Football

No rainbow, no problem. On this date in 1947, Hawaii won its first Pineapple Bowl with a 19-16 win over Utah. In previous games, a rainbow over the field was credited with sparking UH rallies but in this one the rainbow didn’t show until after the game. Honolulu Advertiser reporter Andrew Mitsukado called it “the most thrilling football game ever played on a local gridiron.” Hawaii led 19-7 before the Utes scored with 4 minutes left. The Rainbows were stuck […]

Earl Harbin went from a star at Kamehameha to fourth string at Oregon State to starting quarterback for a winning Hawaii squad. On this date in 1961, Harbin threw two touchdowns and Hawaii beat the Kaimuki Spartans 19-18 in front of a crowd of 750 at Honolulu Stadium. The victory clinched third place for Hawaii in the Athletic Association of Hawaii. Faasuka Lutu scored all three of Kaimuki’s touchdowns and later enrolled and played at UH. Harbin completed 13 passes […]

Nobody is perfect, not even a Hall of Famer. On this date in 1989, Jason Elam missed a 47-yard field goal with no time on the clock and Hawaii tied Air Force 35-all in front of a crowd of 37,604 at Aloha Stadium. Elam, who was inducted into the UH Hall of Fame in 2002 and is knocking on the door of bigger Halls in Canton and Atlanta, had missed only one field goal on 21 attempts before he missed […]

On this date in 2001, Chad Owens had many, many happy returns. Owens broke two NCAA records as a return man in a 72-45 decimation of previously perfect No. 9 Brigham Young. Owens claimed the record for single-game kickoff and punt return yardage with 372 and kickoff return yardage with 249. Both records were set in 1997, the former by Minnesota’s Tutu Atwell and the latter by Tyrone Watley of Iowa State. He became the first UH player to have […]

Fresh off an exciting 20-6 victory over Willamette, Hawaii didn’t have much time to celebrate as early the next morning Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. From the coach on down, the University of Hawaii football team responded to the call after the attack, immediately trading their leather football helmets for shiny ‘tin’ police headgear. Hawaii coach Eugene Gill, a veteran of world War I where he served in France, was among the first to respond for guard duty and his players […]

On this date in 1988, Hawaii wasn’t involved in a bowl so fans made their own. Warren Jones passed for a school record-tying four touchdowns and ran for another as Hawaii blitzed Oregon 41-17 in front of a senior-night crowd of 39,301 at Aloha Stadium. Fans wore shirts proclaiming it the Humuhumunukunukuapuaa Bowl. The Rainbows were 5-7 the year before. It was the biggest single-season turnaround in program history. Oregon committed five turnovers and finished 6-6. Heikoti Fakava ran for […]