Storyline: Can Hawaii overcome a less than impressive season by starting off strong against Cal? Or will their bad fortune continue into a new year? See a prediction here!
While the vast majority of college football teams are looking forward to their first game of the year over the Labor Day weekend, the Hawaii Rainbow and Cal Bears have the opportunity to have the college football stage all to themselves this Friday night. These two programs will kick off the season at 10pm EST in Sydney, Australia.
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The Rainbow Warriors come into this game having come off of a disappointing 2015 campaign going 3-10 overall and failing to win a conference game (0-8). This lackluster season led to a change at the head coaching position. Taking over the helm for the Warriors is former quarterback Nick Rolovich. Rolovich will have some talent coming back on the offensive side of the football to work with. 5th year senior quarterback Ikaika Woolsey leads the way for the Rainbow Warriors. Last year, Woolsey threw for 908 yards and 5 touchdowns.
At the running back position Hawaii has a hidden gem in the form of senior Paul Harris. Harris is on the pre-season “Doak Walker Award Watch List“. Harris ran for 1,132 yards last year while adding 6 touchdowns. Senior Marcus Kemp is Hawaii’s returning receiver last year, but will need help around him to thrive. The defensive side of the ball is where Hawaii has really struggled the past few years, but there is possible light at the end of the tunnel for this group. They return several players from last year’s team and they are making a switch from a base 3-4 defense to a 4-3. Returning leading tackler Garcia Williams hopes to anchor this experienced (but not overly talented defense).
The California Bears make the trip to Sydney coming off of an 8-5 2015 season. Their record was good enough to get them into a bowl game and ultimately win one. Head Coach Sonny Dykes has many questions to answer on both sides of the ball this year. He answered one of the biggest questions the other day when naming graduate transfer Davis Webb as the starting quarterback. Webb has plenty of experience in the Power 5 conference scene after playing at pass happy Texas Tech under Coach Cliff Klingsbury. While this decision may provide stability at the position there is still going to be a learning curve that needs to take place. The Bears have also lost their top 6 receivers from last year and Webb will need to get on the same page quickly in order for the team to succeed.
PREDICTION: Even with all the changes taking place in Berkeley this year the Bears should still have enough talent to handle the Rainbow down under in Sydney. The Rainbow will be more competitive this year, and will sneak up on a couple of teams in the Mountain West. They have the opportunity to keep this game close in the first half before the overall talent of the Bears takes over.
VEGAS LINE: Cal -20
SCORE: Cal 41 Hawaii 24
