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Hawaii at Washington: Game Preview, Kick Time, TV Schedule, Livestream, Prediction

Can the ‘Bows make it a trifecta against Pac-12 teams?

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Hawai’i flies to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies this Saturday.

WEEK 3: Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (2-0) at Washington Huskies (1-1, 0-1 Pac-12)

WHERE: Seattle, Washington; Alaska Airlines Field At Husky Stadium (70,083)

WHEN: Saturday, September 14th, 2019 — 4:30 pm PT/1:30 PM HT

TV: Pac-12 Network

Stream: FuboTV – Get 7-day free trial

ODDS: Washington by -21.5
GAME NOTES: Hawaii | Washington

FEI PROJECTION: Washington by 26.4

SP+ PROJECTION: Washington by 20.9 (89% win probability)

In what was another nail-biting game at Aloha Stadium last Saturday, the Hawaii Warriors found a way to squeak a 31-28 victory over Oregon State.

While most readers and fans believed Hawai’i should have put up 70 points on the Beavers, it did not go particularly well for the Bows on all three phases of football.

Receivers and quarterback were not on the same page on several occasions. Then combine missed tackles and three field goals that failed to cross the uprights made Hawai’i have to crawl back from a pair of 14 point deficits.

https://twitter.com/HawaiiFootball/status/1171922282534408192

Now UH will have to travel for the first time in 2019 to a Husky team that is recovering and rejuvenating after a weather delay the Huskies were completely drained mentally and the Cal offense got a big play late in their game which set up for the game-winning field goal for the Golden Bears.

It will be the sixth meeting between these two programs, with UW leading the series 3-2. Hawai’i only win in Seattle against Washington was in 1973 when the Bows edged out a 10-7 victory. The last meeting was in 2014 when host Hawai’i lost a close one 17-16 as Chris Peterson got his first victory as the Huskies head coach.

Keys to the game

Washington will need to use their beefy offensive line to make way for Salvon Ahmed and the Husky running game as they see a huge advantage against Hawai’i’s run defense.

Ahmed ran 21 times for 119 yards and a touchdown last week, but with a depleted Hawai’i linebacker unit, the Husky rushing attack can pursue multiple big plays to get them ahead on the scoreboard early.
Junior quarterback Jacob Eason will need another efficient game as he completed 60% of his passes last Saturday. Even though he didn’t have a passing TD, he led his team down the field most of the night with his quick decision making and reads. He does however need to finish with more touchdowns in the red zone with a 44% success rate.

Look for the two tight ends, Hunter Bryant and Cade Otton, to have an impact game as the Hawai’i defense typically struggles to defend the pass.

Defensively for the Huskies linebacker, Joe Tryon had a career-high seven tackles and a sack last week. Washington will need to constantly put pressure on Cole McDonald to make him throw errant passes and possible picks. While the secondary is fairly young with two freshmen defensive backs in Cameron Williams and Kyler Gordon, they are talented and will be tested every down by this run and shoot offense.

Hawai’i’s chances of winning will be solely on the offense to produce touchdowns on every possession. McDonald, though he didn’t throw as many picks as he did in his first game, was still inconsistent in his timing with his receivers. In week zero, though, wideout Cedric Byrd was his go-to guy with four TDs; last week, it was JoJo Ward with four scores of his own. This week, we might see more of former Cal transfer Melquise Stovall in the mix as a threat both as a kickoff/punt returner and wideout.

The Rainbow Warriors defense will have to use the “next man up” mentality and hope they get through this game without any more injuries, particularly at linebacker. Seniors Solomon Matautia and Kana’i Picanco need to stop the running back from getting into the second level or it’ll be a long evening for the defense. Defensive back Cortez Davis had a great night last week with seven tackles and the duties of shadowing Oregon State’s star receiver Isaiah Hodgins.

Hawai’i head coach Nick Rolovich said that his program is in “phase 2” and part of that phase is not being afraid of who they play where they play. Each of his players believe in the system enough to win big games on the road. They will not go into Husky Stadium scared or shocked playing in front of a large crowd. If they get down early, they will not falter and check out early like in past seasons on the road. I predict Hawai’i won’t win this game, but I can’t see it as a 66-7 drubbing.

Washington 38, Hawai’i 27

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