In the final game of the slate for Friday, September 1st, 2023 – the Stanford Cardinal are on the road at the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.
The Stanford Cardinal are playing their first game of the 2023 season, while Hawaii is coming off a road loss at Vanderbilt in Week 1. A season ago, the Cardinal struggled big time. It was the final season for David Shaw, who spent 12 seasons there. The Cardinal won just three games in 12 tries and went 1-8 in Pac-12 play.
For Hawaii, they also had a tough season. The Rainbow Warriors went 3-10, including 2-6 in Mountain West Conference play.
The Stanford Cardinal are the favorites in this game despite being on the road. Stanford is listed at -3.5, with a total of 60.5 points.
Rebuild Time for Cardinal
In 2022, Stanford really was not good at much of anything. It was not the Stanford football of old. Now, Troy Taylor comes to town after spending the last four seasons building the Sacramento State program.
Redshirt sophomore Ari Patu will get the nod as the quarterback for the Cardinal. A season ago, he was just 6 of 9 for 65 yards and two touchdowns. He played second string behind Tanner McKee.
The run game has been a struggle for the Cardinal of late. This is not the days of Christian McCaffrey back there. But, E.J. Smith is a guy that the Cardinal staff hopes they can build behind.
Smith rushed just 30 times a season ago for 206 yards and three touchdowns. He will get the carries early but do not be surprised to see Casey Filkins or Jacob Lowe getting touches as well.
Stanford has a chance to get off to a hot start with a Week 1 win but then will immediately be tested with a road game at USC in Week 2. The Week 3 game against Sacramento State will certainly be an interesting one, with Taylor faces his old team.
Hawaii Looking to Avoid 0-2 Start
Hawaii went to Nashville and played it close, but 35-28 later, they are 0-1 on the season. Brayden Schager saw ups and downs behind center for the Rainbow Warriors. He completed 27 of 35 passes and picked up more than 350 yards in the game. He also threw three touchdowns. But his two interceptions were killers in the loss.
The top target for Schager was Pofele Ashlock. He had a monster game with seven receptions, 127 yards and a score. Steven McBride was really good as well, in fact, getting into the end zone twice in the game and finishing two yards shy of 100 for the game.
The run game was pretty non-existent for the Rainbow Warriors. They had four guys with carries in the game but picked up just 40 yards on 25 carries.
Hawaii will have to be able to run the ball more effectively to survive in big games. Landon Sims is the top running back, and he finished with 38 yards, including a 22-yarder for his biggest of the game.
Stanford Survives and Advances
Going on the road is never an easy task. Especially going on the road on a long flight, in a different time zone, with a new team, against a team that has played.
Hawaii did not look bad in their loss to Vanderbilt, so the Cardinal will need to be ready to go. But look for the better talent of Stanford to win out here. Stanford wins by a touchdown.
Bet the Cardinal -3.5 over the Rainbow Warriors.
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