Chang and his coaching staff kept working, and the team showed improvement just two weeks later in a 56-10 loss at Michigan where they were more competitive despite being installed as 52-point underdogs by the oddsmakers. Of course, that Wolverines' group was on their way to compete in the college football playoff.
Chang decided to incorporate run-and-shoot passing principles into the offense soon after to bring back the offense he operated as the Rainbow Warriors quarterback in the early 2000s. That change in scheme helped make the offense distinct while the team had a new sense of identity that traced back to previous traditions of the program. Hawaii covered the point spread in seven of their last eight games. They upset Nevada by 15 points despite being a six-point underdog. They upset UNLV as an 11-point underdog. They only lost to San Diego State by two points (as a 23-point underdog) and on the road at Colorado State by four points. They then lost to Colorado State by four points and Utah State by seven points.
Chang had the opportunity in the opening week of the season to use their rematch with Vanderbilt as a benchmark game for his players to prove that they are much better than they were last season at this time in their opening game of the 2022 season. It was only a 21-10 lead for the Commodores at halftime in last year’s game before Vanderbilt scored 35 unanswered points in the third quarter. This year’s team has better depth and has learned to fight back.
Last Saturday, they were trailing by a 35-14 score before scoring the final two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lose by only a 35-28 score. In the end, it was a Vanderbilt 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that made the difference for the 17-point home favorites. Hawaii outgained the Commodores in yardage, 391-297, and their nineteen first downs were two more than what Vanderbilt gained. Junior quarterback Brayden Schager completed 27 of 35 passes for 351 yards with three touchdown passes. Chang had to be encouraged by how he operated the run-and-shoot with just eight incomplete passes. He only completed 55.3% of his passes last year.
With the narrow loss to begin their season, the Rainbow Warriors have covered the point spread in five of their last six games when the oddsmakers install them as an underdog getting 10.5 to 21 points. Hawaii may struggle to become bowl-eligible this season, yet they should offer some intriguing opportunities for bettors this season as an underdog.
Good luck - Team Del Genio.
