Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
Hawaii started the year off well, dispatching their season opening 1-AA opponent then beating Washington State in Seattle (we didn’t know yet just how bad the Cougars would be), but then racked up six straight losses, pinning their backs to the wall if they wanted to get to a bowl game. To make it, they had to win their last five games, and they nearly did. They beat Navy at home to set up a showdown with Wisconsin to get to 7-6, but they proved no match for the Badgers, falling 51-10 to close the season at 6-7.
Hawaii loses a lot of players this year, including seven on the offensive side, but junior QB Bryant Moniz is expected to lead the offense after starting eight of the last nine games a year ago. The defense has more returning talent, with seven players back, but they’re going to have to be better than the team that gave up 30+ on seven occasions last year.
Schedule
9/2/2010 USC
9/11/2010 at Army
9/18/2010 at Colorado
9/25/2010 Charleston Southern
10/2/2010 Louisiana Tech
10/9/2010 at Fresno State
10/16/2010 Nevada
10/23/2010 at Utah State
10/30/2010 Idaho
11/6/2010 at Boise State
10/20/2010 San Jose State
11/27/2010 at New Mexico State
12/4/2010 UNLV
As they often do, Hawaii plays football games in five different time zones this year, and against some of America’s elite teams. USC comes in Thursday night to play the ESPN nightcap before the Warriors head across to New York to see Army. The October home game with Louisiana Tech will be a big one to establish Hawaii’s place in the WAC landscape as league play gets going.
Coaching
Greg McMackin’s first two years at Hawaii have been solid, currently at 13-14 with one bowl appearance and one near-miss. Hawaii has grown accustomed to being a WAC powerhouse though, and I suspect that if McMackin doesn’t deliver some winning seasons in the next two or three, his job may get less stable.
Rankings
The WAC media picked the Warriors to finish 5th this year, while the coaches have them down in 7th.
Outlook
Hawaii had a top 10 passing offense last year, and has a couple of those components back, but with so many pieces to replace and an already shaky defense, it’s hard to be too optimistic about their chances. They do enjoy a big home field advantage thanks to the travel difficulty and the challenge of playing in what is often the middle of the night back home, but that only goes so far. I think this may only be a four win season for Hawaii as the rest of the WAC is getting better.
Hawaii Connections
Official Football Site – Enjoy it while it’s easy to read. They’re threatening us with a redesign.
Warrior Sports Network – Scout message board
Honolulu Star Advertiser – Local coverage of the Warriors