Wow.
Well, honestly, and I know it's a long dead horse at this point,
but I don't know how you can feel
really good about backing either one of these teams.
Unless Notre Dame simply has the better athletes and dominates at every position, to me, when it's all said and done, the team that bucks it's own turnover trend will have the best shot at winning this game, 'cause they're both
exceptional at coughing up the pigskin.
I do notice that Hawaii, and particularly in it's last 3 games, has been MUCH better at creating turnovers (up to 3.0 from 2.3 per game) while limiting it's own (down from 2.7 to 1.3), has gotten better quarterback play (David Alexander has 12 TD's and only @ INT's in his last 6 games), and that they play much better at home in general (higher pass rating and yardage). And to me, that very close Cincinnati loss is pretty encouraging.
And if you're big into trends, teams that travel the farthest are 23-37
ATS in bowl games the past two years, and teams playing at home are
12-6.
We all already know that Hawaii is playing better down the stretch than Notre Dame (with Charlie Weis, ironically, calling the plays - which he intends to do again in this game), but there's no question that Notre Dame played a much better schedule and probably has the better athletes across the board, although the Warriors did land two of their linebacks (Solomon Elimimian and Adam Leonard) on the all-WAC team, and a defensive end in DE David Veikune, who probably deserved the nod as well.
I think that both teams come into this game with alot of incentive to win it (albeit for completely different reasons), and it should be alot of fun to watch, but both teams have been too mistake prone, penalty-prone, turnover-prone, and generally under-acheivin' prone for me, personally, to feel very strong about either play.
But, I'll probably make a small play and tease:
Hawaii +8.5 and the
Over 43, which pays even money
Happy Holidays every one.
And remember to give thanks for the simple opportunity to sit at home, in peace, with an ice cold glass of Evan Williams Egg-Nog and enjoy live college football from beautiful Hawaii.
That Evan Williams Nog is like crack by the way.
They really got the mix right.
Merry Christmas to all
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