HONOLULU — The University of Hawaii and Oregon State football teams will clash Saturday at Hawaiian Airlines Field, but it won’t be the first time for the nonconference opponents … and it won’t be the last.
Nor is the football rivalry limited to actual games, as both schools also spend much of the season competing for the same high school prospects.
Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. game between the Rainbow Warriors (0-1) and Beavers (1-0) will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network (Oceanic Digital 247) and broadcast on radio via KKON in West Hawaii.
UH and OSU first met way back on New Year’s Day 1924, with the Hawaii “Fighting Deans” pulling off a stunning 7-0 upset as a rainbow appeared over Moiliili Field. Sports reporters then began to refer to UH as the “Rainbows.”
The Beavers won the next three meetings in 1940, 1949 and 1976, before Hawaii won, 23-21, in 1989 and 23-17 in the 1999 Jeep Oahu Bowl.
Oregon State has won the past three meetings, including last year’s 33-14 victory in Corvallis, Ore.
On Tuesday, the schools announced two future games — Sept. 7, 2019 in Honolulu, and Sept. 11, 2021 in Corvallis.
Between Sunday and then, there are sure to be several battles between the two programs on the recruiting trail. Six players from Hawaii are on Oregon State’s roster, including Kealakehe graduate Manase Hungalu and Hilo’s Drew Kell, who attended Crescent Valley High School in Oregon.
OSU defensive coordinator Mark Banker was a linebackers/special teams coach at UH in 1995, and is a familiar face to Hawaii high school coaches. Offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh was a popular Rainbow Warrior assistant under June Jones from 1999-2004, and defensive line coach Joe Seumalo, a Radford graduate, played for UH from 1985 through 1988 and was a graduate assistant at Hawaii in 1999-2000.
Receivers coach Brent Brennan was a UH graduate assistant in 1998 and is a cousin of former Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan.
Oregon State has used such connections to fill its roster with as many as 14 Hawaii players in the past.
RAINBOW WAHINE SPIKERS BACK IN ACTION: The 20th-ranked UH women’s volleyball team will play host to the Hawaiian Airlines Classic on Thursday, Friday and Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine (2-1) will face New Mexico at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oregon at 7:30 p.m. Friday and St. John’s at noon Saturday. Friday’s match will be televised live statewide on OCSports, and ESPN 1420 AM will broadcast those matches live on radio. NBC Sports Radio AM 1500 will broadcast Saturday’s match live.
Hawaii is coming off a 25-16, 25-17, 23-25, 25-14 home victory over San Diego State in the finale of the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational. UH opened the season with a 25-23, 25-22, 25-20 sweep of Ohio Friday, but lost to Arizona State, 25-21, 25-23, 25-23, on Saturday.
Junior outside hitter Tai Manu-Olevao and senior captain middle hitter Kalei Adolpho were named to the All-Tournament Team.
SOCCER TEAM HOSTS NO. 1-RANKED UCLA: The Rainbow Wahine soccer team will host No. 1-ranked and defending NCAA Champion UCLA at 7 p.m. Friday in the Outrigger Resorts Soccer Classic at Waipio Peninsula Stadium.
In an effort to break the school home attendance record of more than 3,100 fans, AYSO and Meadow Gold will donate 2,500 cartons of TruMoo chocolate milk and 2,500 ice cream sandwiches to kids who attend the match.
Hawaii (2-2) is coming off a 2-1 overtime home victory over Seattle on Monday. Senior Krystal Pascua scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute off an assist from her younger sister, sophomore Kama Pascua.
UCLA is 2-0-1. UH has never faced the top-ranked team in the nation in the program’s 20-year history.
On Sunday, the Rainbow Wahine will face Washington State (2-0-1) at 5 p.m. in the Classic finale. The Cougars qualified for last year’s NCAA Tournament.
