NMSU/Hawaii football predictions

Well, these are possibly my favorite entries just because it's fun to try and figure out how things will shake out on the football field.

Obviously, this will be a wild game. Both teams throw it so much and it doesn't look like much defense is emphasized on either side, quite frankly.

The over/under is somewhere around 76 for this game. I take the over, as I think Hawaii scores over 50 and NMSU tops 30. At the beginning of the week I said I thought the Warriors would put up 69 but I'll taper my expectations slightly. I think Hawaii wins 54-35.

Brennan will have a token performance, 450-500 yards and five, maybe six touchdowns. That's nothing out of the ordinary for him, as he can light it up. The Aggie secondary has been inconsistent at best this season and this matchup is less than ideal. This game will be dictated only by the Aggie D and if they can get some early stops. If not, it will be up and down and NMSU will not be able to keep up. The problem will be the Aggie secondary, which has been beaten on a regular basis this year. The Warriors will throw and throw often. The only time the Warriors will be stopped will be by their own doing. Brennan could miss some open men downfield here and there. Whatever, he'll still sling it all over.

NMSU will also put up offensive numbers, just not enough. Chase Holbrook will match Brennan by and large, at least statistically speaking. I think 450 yards and 3-4 touchdowns is completely realistic in this one, perhaps even modest. The loss of Chris Williams won't hurt as much here. Look for Kenneth Buckley to put up catches, yards and at least one score. Derek Dubois will build on his performance from last week and I think Nick Cleaver will find the endzone for the first time this year as well. If Williams were in the lineup, he'd run circles around the Hawaii defense but unfortunately we'll have to wait till next year to see that happen.

A.J. Harris hasn't scored yet this year. He's been hurt and in and out of the lineup but I expected more from him. I actually think A.J.'s performance is important in this one. They need his presence underneath. Not even for TD's but a 100-yard performance would be nice from him right now. We'll see if this is the week. Really, NMSU will need him and the RB's to move the chains. Getting big plays on Hawaii will happen regardless but the team needs to get first downs and chew up some clock. Just exchanging haymakers with the Warriors will not do it. They're just too good. The team has to win time of possession by at least 10 minutes to have any shot.

We'll see how it shakes out. Lets get some other predictions up here before kickoff.