ON THIS DATE IN 1965: UH defense nearly gets it done in the muck

There was a time when UH football took a definite back seat to the prepsters.

On this date in 1965, a crowd of 2,807 turned up to watch Santa Barbara beat Hawaii 3-0 in the mud at Honolulu Stadium. The field was probably unplayable by today’s standards because there were four high school games on the wet field in the previous 48 hours.

There was little scoring because of the muck, but sophomore Steve Ford managed to kick a 25-yard field goal in the second quarter to make up the difference. The teams combined for just 80 yards rushing and each of them attempted one pass. Hawaii’s effort was intercepted and the Gauchos’ was incomplete.

Still UH had to be pleased with the defensive effort led by Leroy Lavatai, who left the game injured, Dennis Goodrich, Rick Blangiardi and Russ Cavaco.