The Wyoming Cowboys and Hawaii Rainbow Warriors will square off on the turf at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium. The game is scheduled to kick off at 12:00 a.m. ET and SPEC has the TV rights.
Betting Preview: Wyoming Cowboys at Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Wyoming is the road underdog in this MWC game and is currently being given 4 points. The Cowboys are also receiving +155 moneyline odds while the Rainbow Warriors are -175. Some solid live betting opportunities might exist during this game, and oddsmakers have set the over/under (O/U) at 54 points.
The sharp action has been siding with the under. This game’s over/under was placed initially at 55.5.
The Cowboys have lost 1.0 unit so far and are 1-4 against the spread (ATS). The team’s posted an O/U mark of 3-1.
The surprising Rainbow Warriors have gained 13.1 units this season. They’re 2-3-1 ATS and the over has hit in four of their games.
The Cowboys are 2-3 straight up (SU), including 0-1 SU against MWC opponents. The Rainbow Warriors are 5-1 SU overall and 2-0 SU in conference play.
The Cowboys fell to Boise State 34-14 in a thumping where their defense allowed the Broncos to pass for 345 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 161 yards and two scores. On the offensive side, Tyler Vander Waal completed 15-of-25 passes for 214 yards and one touchdown. Nico Evans (141 yards on 12 rush attempts, one TD) led the ground attack. Raghib Ismail Jr. (five receptions, 66 yards) and Austin Conway (three catches, 22 yards) shared the receiving duties in the defeat.
Hawaii just got a 44-41 win over San Jose State. Cole McDonald completed 34-of-57 passes for 341 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. McDonald (27 yards on 13 rush attempts) and Dayton Furuta (39 yards on 12 carries, one TD) spearheaded the running game while John Ursua (13 receptions, 148 yards, three TDs) and JoJo Ward (nine catches, 74 yards) led the pass-catching attack in the win.
Wyoming’s run the ball on 56.2 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Hawaii has a rush percentage of 43.4 percent. The Cowboys have produced 141.8 rush yards/game and have seven scores on the ground this year. The Rainbow Warriors are averaging 144.5 rush yards per game (166.5 in conference) and have eight total rushing TDs.
The Cowboys offense has logged 160.4 yards/game through the air overall and has three passing TDs so far. The Rainbow Warriors have recorded an astonishing 351.3 pass yards per game (380 against MWC competition) and have 24 total pass scores.
Wyoming appears to have an edge in both defensive facets. The team’s allowed opponents to run for an average of 130.2 yards and pass for 255.8 yards per game. The Hawaii defense has given up 279.3 yards per game to opposing passers and 159.2 yards per game to opposing runners. The Cowboys are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of only 6.42 to opponents, while the Rainbow Warriors have given up a staggering 8.76 ANY/A.
McDonald has been sharper than Vander Waal lately. His adjusted net yards per pass attempt stands at 9.85 for the year and 6.64 across his past two outings while Vander Waal’s ANY/A is 4.38 (and 4.92 over the last two outings).
When these two teams met a year ago, Wyoming won by a touchdown 28-21.
Wyoming Cowboys vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors NCAA Prediction
SU Winner: Wyoming, ATS Winner: Wyoming, O/U: Over
Team Betting Trends,
- The Hawaii D has tallied twice as many sacks as Wyoming this year (14 versus seven).
- The Hawaii offense has lost four fumbles in 2018 while Wyoming has lost two.
- The Cowboys offense has recorded three pass plays of 40 or more yards, while the Rainbow Warriors have accounted for eight such plays.
- The Wyoming defense has allowed two pass plays of 40+ yards, while Hawaii has given up eight such plays.
- Both teams have produced five rushing plays of 20 yards or more. The Wyoming offense has recorded 21 running plays of 10+ yards while Hawaii has accounted for 25 such plays.
- The Cowboys defense has allowed six rushing plays of 20+ yards, while the Rainbow Warriors have given up 13 such runs.
- Hawaii was the underdog by 9 points in its last outing and the O/U was set at 61.5. The over cashed and Hawaii covered in the team’s 44-41 win over San Jose State.
- Over its last three matches, Hawaii is 0-2-1 ATS and the under cashed in two of those three.
- Wyoming was the underdog by 15 points in its last game and the Over/Under was 46.5. The over cashed and Wyoming failed to cover in the 34-14 defeat to Boise State.
- As a team, Wyoming has averaged 3.18518518518519 yards per carry over its past three contests and 3.3 over its last two.
- Hawaii has averaged 4.6 yards per carry over its last three outings and 4.8 over its last two.
