Hawaii (+15.5) over Alabama
The rainbow warriors are not the best traveling team to say the least. This is not a good thing considering Alabama is not a very easy place to play. Still the Warriors come in to this contest with a much improved defense and solid offense.O-LINE returns 3 starters (2 All-WAC performers center Samson Satele and tackle Tala Esera). The offensive line is good BUT only in pass blocking. These boys do not like opening holes in the running game. Throwing the ball is Colt Brennan and this kid has all the good to thrive in this system. A very strong arm, pocket presence, mobility and toughness. The June Jones system will be tough for Bama to contend with in coverage. Bess and Mullin should have too much speed add in a few other speedsters and this WR is very dangerous. Colt Brennan knows this offense and his WR will get open and open quickly, this is important because a hostile BAMA crowd will be motivating the defense. Kines has to use some new starters FS Jeffrey Dukes, LB Terrence Jones and DE Bobby Greenwood. This defense is athletic but inexperienced. Safeties Roman Harper and Charlie Peprah along with starting corner Anthony Madison are gone. This means a lot of questions in the secondary going against a very complex system in Hawaii. The CB and Safeties have to be ready for it and the inexperience might show in this department. Castille will have his work cut out trying to get this secondary comparable to last years group. The D-line was great at stopping the run but lack of power in this group made it hard to get to QB's. The linebacking corps to take a step back after losing the combined 142 tackles of DeMeco Ryans and Freddie Roach. Juwan Simpson is going to be called upon to lead this unit and lead the defense. IMO the complexity of the Hawaii passing game is enough to get blow coverages and some big plays down field. Not saying they will pass at will but they will have some openings to move the chains. This offense will look to move the ball and keep possession so the defense isn't called upon to win games. Glanville gets another shot working with this defense. This group has speed enough to cover but WILL get run over. They lack interior size and if Bama get into the secondary and day it will be a problem. Solomen Elimimian will be around the ball all day from his backer spot and Peters at FS should be in the mix. C.J. Allen Jones has to live up to his hype, he is an extremely fast linebacker and should be big this year after missing last season with an injury. Add in LB Leonard and the LB corp will be good but not great and they should be in for a battle against a strong Bama line. The speed on LB will need to blitz to help out DE Purcell the best option for a pass Rush that Hawaii has. If the Warriors drop in coverage all day they will get zero pressure but I don't think Glanville will have that in mind for this young untested QB. IMO Darby will be the big player for Bama in thid game. The lack of size on Hawaii defensive line is a problem because the O-line of Bama has come together and should over power the front group. The overall depth of the O-line is not good but they will not need it in this contest, the starting 5 will do just fine. Bama QB is a good mobile and strong armed but he is only a sophomore and might be a little amped up in his first start. This kid will be a gamer, he was good in a very solid highschool program and he should be productive at bama but it is early in his career. Bama has enough on offense to make some noise this season. However IMO the defense will be good but not great and Hawaii will be able to score. The Bama offense will be good and not great and I think Glanville stacks the box and forced the young QB to prove himself. Should be a nice gameplan for Hawaii and going with the chalk in this game, considering how much reloading bama has to do and the potential of the Hawaii offense.
Cheers
Irish
The rainbow warriors are not the best traveling team to say the least. This is not a good thing considering Alabama is not a very easy place to play. Still the Warriors come in to this contest with a much improved defense and solid offense.O-LINE returns 3 starters (2 All-WAC performers center Samson Satele and tackle Tala Esera). The offensive line is good BUT only in pass blocking. These boys do not like opening holes in the running game. Throwing the ball is Colt Brennan and this kid has all the good to thrive in this system. A very strong arm, pocket presence, mobility and toughness. The June Jones system will be tough for Bama to contend with in coverage. Bess and Mullin should have too much speed add in a few other speedsters and this WR is very dangerous. Colt Brennan knows this offense and his WR will get open and open quickly, this is important because a hostile BAMA crowd will be motivating the defense. Kines has to use some new starters FS Jeffrey Dukes, LB Terrence Jones and DE Bobby Greenwood. This defense is athletic but inexperienced. Safeties Roman Harper and Charlie Peprah along with starting corner Anthony Madison are gone. This means a lot of questions in the secondary going against a very complex system in Hawaii. The CB and Safeties have to be ready for it and the inexperience might show in this department. Castille will have his work cut out trying to get this secondary comparable to last years group. The D-line was great at stopping the run but lack of power in this group made it hard to get to QB's. The linebacking corps to take a step back after losing the combined 142 tackles of DeMeco Ryans and Freddie Roach. Juwan Simpson is going to be called upon to lead this unit and lead the defense. IMO the complexity of the Hawaii passing game is enough to get blow coverages and some big plays down field. Not saying they will pass at will but they will have some openings to move the chains. This offense will look to move the ball and keep possession so the defense isn't called upon to win games. Glanville gets another shot working with this defense. This group has speed enough to cover but WILL get run over. They lack interior size and if Bama get into the secondary and day it will be a problem. Solomen Elimimian will be around the ball all day from his backer spot and Peters at FS should be in the mix. C.J. Allen Jones has to live up to his hype, he is an extremely fast linebacker and should be big this year after missing last season with an injury. Add in LB Leonard and the LB corp will be good but not great and they should be in for a battle against a strong Bama line. The speed on LB will need to blitz to help out DE Purcell the best option for a pass Rush that Hawaii has. If the Warriors drop in coverage all day they will get zero pressure but I don't think Glanville will have that in mind for this young untested QB. IMO Darby will be the big player for Bama in thid game. The lack of size on Hawaii defensive line is a problem because the O-line of Bama has come together and should over power the front group. The overall depth of the O-line is not good but they will not need it in this contest, the starting 5 will do just fine. Bama QB is a good mobile and strong armed but he is only a sophomore and might be a little amped up in his first start. This kid will be a gamer, he was good in a very solid highschool program and he should be productive at bama but it is early in his career. Bama has enough on offense to make some noise this season. However IMO the defense will be good but not great and Hawaii will be able to score. The Bama offense will be good and not great and I think Glanville stacks the box and forced the young QB to prove himself. Should be a nice gameplan for Hawaii and going with the chalk in this game, considering how much reloading bama has to do and the potential of the Hawaii offense.
Cheers
Irish
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