The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders meet up in sunny Honolulu to settle their differences in the Hawaii Bowl. The match-up is scheduled to get underway on Saturday, December 24th at 8 p.m. ET and will be shown on the ESPN Network. Heading into this game, the Blue Raiders are a -5.5 point favorite and odds gurus have set the total at 69.
The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders have only met once before in 1993. In that meeting, Hawaii defended their home turf in Honolulu to the tune of 35-14.
Hawaii (6-7):
Head coach Nick Rolovich’s Rainbow Warriors seen their share of ups and downs this year. Hawaii began the season with back-to-back losses to the Cal Bears and Michigan. But they kept their nose to the grind stone and ultimately landed themselves at home in the Hawaii Bowl.
Starting signal-caller Dru Brown hasn’t been the most reliable quarterback. He’s completed 62 percent of his throws for 2,214 yards and 15 touchdowns with seven tosses to the wrong team. He will need to step-up his game to keep up with the Blue Raiders offensive attack.
Over the ground is where the Rainbow Warriors found their niche’. Steven Lakalaka has been solid for Hawaii, leading the club with 12 trips to pay dirt. The elusive tail back has also also picked up 415 yards on 100 carries. Diocemy Saint Juste ran the ball 140 times for 836 yards and three more score. Paul Harris also pitched in with 537 yards and two touchdowns on only 77 touches.
Three wide outs did the majority of the work for Hawaii from the wide receiver position. Together, the wide outs collected 146 passes for almost 1,900 yards and 13 touchdowns. Marcus Kemp led the way with 70 grabs for over 1,000 yards and seven scores.
The Rainbow Warriors were atrocious on the defensive side of the ball. They finished the regular season ranked 115th in the nation in points allowed per contest (37.5). Hawaii’s secondary did manage some respectable numbers finishing 45th in the country allowing 211.6 yards a game.
Middle Tennessee State (8-4):
The Blue Raiders also had a topsy-turvy season that saw them end up in third place in the C-USA’s East division. After losing to the Roadrunners and Marshall, Middle Tennessee State was pick up back-to-back wins over Charlotte and Florida Atlantic to finish out the year.
The Blue Raiders did a little better moving the pigskin through the air because of quarterback Brent Stockstill. The senior signal-caller completed 63.9 percent of his passes for 2,801 yards and 27 touchdowns to five interceptions.
Unfortunately, Stockstill will remain sidelined after suffering a broken collar bone. Now, Middle Tennessee State will turn to quarterback John Urzua, who has hit on just under 60 percent of his throws for 816 yards, eight scores and eight interceptions.
Middle Tennessee can advance the ball via the ground attack too. I’Tavius Mathers has amassed 1,504 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 220 carries. The squads offensive MVP, leads the team in all three categories.
Wide receiver Richie James leads the Blue Raiders with 97 catches for over 1,450 yards and 1,463 yards 11 trips to the back of the end zone. Ty Lee also contributed another 53 grabs for 599 yards and seven scores. I’Tavius Mathers must be accounted for, as he also snatched up 62 passes for 589 yards and three touchdowns out of the back field.
Like Hawaii, the Blue Raiders failed to make their mark on the defensive side of the ball in 2016. Middle Tennessee State finished 101st in the nation, allowing 34.4 points per game. In large part because the defense as a whole gave up 445 yards per outing (92nd).
Trends and Notes:
The Rainbow Warriors are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
The Blue Raiders are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 Bowl games.
The Over is 13-4 in the the Rainbow Warriors last 17 games overall.
The Over is 6-1 in the Blue Raiders last 7 games overall.
NFL wide receivers Brandon Marshall, Golden Tate and Davante Adams all have claimed Hawaii Bowl MVP awards.
San Diego State topped Cincinnati in last year’s game 42-7.
Game Predictions:
The Blue Raiders didn’t miss a beat after losing quarterback Brent Stockstill to a collar-bone injury. In fact, they tallied 115 total points in their next to outings. One of those games against Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee ran the ball for almost 500 yards.
Hawaii is entering this match-up with a losing record. The Rainbow Warriors did finish the season off on a winning note but looked to be over matched for this one. Hopefully, the home field advantage can help them keep it close.
Middle Tennessee just has too much offensive fire power for a porous Hawaii defense. The Vegas line of -5.5 for the Blue Raiders is playable. Take Middle Tennessee to cover that and hopefully the game remains somewhat entertaining.
