The kickoff of the 2016 college football season is set to be played in the 80,000+ seat Sydney Olympic Stadium at 9 p.m. central US time on Friday night, but official Australian time will put the kick right at noon on Saturday.
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The other big change I’d expect is less freedom for Davis Webb to change plays at the line. “We’re really looking forward to seeing our first game”.
“Phenomenal, I was energetic”, Muhammad said of his 34-yard TD run in the second minute of the game.
Australian punters, of course, have become routine sights on USA campuses thanks to the easy translation of Australian rules football to American special teams. A good National Impression with the first game of the season won’t hurt either.
“As soon as Davis showed up at Cal, we just had a connection”, Hansen said.
Where: ANZ Stadium (aka: Stadium Australia), which has a capacity of 83,500. It’s a bit of a reset, however, with the departure of No. 1 draft pick Jared Goff.
Hawaii has a new head coach in Nick Rolovich who returns to his alma mater with his first head coaching gig. Webb was the 2013 Holiday Bowl MVP and threw for 5,557 yards with 46 touchdowns and 22 interceptions for the Red Raiders before losing the starting job to Patrick Mahomes.
Wide receiver Marcus Kemp leads the return of the squads’ top three pass catchers.
According to The Associated Press’s Dennis Georgatos, Hawaii’s defensive back Robby Blakeney broke through the middle, blocking another one of Longwell’s punts early on in the third quarter.
Hawaii was without three key players for unspecified disciplinary reasons. College football fans across the country deemed the Golden Bears to be winners before the game began, referencing Hawaii’s 6-6 record from the year before as their reasoning.
Meanwhile, both sides have hit the training paddock, with Cal coach Sonny Dykes noting his troops were able to get rid of some kinks in their first fully-padded practice. “He (Rolovich) will get Hawaii going”. Harding seized the ball at the Cal 16 and made a run to score untouched, putting Hawaii in the lead, 14-7. Rolovich said, smiling. “But seriously, I hope it sends a message that we are going to play aggressively and won’t back down”.
Hawaii has opened the last seven seasons against a Pac-12 team.
“Hawaii scored only 17.6 points per game last season, but that offense is expected to be improved with the new coach”.
The Golden Bears will host the Oregon Ducks on October 21st. Not Hawaii’s way on Saturday. It is 11-39 overall, including 4-28 in conference play, since moving from the WAC to the Mountain West in 2012. After a bye week, they’ll play the Aztecs at San Diego on September 10.
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California is 7-2 SU in their last nine season openers. Hawaii’s 31 points were the most the Rainbow Warriors had scored since 2014 and they averaged 6.5 yards per rush.
