HAWAII BOWL
HAWAII vs. UAB - December 24th, 7:00 pm
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is making its first bowl appearance and the Blazers must be careful not to allow their excitement and the sights of Honolulu become too big of a distraction. Blazer HC Watson Brown said reaching the postseason is a milestone for the program that joined Division I-A in 1996. UAB has bowl eligible twice before, in 2000 and 2001, but didn't get an invitation.
Hawaii is playing in its third straight Hawaii Bowl and this is the fourth time in five years that they have stayed on the island for their bowl game. Despite playing on their home field, they are the designated visitor and as such, will be wearing their white uniforms. They have not had much success this season in the whites as they have not won a game on the road this year. In contrast, they have won every home game accept their opener against Florida Atlantic which they lost by a score of 35-28. They got to this bowl by scheduling no less that eight home games. Hawaii played three bowl teams this season and lost 51-20 to UTEP, 69-3 to Boise State and 70-14 to Fresno State. Ouch!
Rainbow QB Timmy Chang, the most prolific passer in NCAA History, holds the record for career passing yardage with 16,667 yards. To go along with that honor, he also holds the record for career interceptions at 80. This season he has passed for 3,853 yards, 34 touchdowns and has thrown 13 interceptions. This will be his final home game in front of a very proud home crowd and slowing Chang down may be a tough proposition this UAB defense that has allowed five of their opponents to pass for over 300 yards. Chang missed some bowl practices this week with a sore back that is a nagging memory of a hit he took in Hawaii?s season finale against Michigan State. If the injury gets aggravated in the Hawaii Bowl, the Warriors will be in trouble as Chang is all the offense that this team has.
The UAB Blazers also have a good aerial attack with QB Darrell Hackney and have had little trouble scoring, averaging a little over 30 points per game. Hackney ended the regular season with 2,653 total passing yards, 24 touchdowns with just 7 interceptions. Will this team be able to keep up with Hawaii's offense? Not without some help from their defense, which is something the offense hasn't always been able to count on the season. If the Blazers can give up 59 points to Tulane, 45 to South Florida and 23 consecutive 2nd points against Southern Miss, they could be in big trouble against Hawaii. The Blazers have only held two opponents to under 200 yards passing all year.
Remember Bowling Green and Memphis in the GMAC Bowl and the 87 points those two teams put up? There is a very good chance that this game will be played in a very similar balls-out fashion. Chang wants to go out with a bang in front of his home crowd and UAB wants to finally show that they deserve to be in Division I-A. Neither coach is afraid to run up the score if given the chance, and Hawaii?s HC, June Jones has actually made a career of doing just that. This year has been no exception and his team has averaged 37 points per game this season. "We have got to score some points because nobody holds these guys down for the whole game," Blazer coach Brown said. "They'll get their points sooner or later, so we know we have to score points." I?ll take him at his word and say that this one will total out around 85 points with Hawaii coming out on top at the end.
The Verdict: Hawaii (-3.5) & Over (76)
HAWAII vs. UAB - December 24th, 7:00 pm
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is making its first bowl appearance and the Blazers must be careful not to allow their excitement and the sights of Honolulu become too big of a distraction. Blazer HC Watson Brown said reaching the postseason is a milestone for the program that joined Division I-A in 1996. UAB has bowl eligible twice before, in 2000 and 2001, but didn't get an invitation.
Hawaii is playing in its third straight Hawaii Bowl and this is the fourth time in five years that they have stayed on the island for their bowl game. Despite playing on their home field, they are the designated visitor and as such, will be wearing their white uniforms. They have not had much success this season in the whites as they have not won a game on the road this year. In contrast, they have won every home game accept their opener against Florida Atlantic which they lost by a score of 35-28. They got to this bowl by scheduling no less that eight home games. Hawaii played three bowl teams this season and lost 51-20 to UTEP, 69-3 to Boise State and 70-14 to Fresno State. Ouch!
Rainbow QB Timmy Chang, the most prolific passer in NCAA History, holds the record for career passing yardage with 16,667 yards. To go along with that honor, he also holds the record for career interceptions at 80. This season he has passed for 3,853 yards, 34 touchdowns and has thrown 13 interceptions. This will be his final home game in front of a very proud home crowd and slowing Chang down may be a tough proposition this UAB defense that has allowed five of their opponents to pass for over 300 yards. Chang missed some bowl practices this week with a sore back that is a nagging memory of a hit he took in Hawaii?s season finale against Michigan State. If the injury gets aggravated in the Hawaii Bowl, the Warriors will be in trouble as Chang is all the offense that this team has.
The UAB Blazers also have a good aerial attack with QB Darrell Hackney and have had little trouble scoring, averaging a little over 30 points per game. Hackney ended the regular season with 2,653 total passing yards, 24 touchdowns with just 7 interceptions. Will this team be able to keep up with Hawaii's offense? Not without some help from their defense, which is something the offense hasn't always been able to count on the season. If the Blazers can give up 59 points to Tulane, 45 to South Florida and 23 consecutive 2nd points against Southern Miss, they could be in big trouble against Hawaii. The Blazers have only held two opponents to under 200 yards passing all year.
Remember Bowling Green and Memphis in the GMAC Bowl and the 87 points those two teams put up? There is a very good chance that this game will be played in a very similar balls-out fashion. Chang wants to go out with a bang in front of his home crowd and UAB wants to finally show that they deserve to be in Division I-A. Neither coach is afraid to run up the score if given the chance, and Hawaii?s HC, June Jones has actually made a career of doing just that. This year has been no exception and his team has averaged 37 points per game this season. "We have got to score some points because nobody holds these guys down for the whole game," Blazer coach Brown said. "They'll get their points sooner or later, so we know we have to score points." I?ll take him at his word and say that this one will total out around 85 points with Hawaii coming out on top at the end.
The Verdict: Hawaii (-3.5) & Over (76)
