Predicting Hawaii's 2011 season

Here’s how Bobby Curran sees the UH football season playing out:

Sept. 3: UH 31, Colorado 24 Both teams will have opening night jitters, but UH has the 5,000-yard passer, a veteran coaching staff and more impact players on defense. [34-17, 1-0, 1-0]

Sept. 10: UW 27, UH 20 It’s hard to play in Husky Stadium, the Dogs return 15 starters including eight on defense and three of four in the secondary. If UH can pull an upset here, it could mean that Hawaii fans are in for an extra special year. They have to win the turnover battle in this one. [32-40, 1-1, 2-0]

Sept. 17: UH 56, UNLV 10 The Rebels don’t have much this year and Hawaii treats this like a home game. It will only be close for a quarter. [20-40, 1-2, 2-1]

Sept. 24: UH 45, UC Davis 14 Davis, physically overmatched, will need to maintain their composure to keep this respectable. [56-14, 2-2, 3-1]

Oct. 1: La Tech 28, UH 24 I’ve been worried about this game since the schedule came out. The Bulldogs are always athletic and give Hawaii headaches in Ruston. Lennon Creer is big, strong and fast and the best running back at La Tech since Ryan Moats. [44-26, 3-2, 3-2]

Oct 14: UH 45, San Jose State 20 The Spartans should at least double their win total this year that’s not saying much since they went 1-12 last year. The good news is they have all 11 starters starters back on defense. The bad news is they were horrible on defense. [27-28, 3-3, 3-3]

Oct. 22: UH 51, New Mexico State 10 Hawaii is way too much for these Aggies, who have never won in the 50th state. Tough homecoming for Andrew Manley. [45-34, 4-3, 4-3]

Oct. 29: UH 38, Idaho 17 The Vandals are rebuilding and will be challenged on offense with only four starters returning. A winning record would be a major accomplishment for Robb Akey this year. [16-14, 5-3, 5-3]

Nov. 5: UH 31, Utah State 14 The Aggies have nine starters back on offense but none of them are QB Diondre Borel. RB Robert Turbin is a load. [31-35, 5-4, 5-4]

Nov. 12: UH 28, Nevada 24 Reno is a tough place to play, but I like Hawaii here. Nevada loses too many good players and there is no reasonable facsimile of Colin Kaeprenick. [28-42, 5-5, 5-5]

Nov. 19: UH, 35 Fresno State 24 Hawaii seems to have the Bulldogs’ number of late, winning four of five and scoring lots of points. Hawaii scores quickly and Fresno State has trouble in a track meet.

Nov. 26: UH 41, Tulane 24 The Warriors owe the Green Wave one after a bitter bowl defeat in 2002. UH should be fine here if they don’t get caught looking ahead. Tulane struggles against good passing teams.

Dec. 3: UH 49, BYU 45 This should be fun. BYU has 10 starters back on offense and will score points. They have only five starters back on defense and should give up points. It might come down to who has the ball last. The game should be a sellout, and the home crowd will put Hawaii over the top.

There you have it: 11-2 and a trip to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. SMU vs. Hawaii, anyone?

[and here's Bob Hogue's predictions]