Hawaii Football: 5 reasons Hawaii will beat Arizona in Week 0
By Zach Bigalke
3. Hawaii vs. Arizona will be decided through the air
Last year, Hawaii had little interest in running the football. The Rainbow Warriors averaged fewer than 110 yards per game as a team on the ground, putting them in the bottom 10 of the FBS in that category. But that was in large part because they had the high-powered passing game that mitigated the need to keep it on the ground all the time.
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Arizona, on the other hand, loved to run the football in 2018. With J.J. Taylor pounding the rock for more than 1,400 yards on the ground, the Wildcats were able to weather the various injuries to Khalil Tate.
But in the end, all the running in the world couldn’t get Arizona into the postseason. After they dropped the regular-season finale 41-40 against Arizona State — despite outgaining the Sun Devils by more than 100 rushing yards and finishing with a full one-yard advantage in yards per carry — the Wildcats need to refocus on getting the ball in the air more frequently.
Especially in a game where Hawaii has so many weapons in their passing game, this is a contest where Khalil Tate is going to be dueling head-to-head with one of the top Group of Five quarterbacks in the country. All the yards on the ground won’t be enough to keep pace with the high-flying Hawaii offense.