UAlbany vs. Hawaii: Game Preview, How To Watch, Odds, Prediction

The Warriors hope to claim their first win of 2023 against the well-traveled Great Danes. Here’s how to watch and what to watch for.

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Late-night business on the islands.

WEEK 2: UAlbany Great Danes (1-1) vs. Hawaii Warriors (0-2)

WHEN: Saturday, September 9 — 6:00 PM HT/9:00 PM PT

WHERE: T.C. Ching Athletics Complex; Honolulu, HI

WEATHER: Cloudy and breezy, low of 73 degrees

TV: Spectrum Pay-Per-View (Hawaii only)

STREAMING: For college football fans on the mainland, the game can only be streamed using the Team1Sports application. That is available for download on Android and Apple devices and over-the-top platforms like Roku and Amazon Fire. Please note that the game will not be available on desktops or laptops.

RADIO: The UAlbany broadcast can be found on 104.5 The Team (WTMM) in Mechanicsville. The Hawaii broadcast can be found and streamed on ESPN Honolulu or the Sideline Hawaii app, which is available on Google and Apple).

SERIES RECORD: This is the first meeting between UAlbany and Hawaii.

LAST GAME: UAlbany lost on the road against Marshall, 21-17, while Hawaii lost at home to Stanford, 37-24.

WEBSITES: UAlbanySports.com, the official UAlbany athletics website | HawaiiAthletics.com, the official Hawaii athletics website

GAME NOTES (PDF): UAlbany | Hawaii

ODDS: N/A

SP+ PROJECTION: Hawaii by 3.0

FEI PROJECTION: N/A

PARKER FLEMING PROJECTION: N/A

The Hawaii Warriors haven’t had the start to 2023 that they hoped, but they can get things on track this Saturday night against the UAlbany Great Danes.

UAlbany will make one of the longest road trips in recent memory to play this game in Hawaii — 4,940 miles, to be exact — and they’ll do so without head coach Greg Gattuso, who is out of commission with an illness. After they threw a scare into Marshall last week, however, the Warriors won’t want to take their FCS opponent for granted.

Three Keys to a Hawaii Victory

1. Get Tylan Hines going.

While quarterback Brayden Schager has had a fine start to 2023, the “run” in Hawaii’s run-and-shoot offense hasn’t yet manifested. Hines has only earned 20 yards on 14 carries through the team’s first two games, though there’s reason to believe those fortunes could change against the Great Danes.

Rasheen Ali keyed Marshall’s second-half rally against UAlbany in Week 1 with four different runs of ten-plus yards, a performance of which Hines himself is capable.

2. Keep Anton Juncaj in check.

After earning an all-conference honorable mention in the preseason, Juncaj went out in UAlbany’s season opener against Fordham and played like that was a massive oversight, collecting four sacks in a season-opening win. While Schager has had a hot hand in the young season, head coach Timmy Chang has already started two different players, Ka’ena DeCambra and Luke Felix-Fualalo, at right tackle and his quarterback has already taken nine sacks. That could pose a problem if the Warriors aren’t prepared to contain a potential different maker playing off the edge.

3. Don’t let Reese Poffenbarger get hot.

Last year’s CAA Rookie of the Year and Jerry Rice Award runner-up has had a decent start to his sophomore campaign, completing 57.7% of his throws for 447 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions. He also had a 54-yard touchdown run against Marshall last Saturday, but he’s absorbed a fair bit of punishment in two games: Per PFF, he’s faced 24 total pressures and taken eight sacks.

Getting Cam Stone back on the field after he gave himself a clean bill of health can only help since he’s allowed just one reception in seven targets thus far, but it will take a group effort to keep the Great Danes from hanging around longer than is necessary. One encouraging note: Though they didn’t have any sacks last week against Hawaii, PFF also credited the Warriors with 16 quarterback hurries.

Prediction

Albany has a fair bit of talent on its hands, but I doubt they’ll be able to contain Hawaii’s passing game any more than Vanderbilt or Stanford did. Even if Schager continues to withstand more pressure than is comfortable, the Warriors should be in a position to outlast the Great Danes in a shootout if nothing else.

Hawaii 42, UAlbany 17

Story originally appeared on Mountain West Wire