Hawaii - Notre Dame

the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Wednesday, December 24th, 8:00pm Honolulu, Hawaii

Hawaii (7-6)______WAC______12.83 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Florida 472.96 L, 10-56 2 Weber State -447.92 W, 36-17 3 Oregon State 190.34 L, 7-45 5 San Jose State -37.52 L, 17-20 6 Fresno State 63.06 W, 32-29 7 Louisiana Tech 13.10 W, 24-14 8 Boise State 376.20 L, 7-27 9 Nevada 34.12 W, 38-31 10 Utah State -184.14 L, 14-30 11 New Mexico State -269.98 W, 42-30 13 Idaho -316.44 W, 49-17 14 Washington State -320.71 W, 24-10 15 Cincinnati 331.88 L, 24-29

Notre Dame (6-6)______Indy_____-7.99 Wk Opp oPts Score 2 San Diego State -330.21 W, 21-13 3 Michigan -203.81 W, 35-17 4 Michigan State 220.54 L, 7-23 5 Purdue -107.74 W, 38-21 6 Stanford -56.12 W, 28-21 7 North Carolina 231.66 L, 24-29 9 Washington -422.21 W, 33-7 10 Pittsburgh 277.72 L, 33-36 11 Boston College 253.65 L, 0-17 12 Navy 147.23 W, 27-21 13 Syracuse -173.35 L, 23-24 14 USC 398.66 L, 3-38 ____ ____ ____ ____

The Warriors and Irish are pretty even when it comes to schedule. Both won some games they shouldn't have, but also lost some they shouldn't have. Hawaii finished the season 3-1, losing in the last week to BigEast champ Cincinnati, while Notre Dame went 1-4 down the stretch, beating only Navy and losing to Syracuse.

Stats Matchup
Team	Hawaii	Notre Dame
Points (rank)	12.83 (#62)	-7.99 (#64)
Record	7-6	6-6
Opp. Points (rank)	-95.05 (#61)	236.01 (#44)
Opp. Record	80-69	71-74
Points (% of Opp. Avg)	24.9 (85%)	22.7 (88%)
dPoints (% of Opp. Avg)	27.3 (103%)	22.3 (88%)
Rush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	99.3 (67%)	113.4 (75%)
dRush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	148.0 (91%)	142.7 (95%)
Pass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	245.5 (118%)	231.4 (115%)
dPass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	203.8 (92%)	184.8 (103%)
Tot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	344.8 (92%)	344.8 (96%)
dTot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	351.8 (95%)	327.5 (98%)
ST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	122.3 (90%)	124.2 (104%)
dST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	130.5 (99%)	95.5 (76%)
Penalties / Pen. Yds	8.8 / 79.1	5.4 / 49.1
TO's / TO Margin	2.7 / -5	2.3 / -5

Running is a weak point for both of these teams, gaining just 67% and 75% of what their opponents usually allow on the ground. Their passing games are solid though, so look for them to air things out a bit. Hawaii commits more penalties, but both are in the red when it comes to turnovers - expect 4 or 5 this game. I'm liking the Warriors in this one - home-field advantage has to be worth something, especially with traveling to Hawaii.

The Line: Notre Dame -1.5

The Call: Hawaii by 7

The Result: Notre Dame 49-21

Who knew the Irish were capable of such an offensive explosion - that oughta earn Weis another few years on the contract, huh? But seriously, it sets Notre Dame up for a great off-season - if anybody should get a bump from a bowl win this year, it's them. Tough game for the Warriors - will they ever get back to the heights that June Jones took them to?