As Hawaii goes into its fifth game of the young season, the ‘Bows have established a pretty consistent identity. They may not have escaped West Point with a victory last week, but as winners of three of their first four contests, Hawaii has become one of the nation’s most exciting offensive units. Lights out play from quarterback Cole McDonald and wide receiver John Ursua are mostly to thank for that, but the system is working and should continue to give opposing defenses fits from week to week.
Most other teams have played three games to this point, some just about to start conference play and some still enjoying one tuneup before getting into more familiar territory.
From year to year, Alabama’s dominance has been astounding. The same is true thus far this season as Nick Saban has the Crimson Tide again as the heavy favorite to win another national title. While the quarterback controversy may have been the talk of the offseason, all discussions now are simply about how good both signal callers have been.
Tua Taigovailoa has been the “starter” and gotten the majority of the reps. He seems to be the preferred option in Saban’s eyes, as well as the Alabama faithful. There’s little reason to question that decision to this point. The Hawaii product has been spotless, making big plays and remaining incredibly efficient. He’s gone 36 of 50 for 646 yards (an astronomical 12.92 yards per attempt), eight touchdowns and no interceptions, adding 93 rush yards and another score. Hurts is 19 of 28 for 248 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Alabama has had what looked like a potentially dangerous start to its schedule, but it decimated Louisville 51-14, then crushed Ole Miss on the road last week, 62-7. The Tide are rolling as they welcome No. 22 Texas A&M to Tuscaloosa this weekend.
It would be one of the more intriguing games of the week if it didn’t feel like ‘Bama was already miles ahead of just about every team in the nation at the moment.
Another of this week’s biggest matchups pits No. 7 Stanford against No. 20 Oregon in Eugene. Both teams come in 3-0, which didn’t seem like a given just a few weeks ago. Stanford pretty well dominated San Diego State in week one, which now looks even more impressive after the Aztecs knocked off No. 23 Arizona State on Saturday. The Cardinal then held USC to just three points and let running back Bryce Love do most of the heavy lifting in a decisive victory over the (then-ranked) No. 17 Trojans.
Oregon was something of an unknown commodity coming into 2018, and still is to some degree. But the Ducks are back to their old ways, putting up points in bunches and forcing teams to keep up. Sure, the early cupcake schedule only features wins over Bowling Green, Portland State and San Jose State. But quarterback Justin Herbert is going to be hard for anyone to stop. He’s racked up 840 pass yards and 12 touchdowns in the three victories.
Things will be very different on Saturday when going against this Cardinal defensive unit, but the Ducks have weapons all over the gridiron. Oregon is looking to avenge the 49-7 thumping Stanford handed to it last season, but emotion alone won’t get the job done. Herbert and Co. will have to keep the pressure on for 60 minutes or it could be a short visit into the top 25.
No. 18 Wisconsin is also on major upset alert as it opens Big Ten play on the road at Iowa. The Badgers were optimistic about a possible College Football Playoff bid this year, but they can kiss that dream goodbye after Saturday’s 24-21 home loss to BYU. Now it’s about a Big Ten title, though Iowa is a dangerous place to begin such a bid. The Hawkeyes look like a solid home underdog to pick off a reeling Wisconsin squad.
Hawaii’s tuneup against Duquesne closes out what should be a really solid weekend of college football. The mix of conference and non-conference matchups allows for a few games to really get the spotlight before mayhem ensues the rest of the way.
•••
David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
