Hawaii Bowl Preview

Arizona State vs Hawaii (-7)
This is Dirk Koetter's final game as the head coach at Arizona State. After an up and down season, the Sun Devils are hoping to give Koetter two big wins to end his ASU career. After surprisingly beating Arizona in Tucson, Koetter now has a chance to win his third straight bowl game with ASU. The Sun Devil offense was pretty disappointing this season, though Koetter did finally find some magic with a running attack in the second half of the year. That's what got Koetter fired though: not being able to meet expectations. Of course, switching starting quarterbacks at the last second doesn't exactly set you up for success. But none of that matters now, it's all about this Christmas Eve game. Rudy Carpenter and Ryan Torain both had big days against the Wildcats and should be able to continue that success against the Warriors.

Hawaii ended the season on a sour note. After winning nine games in a row, the Warriors were stopped in Honolulu by Oregon State. It was the first time in ten games that they were held under 40 points. Of course, ASU also got to play the Beavers this year and were absolutely pasted by them. I'd be remiss to not mention the staggering numbers that Hawaii QB Colt Brennan has put up this season. 4990 yards, 72.1% completion rate, 53 TDs to only 11 INTs and a quarterback rating of 182.8. Just unreal. I mean he passed for 400 yards and 2 TDs against OSU and it was a bad game for him. June Jones just does crazy stuff out there in the Pacific. With another big game, Brennan can set the single season TD and passer rating records and come close to BJ Symons' passing yards record.

So who has the advantage? Well, Hawaii has the amazingly effective gimmicky offense (#1 in scoring and total yards) and ASU gives up a lot of points. Meanwhile, Hawaii has a terrible defense but ASU only has a slightly above-average offense. I think ASU keeps it close. I don't know if they have enough to keep pace with the Warriors (ASU only scored 40 twice this year) if Carpenter can't get the ball to his receivers. But, if Torain and the Sun Devil ground attack have a big game, they can keep Hawaii's offense off the field and keep the score down. Besides, Dirk Koetter has to want to stick in Lisa Love's face just a little, doesn't he?

The Pick: Arizona State (+7)

Merry Christmas!!