Hawaii Rainbows vs Boise State Broncos NCAA Football Picks

Hawaii Rainbows at Boise State Broncos
Saturday, 11/6/2010, 3:30 PM EST; TV: ESPNU
Opening Point Spread: Boise State -23.5
Current Betting Line: Boise State -21
Opening Total: 65
Current Total: 66
Current Moneyline: Boise State -1000 / Hawaii +700

Boise State Football Rankings — Boise State QB Kellen Moore is the orchestrator of the No. 2 offense in college football

Hawaii flies into Boise with a solid 7-2 record and 5-0 conference mark, while receiving 50 votes in the AP poll, the most of anyone outside the Top 25. “We’re really excited about this week,” said head coach Greg McMackin. “I think we’re peaking right now.” The Rainbows are coming off an impressive 45-10 home victory over Idaho last week at Aloha Stadium, with quarterback Bryant Moniz passing four 326 yards and accounting for four touchdowns. The team averages 395.4 passing yards per game, which represents the top mark in the nation. Hawaii has won its last eight WAC games dating back to last season and is 5-0 to start conference play for only the third time in school history. The team is 8-1 ATS this season and the college football lines page has them listed as a three-touchdown underdog.

The Rainbows first-ranked passing attack will be tested versus a Boise State stop unit that is third overall in defense, allowing just 236.4 yards per game. “They’re just another team with another set of jerseys,” the head coach exclaimed. He may be saying something different when the clock hits zero in this contest due to being outscored by an average of 55-15 in losing its last five games against top 10 opponents. Hawaii will be playing their third nationally ranked team this season, losing its home opener to USC, 49-36, while upsetting Nevada, 27-21 at Aloha Stadium. The program’s last win over a team of this nature was against BYU in 2001.

Boise State hasn’t impressed the experts enough after defeating Virginia Tech and Oregon State to begin the season, falling to No. 4 in the BCS rankings. “We’re only paying attention to ourselves,” said head coach Chris Petersen. “The only thing that is going to influence us is us.” The Broncos picked up a lopsided 49-20 home win against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in their last game, which followed a streak of three wins by a 164-14 margin during the first part of October. The Broncos know the conference title is on the line on Saturday and it will be a highly-emotional contest. The team is 12-5 ATS versus conference opponents the last three years.

The Broncos may have the perfect defense to stop this week’s opponent and are in the top six nationally in sacks by averaging 3.4 per game. Offensively, Boise State has moved to second in the nation in scoring at 47.7 points per game, while averaging 515.9 yards per contest. It all begins with quarterback Kellen Moore, who has completed 69.8 percent of his passes with 18 touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s averaging 266.4 yards per game despite realistically playing three quarters a contest for quite some time.