The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors are entering the SoFi Hawaii Bowl as slight underdogs as they prepare to take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. This showdown will kick off fairly late for those on the East Coast (10:30 p.m. ET) and ESPN has the TV rights.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Betting Preview
In this Saturday matchup, Hawaii is projected as the favorite and the team’s currently giving up 1 point. The Bulldogs are also receiving -105 moneyline odds while the Rainbow Warriors are -115. This matchup should provide several decent in-game betting scenarios, and Vegas has determined the over/under (O/U) to be 59 points.
Betting odds have moved slightly from where they were originally posted. The opening line was -2 while the game’s total was set initially at 58.5.
The Bulldogs are 6-6 against the spread (ATS) and have lost 3.2 units so far in 2018. They’ve been a good under bet and have recorded an O/U mark of 4-8. The Rainbow Warriors have been a nice surprise for moneyline bettors this season, gaining 20.8 units. They’re 5-7-1 ATS and seven of their games have gone over the total.
The Bulldogs have gone 7-5 straight up (SU) in 2018 while the Rainbow Warriors are 8-5 SU.
Louisiana Tech comes into this one on a two-game winning streak while Hawaii has lost each of its last two. The Bulldogs will look to bounce back after a 30-15 loss to Western Kentucky on November 24. the Bulldogs completed 28-of-53 passes for 319 yards and one interception. J’mar Smith went 24-for-44 for 280 yards and one interception while Westin Elliott completed four-of-eight for 39 yards. Israel Tucker (39 rushing yards on 10 attempts, one TD) led the running attack. Adrian Hardy (nine receptions, 125 yards) and Alfred Smith (eight catches, 105 yards) handled the receiving duties in the defeat.
Hawaii just earned a 31-30 win over San Diego State. Cole McDonald completed 29-of-46 passes for 452 yards and three touchdowns. Miles Reed (47 yards on 12 rush attempts) led the running game as Marcus Armstrong-Brown (seven receptions, 86 yards) and Cedric Byrd (six catches, 140 yards, one TD) led the pass-catching attack in the win.
Louisiana Tech has run the ball on 47.3 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Hawaii has an overall rush percentage of 43.0 percent. The Bulldogs have run for 126 yards per game and have 19 scores on the ground this year. The Rainbow Warriors are logging 114 rushing yards per game and have 11 total rush TDs.
It appears that the Bulldogs should own an edge in the trenches, since their offensive line has yielded only 24 sacks while their D-line logged 21 sacks. The Rainbow Warriors, on the other hand, have given up 30 sacks and their defense has sacked opposing QBs just 24 times.
The Bulldogs offense has averaged 247 yards through the air overall and has 15 passing TDs so far. The Rainbow Warriors have put up 321 pass yards per game and have 41 total pass scores.
Louisiana Tech should have the upper hand in both areas of the defense. The team has let opponents rush for an average of 157 yards and throw for 194 yards per game. The Hawaii defense has given up 231.2 yards per game to opposing passers and 207.5 yards per game on the ground. The Bulldogs are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of just 4.93 to opposing QBs, while the Rainbow Warriors have given up an 8.18 ANY/A.
Offensively, Smith is up to 2,632 passing yards this year. The signal-caller has connected on 218-of-387 attempts with 13 passing scores and nine interceptions. Smith’s got a 5.56 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, including 5.11 over the last two outings.
Adrian Hardy (942 receiving yards, five receiving touchdowns this season), Alfred Smith (246 receiving yards, two receiving TDs) and Israel Tucker (309 rush yards, two rush TDs, 50 receiving yards) have each played big roles lately.
Cole McDonald has completed 261-of-434 passes for 3,615 yards, 35 TDs and six INTs for Hawaii. His ANY/A stands at 8.41 for the season and 6.74 over his last two games.
Expect McDonald to attack all areas of the Louisiana Tech secondary. JoJo Ward (756 receiving yards and seven receiving TDs this season), John Ursua (1,195 receiving yards, 15 receiving TDs), and Cedric Byrd (895 receiving yards, nine TDs) have collectively put up 595 receiving yards and five TDs over the last couple of games.
Betting Pick: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
SU Winner – Louisiana Tech, ATS Winner – Louisiana Tech, O/U – Over
Click Here to Start Betting Today!
Notes
Team Betting Trends
The Louisiana Tech defense has sacked opposing QBs 35 times this season. Hawaii has registered just 27 sacks.
The Hawaii offense has lost nine fumbles in 2018 while the Louisiana Tech offense has lost six.
The Bulldogs offense has created nine pass plays of 40 or more yards, while the Rainbow Warriors have put up 21 such plays.
The Louisiana Tech defense has allowed five pass plays of 40+ yards, while Hawaii has given up 10 such plays.
The Louisiana Tech offense has created 11 rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while Hawaii has created 10 such runs.
The Bulldogs defense has allowed 20 rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while the Rainbow Warriors have given up 26 such runs.
Louisiana Tech has lost four of its last five games SU, with a 15-point victory over Rice on November 10th accounting for the only win over that stretch.
Louisiana Tech has averaged 3.0 yards per carry over its past three outings and 2.8 over its last two.
Hawaii has averaged 2.5 yards per carry over its last three games and 2.7 over its past two.
*****
