HONOLULU – A University of Hawaii football victory at Colorado on Saturday would not just be uplifting; it would be historic.
The last time the Rainbow Warriors defeated a Pac-12 opponent on its home field was Sept. 17, 1994, when they notched a 21-7 win at California. UH was known simply as the “Rainbows” back then, and the Pac-12 was called the Pac-10.
In the years since, Hawaii has lost five straight games at Pac-10/Pac-12 home fields: 33-14 at Oregon State last season; 49-10 vs. Southern Cal at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2012; 40-32 at Washington in 2011; 45-7 at Oregon State in 2008; and 61-32 at USC in 2003.
The Rainbow Warriors’ lone road victory vs. a Pac-12/Pac-10 team in the past 20 years came against Washington State in 2009, when UH won, 38-20, on a neutral Qwest Stadium field in Seattle.
Hawaii (1-2) last visited Colorado (1-2) in 2010 (when the Buffaloes belonged to the Big 12 Conference) and lost, 31-13, after jumping out to a 10-0 lead.
In fact, UH is 0-10 at “Power 5” conference (Pac-12, Big 12, Big 10, Atlantic Coast and SEC) opponents’ home fields since 1998, the first year of the Bowl Championship Series.
Hawaii also has lost its last 17 nationally televised games – Saturday’s 8 a.m. showdown will be broadcast live across the country on the Pac-12 Network (Oceanic Digital Channel 232). It also will be broadcast live on KKON 790 AM in West Hawaii.
On the bright side, the Rainbow Warriors’ last victory on national TV came against Colorado in the 2011 season opener, broadcast by ESPN2.
That is one part of history UH would not mind repeating.
RAINBOW WAHINE CLOSE OUT NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULE: The UH women’s volleyball team will close out its nonconference schedule with a pair of matches vs. Northern Arizona on Friday and Saturday.
Both matches are set for 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center and will be televised live statewide on OCSports and broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1420 AM.
The Rainbow Wahine (6-3) dropped out of the AVCA Top 25 poll for the first time since 1992. All three losses have come against Top 25 opponents, including a home sweep defeat at the hands of No. 22-ranked UCLA on Sept. 12.
But last weekend also produced victories against Utah State on Saturday and San Francisco on Sunday, along with the return of sophomore outside hitter Nikki Taylor, who had been injured and out of the action the first two weeks. Taylor put down a match-high 15 kills and added five digs in the victory over USF.
SOCCER TEAM STILL IN BIG SKY COUNTRY: The UH women’s soccer team will wrap up a two-week nonconference road trip this weekend at the Montana Invitational.
The Rainbow Wahine (3-5) will face Eastern Washington (2-2) on Friday and Montana (3-4) on Sunday. Both matches start at 9 a.m.
Hawaii began its road trip with a 4-3 overtime victory at Weber State in Ogden, Utah on Sept. 12, with sophomore T.J. Reyno scoring the winning goal in the first minute of OT. The Rainbow Wahine then squandered a two-goal lead at Idaho State and lost, 5-4.
UH is averaging 2.12 goals per game, with eight players finding the net, led by freshman Sonest Furtado (Waianae High School), sophomore Storm Kenui (Moanalua) and senior Krystal Pascua (Iolani) with three goals each.
But the Rainbow Wahine also have allowed an average of 3.37 goals per game.
LEUNG IS UH’S FIRST WOMEN’S GOLF TOURNAMENT CHAMP SINCE 2006: Izzy Leung won the Oregon State Invitational by three strokes Tuesday, becoming the first Rainbow Wahine golfer to win a tournament since Dale Gammie finished first at the Heather Farr Memorial in 2006.
Leung, a sophomore from Hong Kong, is just the third UH women’s golfer to win a tournament title. Gammie tied for first at the Bay Area Classic in 2005, Lynn McCool won the Utah-Dixie Classic in 1991 and Bobbi Kokx won the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in 1986.
Leung shot a 5-under-par 67 in the opening round, followed by rounds of 75 and 73 to finish the tournament at 1-under 215. She was the only player to finish at par or better. As a team, Hawaii finished seventh.