Week 7: Louisiana Tech at Hawaii

Hawaii breathed some life back into its season last week with an overtime upset at Fresno State — the Warriors’ first road win against a Top 25 team.

Louisiana Tech will try to give its season a similar boost coming off a 38-3 loss to Boise State in the WAC opener.

Both of these teams have bowl hopes but could struggle to get eligible with a loss in this contest.

Hawaii lacks the offensive firepower of recent years, but junior quarterback Inoke Funaki has added a running threat that gives the run-and-shoot a different dimension. The key for him is to avoid turnovers — he had four in the loss to San Jose State and none in the upset of Fresno State. He could have some success against a defense that ranks last in the nation in pass defense, allowing 344.5 yards per game.

Louisiana Tech needs to get its running game going to be successful. Running backs Patrick Jackson and Daniel Porter have been inconsistent. They should be able to run against a Hawaii defense that allows 171 rushing yards per game.

Notes:

Louisiana Tech is playing at Hawaii 10 days after playing at Boise State, back-to-back arduous trips to face the teams that have won the last six WAC titles.

Louisiana Tech has lost four straight road games.

Hawaii is last in the WAC in turnover margin (minus-11) and penalties (81.6 yards per game).

It’s more than 4,000 miles from Ruston to Honolulu. It’s a five-time-zone difference between the two WAC cities during Daylight Saving Time.

Key Player (Bulldogs) — Taylor Bennett, QB

Bennett, the senior transfer from Georgia Tech, has been erratic all season. He completed just 9 of 27 passes against Boise State and has completed half of his passes just once in four starts. His efficiency rating of 85.61 doesn’t even put him in the top 100 in the nation.

Key Player (Warriors) — Dan Kelly, PK

Kelly was the WAC special teams player of the week for making a career-high four field goals, including the game-winner, against Fresno State. Still, he missed a field goal and a PAT. The All-WAC first-teamer is 6 of 11 this season. The Warriors likely will settle for field goals more often this year, so he needs to regain his consistency.

Warriors by 6