College Football Betting: 2010 Hawaii Warriors

Hawaii’s program has stalled under head coach Greg McMakin.

After losing six of its first eight games to start the 2009 season, Hawaii rallied to win four straight before its season came to an abrupt end when it was pummeled by Wisconsin 51-10 in the final game of the regular season. The loss left the Warriors at 6-7 for the year and out of the bowl picture. They ended the season tied for fifth place in the Western Athletic Conference with a record of 3-4.

In his two years as head coach, Greg McMackin has gone 13-14 with back-to-back seven-loss seasons. Following in the footsteps of June Jones, his team’s offense has been a far cry from its former glory. The 2010 version will feature quarterback Brian Moniz who is coming off a season in which he threw for 2,396 yards, 14 TD’s and 10 interceptions after assuming the starting role five games into the schedule.

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Moniz will have a couple of quality receivers to throw the ball to as both Greg Salas and Kealoha Pilares also return.  Salas led the team last season with 105 receptions for 1,590 yards and eight touchdowns and was named first team All-WAC. Pilares added 66 receptions for 690 yards and four TD’s.

The Warriors will not have much in terms of a running game but have a capable back in Alex Green. While they are known for primarily a passing attack, Green did run for 453 yards on 86 carries in 2009.

After losing four of the five starters, there are numerous question marks surrounding Hawaii’s offensive line. Which final five players line up in the openers against USC remains a mystery as when the Warriors broke practice in the spring the line was still very much a work in progress.

The defense will be far more settled as seven starters, including the entire secondary, returns from last year. As a pure athlete, S Mana Silva is the best player on this side of the ball. In 2009 he recorded 74 tackles and snagged six interceptions for Warriors. Another playmaker that returns is LB Corey Parides. In 2009 he had 54 tackles and four sacks. One area that was depleted was the defensive line especially in the area rushing the passer. It will be up to several new faces to create enough up front pressure to slow some of the other high powered offenses in the conference down.

College Football Betting Odds

With teams like Boise State and Nevada clearly ahead of them, the Warriors need to realistically set their sight on a seven or eight win season. While there are no BCS betting odds set for Hawaii, the Broncos are one of the favorites at 10/1 to win a national title while the Wolf Pack is a long shot at 200/1.

As far as its performance against the spread last season, Hawaii went 6-6 overall.  The Warriors were 2-4 at home and 4-2 on the road.

There is just too much uncertainty with the Warriors' offensive and defensive line to make me believe they can effectively compete in the WAC this season. In looking at their schedule I can only come up with three or four sure wins, so they are going to have to pull off three or four upsets just to have a chance at a winning record.