Duquesne vs Hawaii Odds, Picks and Predictions: Rainbow Warriors Not Worth Your Bankroll

After an 0-3 start to the season, it’s apparent that wins will be hard to come by for Timmy Chang in his first season as head coach of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.

However, Week 3 brings a chance to get in the win column against an FCS opponent, the Duquesne Dukes, with Hawaii favored by just under a touchdown.

Will the Rainbow Warriors grab a much-needed win in the nightcap game of Week 3, or is more disappointment in store?

Check out our college football betting picks and predictions for the Duquesne vs. Hawaii on Saturday, September 17.

Duquesne vs Hawaii best odds

Duquesne vs Hawaii picks and predictions

This is more a fade of Hawaii than anything else. The Rainbow Warriors appear exactly like a team in for a very, very long season. Through three games, they have the 125th ranked scoring offense (12.3 points per game) and the 131st ranked — yep, that’s dead last — scoring defense (56.0). 

Timmy Chang’s squad has been thoroughly dominated in each of their three games to begin this year. While last week’s 56-10 defeat to Michigan is totally understandable, the 63-10 beatdown to Vanderbilt and 49-17 loss to Western Kentucky are both very telling. Chang has a long rebuild in front of him for a program that parted ways with Todd Graham this offseason in a split so messy that most of the roster hit the transfer portal. 

While many might look at this as a home game for Hawaii and a clear chance for them to grab a win this season, I’m hesitant to give this team the benefit of the doubt. They simply are a very bad football team, regardless of how motivated they are to find a victory. The Rainbow Warriors rank 130th in the country (second to last) in returning production this year and have only six returning starters. 

The lack of experience has been very evident on both sides of the ball, and they’re still searching for both a quarterback and an identity offensively while fielding arguably the FBS’ worst defense.

Joey Yellen got the nod at signal-caller a week ago but is averaging a measly 3.6 yards per attempt while completing only 40.3% of his passes. He’s not the answer. A defense surrendering 533.7 yards per game and a grotesque 8.6 yards per play has no answers for opposing offenses. 

Duquesne is a solid FCS program, but they aren’t a playoff contender. A year ago, they proved capable of hanging with Group of 5 competition with an upset win over the Ohio Bobcats. That Ohio team was near the bottom of the barrel among FBS teams a year ago, but they also seemed better than this year’s Hawaiii team — about whom chatter is growing louder as possibly being the worst team in the country.

I’m backing the Dukes for Week 3’s nightcap on the island. 

My best bet: Duquesne +6.5 (-110 at WynnBET)

Duquesne vs Hawaii betting preview

Jump to:
•Spread analysis •Over/Under analysis •Game info •Injuries •Weather •Trend to know

Spread analysis

Duquesne hails from the Northeast Conference at the FCS level and finished last season with a 7-3 record despite losing its starting quarterback to a knee injury early in the season's opening game. They’ve finished inside the Top 3 of the NEC standings every year since 2015 and were picked to finish second in this year’s preseason poll.

Jerry Schmitt is a longtime coach and a stable of the program — 2022 marks his 18th year as head coach of the Dukes. After a 47-7 loss to Florida State in the opener, the Dukes grabbed a 34-14 win a week ago against Thomas More to get back in the win column. Running back Billy Lucas was the star of the show in that one, gaining 136 yards on 19 carries while finding the end zone twice 

Hawaii is averaging just a 36% success rate offensively. They appear to be transitioning back to the Run and Shoot offense under Chang, but it’s proven difficult to run a pass-heavy scheme without the right quarterback for the job.

The Rainbow Warriors have a terrible 16% success rate on passing downs. Defensively, they’re letting opponents get whatever they want with a 53% success rate overall and a 60% success rate on standard downs. 

Over/Under analysis

Duquesne averaged 31.9 points per game last season while allowing 21.5 on defense. They were shredded by Florida State in the opener as the Seminoles gained 638 total yards of offense and 33 first downs. Considering FSU looked good the following week in an upset win over LSU, perhaps it’d be unwise to expect the Dukes’ defense to be a turnstile. They’re typically solid on that side of the ball and made a good showing in 2021, allowing just 114.5 rushing yards and 199.7 passing yards per game.

Quarterback Joey Mischler returns after missing last season with a knee injury that he suffered before even completing a pass in last year’s season opener against TCU. His top target is Joey Isabella, and if you recognize that last name it’s because he’s the brother of former UMASS star receiver and current Arizona Cardinal Andy Isabella.

The Hawaii defense has been about as bad as it gets, surrendering 1,601 total yards and 168 combined points through only three games. Despite this, the Rainbow Warriors have cashed the Under in two of their three games as the offense hasn’t been able to contribute.

The Under is 5-1 in the Dukes’ last six games overall and 4-1 in their last five road games. 

Duquesne vs Hawaii game info

• Location: Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, Honolulu, HI
• Date: Saturday, September 17, 2022
• Kick-off: 11:59 p.m. ET
• TV: Spectrum Sports

Duquesne vs Hawaii key injuries

Find our latest College football injury reports.

Duquesne vs Hawaii weather

Monitor gametime conditions with our College football weather info.

Duquesne vs Hawaii betting trend to know

The Rainbow Warriors are 16-33-2 ATS in their last 51 home games. Find more NCAA betting trends for Duquesne vs. Hawaii.

Pages related to this topic