It was fine-tuning day Friday for Cal and Hawaii as the Golden Bears and Rainbow Warriors prepared for Saturday’s season-opening game of the US college football season at Sydney’s Olympic stadium. But it’s the first game of the college football, so darn it, I’m going to make one.
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Hawaii’s Paul Harris (29) readies to take a shot from UNLV’s Ryan McAleenan (56) who cuts him off at the corner during their game at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, November 7, 2015.
Harris, Hawaii RB – The 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior had a very good first season with the Warriors but will need to have another solid campaign to get the attention of the National Football League scouts.
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors’ Diocemy Saint Juste, center, breaks a tackle by California Golden Bears’ Khari Vanderbilt second right, on his way to scoring a touchdown during the opening game of the USA college football season at Sydney’s Olympic stadium in Sydney, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016.
College football fans, your wait is over: The 2016 season kicks off Friday night.
California has a better record, going 7-2 in season openers since 2007, including a 73-14 home win at Berkeley previous year over Grambling State. Webb was 38 for 54 and 441 yards passing, with no interceptions. “Hawaii threw a few blitzes at us and our offensive line played well”. Chad Hansen also returns to a stacked wide receiver core for new offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, plus Vic Enwere, Tre Watson and Khalfani Muhammad are back after combing for 1,585 yards (5.6 per carry) past year on the ground.
The three-headed running back corps had its moments, with Khalfani Muhammad (10 carries, 96 yards), Vic Enwere (10 for 73) and Tre Watson (11 for 33) getting all of the action.
Rolovich’s first taste of head coaching could be a tough one.
Webb’s favorite target was receiver Chad Hansen, who had 13 catches early in the fourth quarter. Cal lost a lot of talent off of last year’s team, including 2016 NFL Draft No. 1 pick quarterback Jared Goff.
The rain that played havoc with training schedules on Thursday was gone, giving way to a sunny, cool morning at Olympic Park where Hawaii held their final session in the shadow of the stadium that was the centerpiece of the 2000 Olympics.
A Rainbow Warriors spokesman said before the game that safety Daniel Lewis Jr., linebacker Jerrol Garcia-Williams and tight end Metuisela Unga were not with the team. They will be more experienced and deeper this year though cornerback Darius Allensworth is the only returnee who started every game in 2015.
THE COACHES: Sonny Dykes is the man from Cal.
And speaking of numbers, Cal’s depth clearly wore down the Hawaii defense as the game went on.
The Hawaii entourage went straight from the stadium to the airport to get a scheduled 9 p.m. flight back to Honolulu. “We’re really looking forward to seeing our first game”.
“I wanted to make sure Australian fans got to see an onside kick, and in my first game, too”. Webb played very sparingly at Texas Tech last season, appearing in five games and completing 22-of-41 passes (53.7%) for 300 yards and two touchdowns.
It’s the seventh consecutive year that Hawaii, a member of the Mountain West conference, will open against a Pac-12 opponent.
The Bears struggled as a defensive unit past year. Texas Tech transfer Davis Webb takes over under center this season for the Golden Bears.
Hawaii was given a chance to practice at the University of New South Wales but because it was about an hour away toward the city and into busy traffic, made a decision to cancel their practice session and did a walk-through later in the day in preparation for Saturday’s game.
The Bears, who have been in Sydney all week, will fly home Saturday and have two weeks to recuperate before visiting San Diego State on September 10. After a bye week, they’ll play the Aztecs at San Diego on September 10.
California is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games.
HAWAII: It gets doesn’t get any easier as the Rainbow Warriors make their first visit to the Big House when they play MI in Ann Arbor in September 3. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
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