Arizona and Hawaii will kickoff the college football season from Oahu this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. MST.
This is the first meeting since 2016, when Arizona won 47-28 in Tucson.
After a 5-7 record and no bowl game in year one for Kevin Sumlin, the Wildcats’ head football coach knows there’s room for improvement.
“We’ve got a lot of things to work on,” Sumlin said. “When you only win five games, there’s a lot of things. One of the biggest things is consistency. Consistency in your life, consistency in your approach to the game and where are you as a team and as teammates.”
One thing that will help keep Arizona consistent is Khalil Tate. The senior quarterback is in his last season and says that this year he is 100 percent.
Hawaii finished at 8-6 last year but lost in the Hawaii Bowl to Louisiana Tech. Their first three games this year are all against Pac-12 opponents, so they’ll be looking to start off on the right foot.
Their junior quarterback Cole McDonald had a big year last year throwing for 3,875 yards and 36 touchdowns. Unfortunately for the Rainbow Warriors, their star wide receiver from a year ago, John Ursua, went to the NFL draft and was picked in the seventh round.
Hawaii is a team that will air the ball out and look for big plays from their wide receivers. They averaged 32 points a game last year during the regular season, with most of their points coming through the air. Look for them to attack an Arizona secondary that has been weak in years past.
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