2019 NCAA Division I College Football Team Previews: Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Last year started off very well at 6-1 before Hawaii dropped four in a row. The only loss in that seven-game stretch was a seven-point loss to Army.
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Last year started off very well at 6-1 before Hawaii dropped four in a row. The only loss in that seven-game stretch was a seven-point loss to Army.
Buffalo went from 10 losses in 2016 to 10 wins in 2018–finishing 10-2 in the regular season (7-1 MAC) and winning the MAC East before falling to Northern Illinois in the MAC title game. The Bulls also lost to Troy in the Dollar General Bowl to finish on a two game losing streak.
The Ragin’ Cajuns averaged 32 points and 424 yards per game in Coach Billy Napier’s first season in Lafayette and finished 7-5 in the regular season with a bid to the first ever Sun Belt Conference title game (loss to Appalachian State) and a Cure Bowl bid (loss to Tulane).
Nevada played a very hot and cold 2018. When playing the lower tier conference opponents the games were stunted offensively. On the flip side, it was a slug fest of offensive will powers when playing the mid tier conference opponents.
UNT finished the season 9–4 (5–3 C-USA) play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the West Division and were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they lost to Utah State.
The Blue Raiders won their first division title and came within a late score of the C-USA championship to UAB but were blown out by Appalachian State in the New Orleans Bowal to finish 8-6 overall, 7-1 C-USA.
After a 2-6 start against a brutal schedule, the Cowboys made a quarterback change and found its identity, rallying for four straight wins to finish bowl eligle at 6-6 (though they were one of four elgible teams to not get a bid).
The Golden Hurricane finished its season with its second straight losing record with a 3-9 mark (2-6 AAC) and the three wins were against lower teams (FCS Central Arkansas, UConn, and SMU).
It was another disappointing year for the Midshipmen with a 3-10 record and their third consecutive loss to archrival Navy. It’s their worst record since 2002, and one of their wins came against an FCS team (Lehigh) that went 3-8.
The Redhawks were again inconsistent–much like the full Coach Martin tenure. Miami finished 6-6 overall (6-2 MAC) but just missed out on a bowl game bid as one of the four teams that were bowl eligible but failed to get the call.
After a 6-7 2017 season, WKU dropped to 3-9 in 2018, losing nine of its first 10 games of the season but closed out the year with two consecutive wins but those were not enough to save Coach Mike Sanford’s job. Sanford finished his two year tenure with a 9-16 overall mark and just 6-10 in C-USA play.
The bowl year of 2017 seemed like a distant memory as the Rams crashed to a 3-9 season. Losses to FCS Illinois State, Hawai’i and a 43-19 loss to in-state rival Colorado were some of the lowlights.
The Golden Flashes are one of four programs to have existed in the FBS prior to the 2010s and has not won a bowl game and last year Kent State finished just 2-10 (1-7 MAC) in Coach Sean Lewis’ first year at the helm.
After an off-season suspension on allegations that he physically assaulted players last year, Coach Bob Davie remained on the job but finished with his second straight 3-9 season (1-7 MWC).
The Cardinals finished 4-8 overall (3-5 MAC) which doubled the win total over Coach Neu’s team in 2017.
After three years of improvement in the win column, UNLV suffered a major QB injury and the Rebels dipped to just 4-8 overall (2-6 MWC).
ULM was bowl-eligible (6-6 overall, 4-4 SBC) in 2018 but became one of four such teams to miss a bowl after a late rivalry loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in its season finale.
Charlotte finished 5-7 overall (4-4 C-USA) and was an improved football team in 2018 to set school records for wins at the FBS level and in C-USA play but did not improve enough to save coach Brad Lambert’s job. Lambert, the only coach the 49ers have had in their program’s six years of existence, ended his 49er run with a record of 22-48.
The Pirates finished just 3-9 overall (1-7 AAC) and finished with their third straight losing season. Coach Scottie Montgomery was fired and finished his ECU career 9-26 with a 4-20 AAC record.
In Coach Turner Gill’s final year before retiring and in its first season as a full, yet transitional FBS squad, Liberty finished with a 6-6 overall record.
The Panthers dipped to just 2-10 overall (1-8 SBC) after going bowling following the 2017 season–and six of those losses were decided by three possessions or more.
The Monarchs started the season at just 1-6 (although the one win was over the ACC’s Virginia Tech) but rallied to a 3-2 end to finish the season at 4-8 overall (2-6 C-USA) and its second straight losing season.
Coach Everett Withers finished his third and final season in San Marcos having never won more than three games per year–including finishing just 3-9 overall in 2018 and 7-28 in his full tenure.
The old joke “there’s nowhere, but up to go” is painfully true for the Spartans. Coach Brent Brennan is an accomplished coach who has helped produce many NFL names, but simply struggles to produce wins at SJSU.
UTSA finished dead last in the nation in total offense – averaging just 247 yards per game – and scoring a mere 14 points per outing–yet still finished with a 3-9 overall record (2-6 CUSA).
Last season was incredibly disappointing for all associated with CMU as the Chippewas posted just a 1-win season (1-11 overll & 0-8 MAC) that cost Coach John Bonamego his job.
After a 4-8 season in 2017, first year head coach Steve Campbell replaced the Jaguar program’s first head coach, Joey Jones and went down to 3-9 (2-6 Sun Belt) in his first season at South Alabama.
The Zips were bitten hard by the injury bug in 2018 to finish just 4-8 overall (2-6 MAC) and let long time Coach Terry Bowden go following the season.
