Vanderbilt vs Hawaii NCAAF Week Zero Preview and Prediction August 27, 2022

I can’t believe the writer of this preview and prediction is calling for Vanderbilt to score 37 points in Week Zero on the road in Hawaii. You know how many times Vanderbilt scored 30+ points last year? Not once did they score more than 30 points in 12 games, and even lost 23-3 to East Tennessee State in Week 1. They beat the UCONN Huskies who many be the worst team in the entire country, and still only scored 30 points on them. You calling for them to score 37 on Hawaii? That’s some serious disrespect for this Hawaii team bro.

The Vanderbilt Commodores have to travel across the country for a Week Zero game at Hawaii, and still you think they should be a favorite? I will stop short of making a prediction, but I certainly think Vanderbilt will have their hands full. It’s a long way from Tennessee to Hawaii. At the end of the day, as excited as I am for the return of college football in 2022, I think there are better games to focus on in the first week of the season.

This preview/prediction could use an update, naming the starting quarterback for Hawaii in Week Zero vs Vanderbilt. I am trying to figure out who starts for the Warriors, but can’t find anything. The previous post seems to be certain that Cammon Cooper has won the job, but I am hearing other things. “As far as quarterback and even the other positions, we recruited all the way until July and so getting these guys in and letting them be able to compete as far as quarterback and some of these other positions—we are not set in stone until we watch these guys compete for about two weeks and we’ll flip into our Vanderbilt game plan,” Chang said to KHON2. “But they got to go out there and compete. There’s six on the roster and all of them can throw. They all do things a little bit different but at the end of the day it’s the guy that distributes the ball and makes the best decisions. That’s the guy that’s going to get the nod.”

I saw this posted on the SBR Forum, another pro handicapper picking Hawaii Week 1 versus Vanderbilt. His preview looks almost opposite of this prediction. Check it out:

This is a 10* OPENING NIGHT SPECIAL on Hawaii.

Timmy Chang is once again the head-coach at Honolulu, and while he doesn’t have a lot to work with, I still think that he’ll find a way to, at the very least, keep this one close enough to earn the comfortable cover.

Twenty years ago Chang’s offense was putting up more than 4,000 yards a year, but he only has six returning starters this season.

But Vanderbilt has been terrible the last feyears, going just 5-28 the past three seasons and dropping 21 straight SEC contests since 2019.

Last year Vandy opened the season with a 20 point loss to FCS East Tennessee State. The Commodores should be slightly better this time around, as they have a bit more experience, but the defense will once again be the weak point.

Last year Vanderbilt allowed 31 or more points in seven of eight SEC games.

Commodores coach Clark Lea has just announced that Mike Wright will be the starting QB thi season. Both Wright and Ken Seals struggled last year, but Wright managed to top 200 yards passing in the final two games, solidifying his spot this season.

The weakness this year for Hawaii is for sure on the defensive side. In fact, the secondary has none of its defensive backs from last season. But fortunately for the Warriors they catch a break here, because Vanderbilt doesn’t have much back in the way of receivers this year. They averaged 35 carries per game last year, but only managed 3.5 yards per carry.

Chang sees Cammon Cooper take the ball under center, as he moves over from Washington State. The one thing Cooper does have going for him, is that four of the six returning starters do come on the offensive end.

The Vanderbilt defense and secondary could be in even bigger trouble than Hawaii’s as well.

Granted, the Commodores have been a decent bet on the road, covering in eight of their last ten away from friendly confines. But that’s almost entirely due to the fact that they face such ridiculous spreads in the SEC while on the road.

Note that Vandy is just 1-3 ATS as a favorite over the past three seasons and it’s lost outright on two of those occasions.

Interestingly as well, Hawaii has done extremely well in this spot, covering in six of its last seven games played in the month of August.

Whatever experience that Vanderbilt brings to the table in this one, I’m not buying it. The Commodores have to travel across three time zone and while I’ll stop short in calling for the outright upset, I will recommend grabbing as many points as you can with Hawaii to earn a comfortable cover here at home to open up the season.

Good luck, NP

I think this preview and prediction focused too much on Hawaii, while ignoring all the negative things happening with Vanderbilt. At the end of the day the Commodores come in as a road favorite asked to cover a touchdown in a Week 1 matchup that arguably looks far more challenging than the game they lost in Week 1 of 2021. Why will 2022 be any different? There aren’t many answers, so i would lean on taking the points with Hawaii.

Pretty tough to do a preview and prediction on a Hawaii team with so much turnover in 2022. The Warriors are going to be completely different after losing all those players. My prediction is that they won’t be as bad as some might think, but it will take them a few weeks to get their shit together. As far as Vanderbilt goes, maybe they get worked over in the SEC but they should have their way with a Mountain West team in disarray. I think Vandy wins this Week 1 matchup by 10+ points.

Some dude named Mark sounds like he just loves Hawaii, but WTF does he base his comments on. Not a single piece of useful info on why he thinks UH is going to be good. Come on Mark, you can do better?

Bad Hawaii reporting! Commodores will be in for their lives! This UH team will surprise many, starting with Vanderbilt!!!