The 2022 SEC Football season officially begins on Saturday night as Vanderbilt travels across the country for a Week 0 matchup with the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Entering year two under head coach Clark Lea, the Commodores are coming off a 2021 season in which Vanderbilt went 2-10, as well as 0-8 in SEC Football play. Finishing last in the SEC East, the Commodores also averaged 15.8 PPG for the year while allowing 35.8 PPG to opponents, and will be looking for their first season-opening win since 2018 when Vanderbilt defeated Middle Tennessee State 35-7.
Headlining the 2022 Vanderbilt offense is a returning starter at quarterback in Mike Wright, as well as numerous other key names from last season such as Rocko Griffin, Patrick Smith, and Will Sheppard. Defensively, the Commodores also return their top two tacklers in Anfernee Orji and Ethan Barr, as well as two key names in the secondary in Jaylen Mahoney and Gabe Jeudy-Lally.
Hawaii on the other hand enters their first season under new head coach Timmy Chang, and are coming off their first losing season since 2017. Going 6-7 overall, as well as 3-5 in the Mountain West, the Rainbow Warriors averaged a total of 28.8 PPG offensively, but similar to Vanderbilt, struggled defensively allowing a combined 31.4 PPG to opponents.
The Rainbow Warriors will be entering the 2022 season with a new starter at quarterback, while the offense does however return a few key names, the biggest of which is running back Dedrick Parson. Hawaii’s defense also lost a significant amount of production from last season, with the Rainbow Warriors tasked with replacing a majority of their top tacklers and pass rushers from a year ago.
Vanderbilt vs Hawaii Odds: Line, Spread, Over/Under
The odds for the week zero college football matchup between Vanderbilt and Hawaii can be found here.
Vanderbilt vs Hawaii SEC Football Prediction
This is a very dangerous matchup for Vanderbilt to begin the year. Even despite losing a notable amount of production from a year ago, Hawaii is a team that could challenge a Vanderbilt defense that struggled last season right out of the gate.
Overall, this matchup should be close from start to finish, but I think that the Commodores pick up the win behind a big game from quarterback Mike Wright. No, it might not be most convincing, but Vanderbilt should leave Hawaii with a victory, and start out the 2022 SEC Football season on a winning note for the conference. Prediction: Vanderbilt 28, Hawaii 24
What Channel is the Vanderbilt vs Hawaii Game On?
Vanderbilt vs Hawaii will be played on Saturday, August 27 from Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu, HI. The game will begin at 10:30 PM ET, and will be available on CBSSN.
Vanderbilt vs Hawaii Live Stream
A live stream of Vanderbilt vs Hawaii on fuboTV can be found here.