Coach Joe Moglia, 69, returned to the team a little over a year ago from a five-month medical sabbatical that was taken to treat a condition that was causing inflammation in and damage to his lungs to led the team to a 5-7 (2-7 Sun Belt) record.
After two-and-a-half embattled seasons as the head coach of Bowling Green , Mike Jinks’ tenure was fired following a 3-9 (2-6 MAC) 2018 season.
The Aggies got off on a poor start in four blowout losses to begin the season but finished 3-5 to finish 3-9 overall–this was after NMSU’s first bowl season in 2017.
The Owls won their first (FCS Prairie View A&M) and last (Old Dominion) games of the season but unfortantely did not win any other games in between to finish 2-10 overall (1-7 CUSA) in Coach Bloomgren’s first season with the team.
UMass finished ranked near the bottom of the country in total defense, with the Minutemen allowing more than 485 yards and 43 points per game in 2018 and would be the last season for Coach Mark Whipple, who was let go after a 4-8 finish.
UConn was winless against FBS competition in 2018 with its only victory coming in a 56-49 shootout against FCS Rhode Island. The defense was historically bad, giving up at least 49 points in 10 games.
College Sports Journal’s NCAA 2019 College Football Group of Five Team Previews are being released all summer, and we’re ranking every G5 school from Number 65 to Number 1. Check back to see where your favorite school is ranked! 65. UTEP Miners 64. UConn Huskies 63. UMass Minutemen 62. Rice Owls 61. New Mexico State.
Texas-El Paso Miners Location: El Paso, TX Coach: Dana Dimel (1-11) 2nd Season at UTEP Stadium: Sun Bowl (Capacity 51,500) CSJ Projections: 14th: Conference USA 7th: C-USA West Division 16th: Texas 130th: FBS 65th: Group of Five 205th: Division I 2018 In a Sentence: UTEP had an awful season in 2018, starting with an opening.
Below are the Final 2018 Top 25 FBS Group of Five (G5) rankings based on the Sagarin rankings after all postseason games have been completed in Division I play. These rankings include all FBS Bowl games and the College Football Playoff. Sagarin rankings provide the only rankings that actually ranks all Division I schools but.
Five bowl games involving Group of Five teams occurred after Christmas from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 to finish the football season within the Group of Five. Well, actually only four occurred with the cancellation of the First Responder Bowl in Dallas due incriminate weather. The four games that were played included undefeated UCF but.
While LSU did lose to those three Top 25 ranked teams, it also won four other contests against such teams. The Tigers defeated Miami (FL), Mississippi State, Georgia, and Auburn.
Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech (Military Bowl) When: Monday, December 31, 12:00 PM EST Where: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Md. TV/Streaming: ESPN, WatchESPN (subscription req’d) Cincinnati Bearcats (3rd, AAC East, 10-2, 6-2) The Bearcats went 4-8 last season in Coach Luke Fickell’s first season and were picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the AAC.
Arkansas State is playing in a bowl for an eighth straight season– the third longest streak in the Group of 5 and ranks 15th in the nation among all FBS programs. Overall, this is the 16th bowl in the program’s history and own a 7-7-1 record all-time.
Temple vs. Duke (Independence Bowl) When: Thursday, December 27, 1:30 PM EST Where: Independence Stadium, Shreveport, La. TV/Streaming: ESPN, WatchESPN (subscription req’d) Temple Owls (2nd, AAC East, 8-4, 7-1) Temple recovered from a 2-3 start to finish its last seven games with a 6-1 mark. The only loss in that span came in a 52-40 game against.
Boston College comes in here at 7-5 on the season. The Eagles have taken out UMass, Holy Cross, Wake, Temple, Louisville, Miami FL and Virginia Tech but fallen to Purdue, NC State, Clemson, Florida State and Syracuse.
Nine bowl games involving Group of Five teams occurred before Christmas from Dec. 18 through Dec. 22. Army was the big record breaker this week in gaining its 11th win and did it record fashion with its most points and biggest margin of victory in its 70-14 win over Houston. Below are recaps and video.
Hawai’i vs. Louisiana Tech (Hawai’i Bowl) When: Saturday, December 22, 19:30 PM EST Where: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI TV/Streaming: ESPN, WatchESPN (subscription req’d) Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (T-2nd, Mountain West West, 8-5, 5-3) Hawai’i is making its eighth SoFi Hawai‘i Bowl appearance and second in the last three years. This is their 12th overall bowl overall. Hawai‘i.
Troy vs. Buffalo (Dollar General Bowl) When: Saturday, December 22, 7:00 PM EST Where: Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Ala. TV/Streaming: ESPN, WatchESPN (subscription req’d) Troy Trojans (T-1st SBC East, 9-3, 7-1) The Trojans has been one of the most powerful Group of Five teams in the country under coach Neal Brown in recent years. In his four seasons,.
The No. 20/23 Marquette University men’s basketball team (9-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) hosts No. 14/15 Buffalo (11-0, 0-0 MAC) Friday night for a top-20 matchup at 7:30 p.m. in Fiserv Forum.
The best way to describe the 2018 Memphis Tiger football team would be High Event. The Tigers scored 43.6 points per game on offense, but also allowed 31.5 points per game on defense. Every game was a party in the end zone.
While this is BYU’s first time in the Potato Bowl, it will not be the first time the Cougars play at Albertsons’ Stadium this season. They lost to Boise State 21-16 on the blue turf earlier this season.
FIU is back in the postseason for the second consecutive year under Butch Davis.