ON THIS DATE IN 1979: Blane Gaison starts something against Arizona State

On this date in 1979, Junior Blane Gaison made his first start at quarterback since his freshman year and produced a victory.

Gaison, a standout free safety, helped the fired-up ‘Bows beat the Sun Devils 29-17 in front of an electric crowd of 42,040 at Aloha Stadium.

The victory gave Hawaii a win in its last game of a season for just the second time in 22 seasons. Quarterback Mark Malone and his Arizona State helpers went through the motions after forfeiting five victories for using eight ineligible players.

The Sun Devils finished the year 1-11 while Hawaii closed at 6-5.

Tailback Gary Allen rushed for 155 yards to become the third UH back to eclipse 1,000 yards in a season.

Gaison, a prep standout quarterback for Kamehameha, took over at quarterback for Steve Rakhshani at halftime the previous week. He was 22-for-67 with a touchdown and three interceptions for UH as a freshman and 19-for-43 for 210 yards after taking over as a junior. He had four interceptions in his two years on defense and threw four as the quarterback in his junior and senior seasons.

Gaison parlayed his team-first mentality into a four year career as a defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons.