College Football is a bettor’s dream, and the Stats Insider models made it all that much easier for our users to find value last season. This year we’re back with pre-game predictions, plus live, in-game predictions will land on match pages following week 2.

The first games of the 2019 season kick off this Sunday morning (AEST), with the NCAA powerhouse Florida Gators taking on the Miami Hurricanes in the Camping World Kickoff.

Houston Cougars' senior punter, Australian ice-cream salesman turned superboot, Dane Roy, dives into the matches to keep an eye on in 2019.

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA GATORS v UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HURRICANES

Florida (#8) should be a team on the rise in 2019, after finishing with 10 wins last season, eventually defeating Michigan in their final game of the year. Feleipe Franks (who was selected at pick #947 by the Boston Red Sox in this years Major League Baseball Draft) will line up at quarterback for the 'Gators and will hope to improve on his impressive season last year, where he threw for 2,457 yards and 24 touchdowns to just 6 interceptions as well as rushing for 350 yards for and 7 more TDs on the ground.

The Gators will try and take advantage of Miami's run defense and give the ball to running back Lamical Perine a lot more this year, following his breakout season as a time-share rusher (with Jordan Scarlett), where he recorded 7 TDs from 876 yards at an average of 6.2 yards per attempt, while also contributing another 130 yards from 13 receptions with another score.

The Hurricanes - who went 7-6 last season with a 5-game winning streak and a 4-game losing streak - are looking for a quick rebuild in 2019 through first-year head coach, Manny Diaz and redshirt freshman QB, Jarren Williams. Williams got the nod as starting QB over highly fancied Ohio State transfer, Tate Martell and redshirt sophomore N’Kosi Perry.

While Williams only saw three snaps in 2018, coming out of Central Gwinnet High School, he was rated as a consensus Top-10 and 4-star QB by all thee major high school scouting services, having thrown for over 3,000 yards with a 61% completion rate, for 28 TDs to just 4 INT.

The Hurricanes defense will be the key to winning this local rivalry.

LOOK OUT FOR:

Aussie punter, Lou Hedley, for the Miami Hurricanes. Hedley took national signing day by storm earlier this year, when pictures of his jacked-up, heavily-tattooed body made the rounds on social media. The former tradie was the talk of the town in College Football, even earning a shout out from none other than Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, as he will be wearing the former defensive tackle's old jersey number for the Hurricanes. 

Thanks for rockin’ my #94 @LouHedleyy.
Look forward to that workout one day. In the meantime, welcome to the U, keep disrupting and always be the hardest worker in the (MF’n) room. #TheU #94 💪🏾👊🏾 https://t.co/X1Ky1X4eFU

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 5, 2019

Keen to watch 'big Lou' exceed his already high expectations this season.

VERDICT:

If the Hurricane defense can hold the 'Gators out for long enough, they might be a chance to steal this one. Could be too much of an ask though, Florida are ranked #8 for a reason.

Check out the match page for all of the Stats Insider model's projections for this match:

READ: 2018 A Profitable One for the Stats Insider College Football Model

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA WILDCATS v UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII RAINBOW WARRIORS

The second game of the 2019 season sees the Arizona Wildcats travel to Aloha Stadium to take on the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.

Arizona had a somewhat disappointing season finishing 5-7, with four of those wins coming from Pac-12 conference games. Exciting playmaker Khalil Tate returns at QB and might just prove to be the difference. Tate will be looking to improve his completion numbers, posting 56.3% completion rate in 2018, down from 62% in 2017, albeit with dramatically increased attempts. 

The athletic QB, nearly doubled his scoring numbers last season (14 TDs to 26 TDs), while only posting one additional interception (eight in 2017, nine in 2018), to go along with 2,530 passing yards.

Hawaii went 8-6 last season with five of those wins coming from Mountain West Conference games. The Rainbow Warriors are a program on the rise when you compare their 2017 record to the 2018 season. Cole McDonald returns as QB and will again be responsible for their explosive offense, having posted an incredible 3,875 passing yards - 7th most in all of College Football - and 36 touchdowns in 2018.

LOOK OUT FOR:

Australian special teams combo for Hawaii, Stan Gaudion (junior punter/holder) and Ryan Meskell (senior kicker). 

Gaudion, a former member of the Gold Coast Suns Academy, was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list in 2018 as a Sophomore, playing all 14 games, punting 49 times for an average of 40.8 yards per punt, including a career-long punt of 56yds at Colorado State.

Meskell finished second in the Mountain West Conference in field goal accuracy (.833), having connected on 15/18 fgs for the season, finishing second on UH for points scored (91).

VERDICT:

This will be a shoot out. Expect to see a lot of touchdowns. On paper, Arizona should get off to a winning start but anything can happen with a trip over the Pacific. A close, high-scoring matchup beckons. Check out the match page for all of the model's projections for this match:

As always, Stats Insider will be covering every game of the 2019 College Football D1 season, with match projections for H2H, spread/line, and total points. See how the 2018 Stats Insider College Football model performed here.

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