Defensive-Minded Cougars Host Defensive-Challenged Warriors
By SBRForum.com
Head Coach Norm Chow leads his 1-2 Hawaii Warriors against a program he served as a long-time assistant for, the 2-2 BYU Cougars, Friday night in Provo (8 pm ET, ESPN).
Can Hawaii show improvement after getting blown out last week by Nevada? Or will BYU bounce back after a very tough loss to Boise State?
Hawaii, which returned just 10 starters this season, just four on defense, from a team that went 6-7 last year, opened its season with a 49-10 loss at USC. The Warriors then beat Lamar (FCS) 54-2. But Saturday Hawaii, in its Mountain West Conference debut, got blown out at home by Nevada 69-24, giving up 575 yards of total offense, 355 yards of that on the ground.
The Warriors covered the spread as 44-point underdogs on the college football picks board vs. the Trojans, but came nowhere close to covering as seven-point dogs vs. the Wolf Pack.
On the other side of this matchup BYU, with seven starters back on both sides of the ball from a team that went 10-3 last year, opened this season with a 30-6 win over Washington State, then beat Weber State 45-13. But the Cougars then lost a rivalry game to Utah 24-21.
Then last Thursday BYU visited Boise and lost a tough 7-6 decision to the Broncos. In a defensive battle the Cougars scored a touchdown with four minutes to go to pull within one point, then went for two points and the lead but failed.
Cougars QB Riley Nelson, who was dealing with a sore back, was pulled from that game in the third quarter, replaced by freshman Taysom Hill, who led the team on its only scoring drive but had his two-point pass attempt knocked down.
Over its last two games the BYU defense has allowed 17 points (Boise State’s only score came on an interception return, and Utah returned a fumble for a score), 361 total yards and just 75 yards on the ground.
These teams met last year in Honolulu, with the Cougars coming away with a 41-20 victory. Hawaii led 13-10 at the half but BYU scored the first 31 points of the second half on its way to covering the spread as eight-point favorites.
As of Tuesday morning most college football betting outlets listed BYU at -27.5 for Friday night’s game over Hawaii.
