College Football Free Betting Preview – Hawaii Rainbow Warriors vs. Fresno State Bulldogs

The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (+24) are making a trip west to face their conference counterpart Fresno State Bulldogs at Bulldog Stadium. Kickoff for this criticalgame is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET and ESPN2 will broadcast the action.

Betting Preview: Fresno State Bulldogs vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors

Fresno State is heavily favored in this one and is currently giving up 24 points to Hawaii. If the Bulldogs stumble early it will generate a nice in-game betting opportunity. Oddsmakers have placed the over/under (O/U) at 55.5 points.

The opening line was -23. The game’s total hasn’t moved since it opened at 55.5.

Both of these teams have rewarded gamblers this year as the Rainbow Warriors have recorded 12.5 units and the Bulldogs are ahead 3.9 units.

The Rainbow Warriors are 6-3 straight up (SU), including 3-1 SU against MWC opponents. The Bulldogs are 6-1 SU overall and 3-0 SU in conference play.

Fresno State comes into this one on a two-game losing streak while Hawaii has come out on top in its last five in a row. The Rainbow Warriors fell to Nevada 40-22 in a blowout where their defense allowed the Wolf Pack to eat up the clock by running for 220 yards on 36 rush attempts, including four rush TDs. On the offense, Cole McDonald completed only 19 passes on 37 attempts for 259 yards and three touchdowns. Dayton Furuta (55 yards on 16 rush attempts) and the signal-caller McDonald (21 yards on 11 carries) led the ground attack. John Ursua (seven receptions, 123 yards, one TD) and Cedric Byrd (five catches, 50 yards, one TD) shared the receiving duties in the defeat.

Fresno State is coming off of a 38-7 win over New Mexico. Marcus McMaryion completed 20-of-30 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. Josh Hokit (35 rushing yards on 12 attempts) and Ronnie Rivers (48 yards on 11 carries, two TDs) handled the running game while KeeSean Johnson (eight receptions, 149 yards, two TDs) and Rivers (four catches, 69 yards, one TD) led the receiving attack in the win.

Hawaii has run the ball on 45.2 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Fresno State has an overall rush percentage of 54.3 percent. The Rainbow Warriors have run for 133.1 yards per game (including 150.3 per game against Mountain West opponents) and have nine scores on the ground this year. The Bulldogs are averaging 135.6 rushing yards per game (95.7 in conference) and have 18 total rush TDs.

It appears that the Bulldogs ought to hold an advantage in the trenches. Their offensive line has yielded only five sacks while the D-line has registered 13 sacks. The Rainbow Warriors O-line has allowed 26 sacks and their defense has generated only 23 sacks.

The Rainbow Warriors offensive scheme has averaged 307.0 yards through the air overall (291.5 per game versus conference opposition) and has 31 passing scores so far. The Bulldogs have put up 272.1 pass yards per outing (269 in the MWC) and have 15 total pass TDs.

Defensively, Hawaii has let opponents rush for an average of 179.1 yards and pass for 246.4 yards per game. The Fresno State defense has allowed 175.4 yards per game to opposing passers and 124.9 yards per game to opposing runners. The Bulldogs are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of just 2.91 to opponents, while the Rainbow Warriors have given up an 8.05 ANY/A.

McMaryion has managed to complete 128-of-180 passes for 1,571 yards, 12 TDs and two INTs. McMaryion’s adjusted net yards per pass attempt sits at 9.13 for the season and 10.52 over his past two games. In the other huddle, McDonald is up to 2,359 passing yards on the year. He’s connected on 175-of-277 attempts with 27 passing touchdowns and only two interceptions. McDonald has a 9.15 ANY/A for the year, although that number sits at 6.14 over the last two games.

When these two squads met a year ago, Fresno State got the victory 31-21.

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors vs. Fresno State Bulldogs Free Pick

SU Winner: Fresno State, ATS Winner: Hawaii, O/U: Under

Team Betting Trends,

The O/U for Hawaii’s previous game going into it was 66.5. The under cashed in the team’s 40-22 defeat to Nevada.

Hawaii, as a team, has averaged 3.3 yards per rush attempt over its last three contests and 2.8 over its last two.

Fresno State has averaged 2.8 yards per carry over its last three games and 3.3 over its last two.

The Fresno State offense has lost three fumbles this season while Hawaii has let six get away.

In its last three contests, Hawaii is 1-2 ATS and the under cashed in two of those three.

The Over/Under for Fresno State’s last matchup was 52. The under cashed in the 38-7 triumph over New Mexico.

In its last three matchups, Fresno State is 3-0 ATS and the under cashed in each of those three.

The Rainbow Warriors offense has created 10 pass plays of 40 or more yards, while the Bulldogs have accounted for six such plays.

The Hawaii defense has allowed eight pass plays of 40 or more yards, while Fresno State has given up three such plays.

The Hawaii offense has created nine rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while Fresno State has created six such runs.

The Rainbow Warriors defense has allowed 15 rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while the Bulldogs have given up two such runs.

The Hawaii defense has 23 sacks on the year while Fresno State has just 13.