In a game flush with storylines and Island ties, the Hawai‘i Bowl announced a matchup between the University of Hawai‘i and California on Thursday morning.
Kickoff for the contest is set for 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. It will also be televised nationally on ESPN.
The Rainbow Warriors enter the contest 8-4 overall, while the Bears are 7-5. Hawai‘i began its season with a 23-20 victory over Stanford, while Cal's 31-10 loss to Stanford on Nov. 22 led to the firing of head coach Justin Wilcox.
Following Wilcox's removal, Nick Rolovich was named the interim head coach for the Bears. Rolovich, a former UH quarterback, was the head coach for the 'Bows from 2016 to 2019 before departing for Washington State. In his lone game as the interim head coach thus far, Cal defeated SMU 38-35 on Nov. 29, knocking the Mustangs out of ACC title contention.
Meanwhile, Cal's starting quarterback, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, hails from ‘Ewa Beach and won the starting job immediately for the Bears as a true freshman. Other Hawai‘i high school graduates on Cal's roster include defensive lineman Stanley Saole-McKenzie [Saint Louis], as well as safety Aiden Manutal and defensive lineman LeBron Williams [Kahuku].
UH coaches who spoke to the media following Thursday's practice said that the Hawai‘i ties on Cal's roster and coaching staff will not serve as any added motivation.
"There's so much respect for Nick and and what he's done here at the University of Hawai‘i," said current Hawai‘i coach Timmy Chang, Rolovich's teammate in 2000 and 2001. "My time spent with him, personally, there's so much that I've learned from him as a player and as a coach, and so I have the utmost respect for Coach Rolovich. And then when he was made the interim and we've been communicating, I know it was just all praise and just thankfulness. Told him just go make the most of his opportunities and he's been unbelievable. So happy for him. It's very exciting. It'll be a very exciting game."
Rolovich and Chang had separate stints as assistant coaches at Nevada where they coached against Hawai‘i. Neither has coached against the Rainbow Warriors as a head coach, but that will change in Rolovich's case on Dec. 24. Coincidentally, Rolovich's UH head coaching debut was a 51-31 loss to California in Australia.
On Christmas Eve, the Rainbow Warriors will play in their first bowl game since 2020 and their first Hawai‘i Bowl since 2019. Back in 2020, the Hawai‘i Bowl was not held due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Rainbow Warriors instead played in the New Mexico Bowl, held in Frisco, Texas, a 28-14 win over Houston.
In 2021, the Rainbow Warriors were set to play Memphis in the Hawai‘i Bowl but a Covid-19 outbreak within the team forced the 'Bows to withdraw.
In UH's last Hawai‘i Bowl, the Rainbow Warriors outlasted BYU 38-34 at Aloha Stadium on Dec. 24, 2019. Rolovich bolted for Washington State weeks later. It would also be the last time the Rainbow Warriors played in front of fans at Aloha Stadium, as the 'Bows played in an empty Aloha Stadium in a Covid-shortened season in 2020. Aloha Stadium was then condemned and deemed unsafe to hold fans of any sort, a major part in a process that led to planning towards a new stadium, currently targeted for the spring of 2029. The 'Bows have played their home games on the UH-Mānoa campus ever since.
"If you need storylines for this one to get your piss hot, then you can't be playing in this game," Hawai‘i defensive tackles coach Jeff Reinebold said. "It's just the way it is. This is a bowl game, ladies and gentlemen. When was the last time we had one where we participated on this Island? This is our bowl game, right? It's the Hawai‘i Bowl, right? This game was built for Hawai‘i because there were a lot of great Hawai‘i teams that never got to get to a bowl game. So, they created this game so that if we were a great team, we would be able to reward that team and play this game as well. Here we go, right? It's back to its roots."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
