HAWAII at Washington St. (4pm PDT)
Honolulu Advertiser -
The University of Hawai`i Warrior football team escaped with a 25-20 season-opening win over Central Arkansas Friday night at Aloha Stadium. Greg Alexander found Rodney Bradley in the back of the end zone for an 8-yard score with 1:22 left to lift UH to the victory.
UH won despite four turnovers, including a pair of critical fumbles—one that set up a UCA (0-1) score just two minutes into the game and another midway through the fourth quarter as UH looked to take the lead. But the Warriors hung tough, reeling off 17 unanswered points in the second and third quarters, scoring with just 82 seconds left in the game after trailing by a point, and recovering a fumble in the waning seconds to secure the win.
Alexander threw for 304 yards and tied a career-high with three touchdown tosses. The senior also rushed for a career-high 76 yards.
THIS IS WHY THIS IS A GAME OF THE YEAR.
My initial thoughts looking at week 2 lines and i see a ton of value. but the game i wanted to talk about was Wazzu vs. Hawaii. I see a big win for the cougs here, this game is being played at QWEST Field in Seattle. Every year the cougs have their annual game in Seattle at QWEST and it is always rocking. Cougar fans get real rowdy, and this will be a great environment to get their first W. This is probably the cougs second best opportunity to get a W this season behind Portland State, but look for the cougs to be heavily favored in that game.
After watching the cougars play Stanford on saturday it almost looks like +2 is a gift. If it wasn't for the cougs fumbling on the 1 yard line in the first quarter, one big bubble screen TD they gave up, plus a special teams mistake that led to a TD for standford. The score would of been much closer, possibly even a coug victory.
2nd year under new HC Paul Wulff and the cougs offense is begining to click. Look for Lopina to start the game and stay in unless he struggles(this was quoted by Wulff in Seattle Times today). In my opinion, Wulff taking Lopina out in the second quarter against Stanford to give Lobestael(sp)? a chance was a big momentum killer.
Although it was necessary i don't see this happening in Seattle this weekend. Look for the no huddle offense to keep Hawaii off balance, cougs will be looking to run on this weak hawaii D. The cougs have two really good running backs that no one has heard of, Dwight Tardy is a beast that has been plagued by injuries throughout his career there but is back at full strength. CAL transfer Montgomery looked very strong against Stanford in the run, look for this two headed beast to run all over hawaii, add in some no huddle play-action and things start looking even better.
Wazzu also hired a new S&C coach that has been getting rave reviews.The previous S&C coach wouldn't even go to the weight room to keep the players honest in their lifting. This year these guys look like they are caring about keeping their bodies in great shape, expect less injuries and a stronger faster cougar team this year.
Im looking for anyone with other opinions on this game to chime in at anytime, about either Hawaii or Cougs. I've seen a few here on the cougs already.
The real hero of the game, however, was junior wide receiver Greg Salas, whose winding catch-and-run eventually set up the game-winner. UH had the ball on its own 26-yard line trailing 20-19 with just 2:26 remaining in the game when Salas took an Alexander toss 66 yards down to the Bears 8-yard line. The Warriors would score three plays later. Salas finished with a team-high seven catches and a career-high 180 yards receiving and one touchdown reception.
The UH defense shut down on the Bears (0-1) for good when they recorded two sacks on the final possession. Corey Paredes took down UCA quarterback Robbie Park and forced a fumble that was recovered by Richard Torres in the final minute of the game.
LOCK AND LOAD
356 25* Washington St. (+2.5)
I will update more thoughts as they come before the game.
Honolulu Advertiser -
The University of Hawai`i Warrior football team escaped with a 25-20 season-opening win over Central Arkansas Friday night at Aloha Stadium. Greg Alexander found Rodney Bradley in the back of the end zone for an 8-yard score with 1:22 left to lift UH to the victory.
UH won despite four turnovers, including a pair of critical fumbles—one that set up a UCA (0-1) score just two minutes into the game and another midway through the fourth quarter as UH looked to take the lead. But the Warriors hung tough, reeling off 17 unanswered points in the second and third quarters, scoring with just 82 seconds left in the game after trailing by a point, and recovering a fumble in the waning seconds to secure the win.
Alexander threw for 304 yards and tied a career-high with three touchdown tosses. The senior also rushed for a career-high 76 yards.
THIS IS WHY THIS IS A GAME OF THE YEAR.
My initial thoughts looking at week 2 lines and i see a ton of value. but the game i wanted to talk about was Wazzu vs. Hawaii. I see a big win for the cougs here, this game is being played at QWEST Field in Seattle. Every year the cougs have their annual game in Seattle at QWEST and it is always rocking. Cougar fans get real rowdy, and this will be a great environment to get their first W. This is probably the cougs second best opportunity to get a W this season behind Portland State, but look for the cougs to be heavily favored in that game.
After watching the cougars play Stanford on saturday it almost looks like +2 is a gift. If it wasn't for the cougs fumbling on the 1 yard line in the first quarter, one big bubble screen TD they gave up, plus a special teams mistake that led to a TD for standford. The score would of been much closer, possibly even a coug victory.
2nd year under new HC Paul Wulff and the cougs offense is begining to click. Look for Lopina to start the game and stay in unless he struggles(this was quoted by Wulff in Seattle Times today). In my opinion, Wulff taking Lopina out in the second quarter against Stanford to give Lobestael(sp)? a chance was a big momentum killer.
Although it was necessary i don't see this happening in Seattle this weekend. Look for the no huddle offense to keep Hawaii off balance, cougs will be looking to run on this weak hawaii D. The cougs have two really good running backs that no one has heard of, Dwight Tardy is a beast that has been plagued by injuries throughout his career there but is back at full strength. CAL transfer Montgomery looked very strong against Stanford in the run, look for this two headed beast to run all over hawaii, add in some no huddle play-action and things start looking even better.
Wazzu also hired a new S&C coach that has been getting rave reviews.The previous S&C coach wouldn't even go to the weight room to keep the players honest in their lifting. This year these guys look like they are caring about keeping their bodies in great shape, expect less injuries and a stronger faster cougar team this year.
Im looking for anyone with other opinions on this game to chime in at anytime, about either Hawaii or Cougs. I've seen a few here on the cougs already.
The real hero of the game, however, was junior wide receiver Greg Salas, whose winding catch-and-run eventually set up the game-winner. UH had the ball on its own 26-yard line trailing 20-19 with just 2:26 remaining in the game when Salas took an Alexander toss 66 yards down to the Bears 8-yard line. The Warriors would score three plays later. Salas finished with a team-high seven catches and a career-high 180 yards receiving and one touchdown reception.
The UH defense shut down on the Bears (0-1) for good when they recorded two sacks on the final possession. Corey Paredes took down UCA quarterback Robbie Park and forced a fumble that was recovered by Richard Torres in the final minute of the game.
LOCK AND LOAD
356 25* Washington St. (+2.5)
I will update more thoughts as they come before the game.
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