Stanford vs. Hawaii Prediction: Can the Cardinal Notch a Win on the Island?
Hawaii has typically been a tough place to play over the last few years and Stanford opens their season with little expectations but are 3-point favorites in this road matchup. Can they start their season with a win? Let’s break it down.
Joey Ruiz - September 1, 2023, 3:12 PM EDT
5 minStanford vs. Hawaii Prediction: Can the Cardinal Notch a Win on the Island?
Hawaii was one of the few teams that we got to watch play in Week 0, and they actually played fairly well against SEC opponent Vanderbilt. The Rainbow Warriors were 17 1/2 point underdogs and were pretty much in the game from start to finish, but did lose the game by a score of 35 to 28.
Stanford vs. Hawaii Date, Start Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: September 1, 2023
- Game Time: 11:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: CBSSN
Stanford vs. Hawaii Prediction
In that game, Hawaii’s offense did quite well as quarterback Brayden Schager threw the ball all over the field. He notched 350+ passing yards and three touchdowns through the air. The thing that concerns me, though, is how sloppy Hawaii was in other facets of the game.
While Schager did throw for 350 yards and three touchdowns, he threw two interceptions, and Hawaii also allowed a kick return touchdown, which proved to be the deciding factor in the game as Hawaii outgained the Commodores in the game by nearly 100 yards, but still lost the contest by seven.
That game was on the road, though, and now the Rainbow Warriors get to return home to play a fairly lowly Stanford team who is not expected to be very good this year. Long-time coach David Shaw was let go from the program, and this season begins the Troy Taylor era at Stanford. Taylor was extremely successful during his time as a head coach at FCS Sacramento State, as they were a perennial power at that level with a high-powered offense.
Taylor will look to recreate some of that offensive prowess now at Stanford, as they have been very anemic on that side of the ball over the past few seasons, as points have been very hard to come by for the Cardinal. The offense ran by Taylor at Sacramento State was extremely up-tempo and fast-paced, which is the complete opposite of what Stanford had done under Shaw and the previous regime. Stanford will have a new up-tempo/RPO look, and I think this style of play will suit them well in the Pac-12 and should yield them an advantage over a fairly weak Hawaii defense.
It may be a revolving door at QB for Stanford this season as they have yet to name a definitive starter, but it appears that Syracuse transfer Justin Lamson will get the first opportunity. Lamson played behind Garrett Schrader and a fairly solid Syracuse offense that season and should be able to move the sticks through the air, as Hawaii did not defend the pass very well in their Week 0 matchup with Vanderbilt.
Hawaii allowed AJ Swann to complete 19/30 passes for 258 yards and three TDs while not forcing any type of turnover. Swann averaged an absurd 8.6 yards per attempt, so I fully expect Stanford to have similar success through the air tonight as well. This line has also gotten bet from Stanford-7/7.5 all the way down to -3 across the board. This is a fairly large market reaction largely due to Hawaii’s strong Week 0 performance against Vanderbilt, but I believe this is way too large of an overreaction and now provides a lot of value on Stanford.
With that being said, I am rolling with Stanford ML at -140 for 1.5u as my most confident College Football play of the day as I think Stanford goes into Hawaii and starts the season 1-0 on the island.
Stanford vs. Hawaii Pick
1.5u Stanford ML -140 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds for this pick
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