To close out week zero, Vanderbilt takes a trip to Honolulu to take on the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.
Both of these programs are at a crossroads. Vanderbilt football – now in their second year under Clark Lea – has some reason for optimism. They brought in one of the best classes in the recruiting site era under Lea, and although results on the field were bad, there’s still some upward progression in Nashville.
Meanwhile, Hawaii football has been through it over the last year. The Rainbow Warriors finished 6-7, but had Todd Graham resign after abuse allegations by his players. Timmy Chang, the hometown boy, formerly the NCAA’s all-time leading passer, is now in charge as head coach. What resulted from all this chaos was a depleted roster that is going to be filled by transfers; Hawaii only returns 28 percent of their production from last year.
Here are three bold predictions for Hawaii vs. Vanderbilt.
3. Re’Mahn Davis rushes for over 100 yards
Hawaii’s run defense was actually pretty okay last year; it gave up 4.1 yards per rush attempt, which was 60th nationally. Now though, with a massive amount of transfers out, new pieces are abound on the defensive interior.
Vanderbilt is going through a similar process on their side of the ball. They’ve got many pieces to replace, but they do get back Re’Mahn Davis from injury last year. Davis, who has been Doak Walker Award watch-listed in his career, is a solid running back who should get a lot of touches.
Now, Vanderbilt’s line last year wasn’t particularly good; they only had 3.6 yards per rush attempt last year. But, this year, the team is confident in who they’ve got, and should be improved on the ground this year, especially against a rebuilding Mountain West squad.
Look for Davis to have a good game against the Rainbow Warriors.