This Saturday the (0-0) Vanderbilt Commodores and the (0-0) Hawaii Rainbow Warriors will play their week 0 game. The kick-off will be at 10:30 PM EST inside the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. This will be the first game of the season for both of these teams. I would also expect both of these teams to come out flying, as they both struggled last season.
The Vanderbilt Commodores finished last season with a 2-10 overall record and an 0-8 SEC conference record. Head coach Clark Lea will need to hype his team up before this one if they want to start the season off on the right track. They will now be starting Mike Wright at QB, as he will look to lead this Commodores team to a better season in 2022.
The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, unfortunately, lost a lot of experience over the offseason, as they lost multiple starters to the transfer portal. They will now be forced to start some younger talen t, as their first-year head coach will have his hands full. Timmy Chang is now the Head Coach for the Rainbow Warriors, as he came over from Nevada. He now gets his first chance as a Division 1 head coach.
The Vanderbilt Commodores have struggled in the SEC over the past few seasons, but they have a weaker opponent to start the season this year. They will also be starting Mike Wright at QB, as the Junior will be looking to lead his team to victory to begin this season. He started his first game on Oct. 16th in South Carolina. He looked solid in that game, as he threw for 206 yards and a touchdown. Wright can also move the chains with his legs, as he is a true dual-threat quarterback. This will also be the second season for Clark Lea, their new head coach. Last season, the Commodores ranked dead last in the SEC, as they struggled inside their conference. But, they also went 1-4 on the road, as they didn't fair well inside their opponent's stadiums. They struggled to consistently score last season, as they only averaged 15.8 PPG. This was the 128th lowest average, as opposing defenses had an easy time stopping their attack. Turnovers co ntinued to hurt them and they only covered the spread in half of their games last season. They went 6-6 ATS, as they struggled inside the SEC. I would also watch for Ray Davis in this one, as he will be coming back from injury. He could be a game changer for Vandy, as he has shown some serious running ability in his career.
According to SportsRefrence.com, the Commodores also had a difficult time on defense, as they gave up 35.9 points per game last season. The opposing SEC offenses torched Vanderbilt last season, as they continued to give up too many points. They rarely kept these games competitive, as the Commodores couldn't score enough points to keep these games close. This is the 119th most points given up out of 130 teams, as there weren't many teams that were worse than Vanderbilt on the defensive side of the ball. They continued to give up points, as their second-year head coach will need to make adjustments on this side of the field if they wa nt to stay completive this season. I would also watch for Anfernee Orji in this game. The Vanderbilt linebacker is one of the best players on this team, as he can make plays all over the field. This defense struggled last season, but they will be looking to be better to start this season.