UCLA vs Hawaii 8/28/21 College Football Picks and Predictions

The UCLA Bruins and the Hawaii Warriors battle in Week 0 college football action from the Rose Bowl on Saturday afternoon in Pasadena. The Hawaii Warriors enter the 2021 campaign looking to build on a 5-4 season that saw the Warriors finish with a 4-4 mark in Mountain West conference play. The UCLA Bruins come into the 2021 campaign looking to improve on a frustrating 3-4 season under Chip Kelly.

Chevan Cordeiro is back to lead Hawaii at QB, throwing for 2,083 yards, 14 touchdowns and 6 interceptions last season while also rushing for 484 yards and 7 scores. Cordeiro and Calvin Turner are going to have to lead the way in the backfield for the Warriors, with Turner as more of a receiving back after logging 546 receiving yards last season. Jared Smart is also back to lead the group of Hawaii receivers returning for yet another kick at the can on the island. Defensively, Todd Graham did a masterful job in his first year with the Warriors, as Hawaii did really well in shutting down Houston and Nevada as well as forcing a lot of turnovers. Darius Muasau is back at linebacker while Khoury Bethley also returns after combining for over 150 tackles over the last two seasons. Blessman Ta’ala, Zacchaeus McKinney and Pita Tonga are all back as well for the Warriors. As a team,  Hawaii averaged 26.2 PPG while allowing 27.6 PPG last season.

The good news though is that the offense is starting to work under Kelly, logging 455 yards per game and 35 PPG last season, putting up at least 34 points in five of seven games. Dorian Thompson-Robinson is back under center for the Bruins, throwing for 1,120 yards, 12 touchdowns and 4 interceptions last season. His top target, Greg Dulcich is back and he has a new big target at tight end in Mike Martinez while Kyle Phillips leads the Bruins’ receiving corps. The Bruins lost their leading rusher from 2020 in Demetric Felton, but Brittain Brown is slotted in as the top running back with Felton gone after rushing for 543 yards and 4 TDs last season. Defensively, there’s a lot to like about a Bruins defense that led the conference in sacks but still allowed 30+ points per game. Caleb Johnson returns after leading the Bruins with 44 tackles and 5.5 sacks last season at linebacker while Stephan Blaylock leads a Bruins secondary that was good at forcing interceptions but still allowed 274 passing yards per game. As a team, UCLA averaged 35.4 PPG while allowing 30.7 PPG last season.

Hawaii is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games in August and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 non-conference games while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 road games. UCLA is 4-16-1 ATS in their last 21 non-conference games.

These early season matchups can always be a bit tricky as you never know what to expect from certain teams in their first game and it can take a while to get things clicking from both sides. However, Hawaii and UCLA are two teas that can pour points on in bunches when called upon and did so often last year. I think this could be a track meet to start the year and a 45-38 score or something along those lines would not surprise me either way you slice it. Give me the over in what I think ends up being the most exciting opening matchup of the week.