A week 1 matchup takes place at the Big House between a team playing their season opener against a team that has already played. The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, who opened their season in Australia, travel to battle the #7 Michigan Wolverines Saturday afternoon. The contest kicks off at 12:00 pm ET from Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. National television coverage for the game is provided by ESPN. Michigan is currently a hefty 40 point favorite in this contest with the over/under set at 55 points.
Hawaii opened their 2016 season with a 51-31 defeat in Australia against Cal last Friday. Michigan had a terrific first season under coach Jim Harbaugh in 2015. The Wolverines finished the year 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten. That marked the Wolverines’ first season with double digit victories since 2011. Michigan closed the year with a 41-7 romp over Florida in the Citrus Bowl.
Michigan won both of the previous matchups between the schools. That includes a 48-17 win on the road in 1998 in the last meeting.
For a look at our thoughts on other games on the week 1 schedule, check here to get more information.
It’s hard to like Hawaii’s chances, regardless of the venue or the number of points they’re getting. Playing at a neutral site last week against a Cal team that is expected to be mediocre didn’t help matters. The Rainbow Warriors only snuck in a backdoor cover by taking advantage of the Golden Bears’ emptying the bench in the second half. Hawaii gave up 630 yards in the loss and made Davis Webb look like a superstar in his first game with Cal after transferring from Texas Tech. Sure, Hawaii had 482 yards of offense in the game but if you can’t stop the opposition, it doesn’t really matter.
Michigan had a pair of close losses last season, including one to archrival Michigan State on a blocked punt return for a score as time expired. If you throw out the loss to Ohio State where they were overmatched, everything else was a win or at least competitive. The Wolverines bring back eight starters on offense with the biggest question mark being who is going to be under center. Will sophomore Wilton Speight seize the job or does transfer John O’Korn, who had success at Houston in 2014, get the nod? Whoever gets the job has plenty of talent to work with, including All-American tight end Jake Butt.
The focal point of Michigan’s success last season was their defense. Michigan posted three consecutive shutouts last season. The Wolverines limited the opposition to single digit point totals in six games last season. The Wolverines were 6th in the country in scoring defense, limiting the opposition to 16.4 points per game. Michigan held the opposition to just 280.7 yards per game and 4.5 yards per play. Opposing quarterbacks completed just 47.5 percent of their throws against Michigan’s defense last year. With the addition of defensive tackle Rashan Gary, the #1 prospect coming out of high school, the Wolverines are even deeper this year. Jabrill Peppers and Jourdan Lewis are All-Americans from a year ago; they’ll wreak havoc on defense.
Hawaii was a -5 in the takeaway/giveaway ratio last week against a middling at best Cal team. Given the prowess Michigan has on defense, the Rainbow Warriors would have to consider scoring at all a bonus. Michigan cruises to the victory in this contest.
Hawaii is 1-6 ATS in their last seven overall, 1-10 ATS in their last 11 on fieldturf and 0-5 ATS in their last five after allowing at least 40 points.