Hawaii Bowl Pick Notre Dame vs Hawaii
The Hawaii Warriors (7-6 SU, 6-5-1 ATS) will have the opportunity to host a bowl game, which is not a common occurrence, as they take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-6 SU & ATS) in the Hawai’i Bowl, part of NCAA college football online betting action that is slated to kick off at 8 PM ET at Aloha Stadium (artificial turf) in Honolulu.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: NOTRE DAME -1.5, Total 48
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* ND has lost four of its last five games SU
* ND has covered one of its last five games
* HAW has covered five of its last seven games
* HAW has won 18 of its last 25 games SU
* HAW has played four of its last six games OVER the total
Certainly no one wants to over-react to Hawaii’s near-upset of Cincinnati in the final game of the regular season. After all, the Bearcats were a team that had already locked up the Big East title and a berth in a BCS bowl game (Orange Bowl) and could be excused if they were looking at the Honolulu trip as something of a vacation. Conversely, Cincinnati is the Big East champion and does have several players who are going to be high draft choices. Hawaii racked up 275 yards through the air and maybe our point is that at least some of the same factors that made that season-ending game such a difficult experience for the Bearcats may wind up making this an excursion the Fighting Irish may eventually want to forget.
There is definitely a case to be made that Notre Dame beat the stronger opposition on its schedule. Charlie Weis’ crew defeated middling squads in Michigan, Stanford and Purdue, but also beat Navy, which was a highly competitive program this year (competing in the Eagle Bank Bowl). Their problem is that the low points in that schedule were extremely low. Almost no offense was displayed in losses to Michigan State and Boston College, the offense didn’t even have a first down against USC until deep into the third quarter. The loss to Syracuse, which had already fired its head coach, brought some special humiliation of its own, as the Irish players were barraged by snowballs for much of the day – by their own fans.
The atmosphere does not really exist for there to be a “feel-good” ending for Notre Dame here. The situation surrounding Charlie Weis’ status as Irish coach brought tension more than anything else. The fact that he is going to be kept around for another year should hardly bring comfort to his underachieving bunch. Like last season, Notre Dame struggled all year long to find a running game, and had no one who averaged more than 50 yards. Jimmy Clausen, the sophomore quarterback who came in so highly touted as a freshman, threw eight interceptions in the season’s last four weeks. His receiving corps should be healthy (which means Michael Floyd, a talented frosh, will be in the lineup), and that’s a positive.
However, the “D” in “ND” did not function well as a genuine stop unit. No penetration came from this defensive line, which ranked 81st in sacks and 112th in tackles for loss. Things picked up offensively for Hawaii with Greg Alexander at quarterback, and he threw for 12 TD’s and just two INT’s in the season’s last six games. The two picks are important because this team committed 35 turnovers on the year. Yes, it is true that this offensive line did not support a running game and allowed 49 sacks. But even without June Jones and Colt Brennan on board, they still know how to move the ball through the air (246 ypg), and they have arguably a better defense than last year, chalking up 34 sacks and forcing 30 turnovers.
As many teams can tell you (most recently Cincinnati), it is hard enough to play well in Honolulu after the traveling and amidst all the distractions. It’s even harder when you’re program is in a state of confusion and you’re not even sure you want to be there. This may be one of the bigger games in the history of the Hawaii program, not to mention an opportunity to redeem last year’s crushing Sugar Bowl loss. Considering those circumstances, do you want to lay points in a road game with a so-so team that is unfocused and has lost NINE straight bowl appearances?
We don’t. We’ll grab the small number with the Warriors, the 1.5-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college football sports betting odds.
