When Hawaii’s third appearance in a mainland bowl game was finalized, Victor Santa Cruz couldn’t help but think of the first.
The Rainbow Warriors’ first-year defensive coordinator was a linebacker on the 1992 UH team that earned a spot in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego by claiming the program’s first conference title. It’s a perspective Santa Cruz made sure to share with the current UH players as they prepared for their trip to Texas to play in the re-located New Mexico Bowl on Christmas Eve.
“I had a moment with some of the guys,” Santa Cruz said of the Dec. 13 announcement. “This is only the third time that the University of Hawaii has been represented in a bowl game on the mainland and to be able to know what that felt like the first time, when (former UH coach Bob) Wagner told us, ‘this is the first time …’
“So when we have a chance to come on the road in the middle of Texas and being the only game on the air on Christmas Eve, that’s a tremendous amount of pride. That’s a rare, distinctive opportunity. You don’t want to let the moment be too big, but understand this is one of those great moments as a coach, as a player, as a program, you want to be a part of.”
Following UH’s victory over Illinois to cap the’92 season, it would be 15 years before the program made its next postseason road trip, which ended with a loss to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans following an undefeated regular season in 2007.
A little less than 13 years will have passed when the Warriors (4-4) face Houston (3-4) on Thursday at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Santa Cruz and offensive coordinator G.J. Kinne can pull from their own bowl experiences in the run-up to the battle of UHs.
While Santa Cruz was part of a landmark win in the program’s history, Kinne was on the opposite side of a Hawaii postseason defeat. The former Tulsa quarterback threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns in the Golden Hurricanes’ 62-35 rout of UH in the 2010 Hawaii Bowl at Aloha Stadium.
Tulsa was then led by Todd Graham, who will conclude his first season as Hawaii head coach on Thursday.
“I think it’s about the team that wants it more in bowl games and Coach (Graham) does a great job of preparing us and getting us mentally ready and that’s a tribute to him, but also the players and I think they’re ready to go,” Kinne said in a zoom session with reporters following the Warriors’ practice on Tuesday in Frisco.
Thursday’s game will be Kinne’s second coaching in a bowl at Toyota Stadium. In his first year of coaching as a graduate assistant at SMU, Kinne — originally from Mesquite, Texas — was promoted to play-caller for the Mustangs’ meeting with Louisiana Tech in the 2017 Frisco Bowl.
“Not really good memories from that game, but it was definitely a great experience for me,” Kinne said of SMU’s 51-10 loss. “Excited to be back in Texas and getting to work with these guys.”
Both coordinators praised the Warriors’ effort in Tuesday’s practice after the team’s travel day from Manoa to the Dallas area on Monday.
Kinne will call plays against a Houston defense that racked up 22 sacks to lead the American Athletic Conference with 3.14 per game. Santa Cruz’s defense will face a Cougars attack that presents some familiar challenges.
“Like Nevada you’ve got receivers that can score over the top,” Santa Cruz said. “Like San Jose State you’ve got some challenging formations and you’ve got a pretty decent run game in there, and just the physicality of a San Diego State.
“They can put tension on you and stress your system at a variety of points. But we like that. It’s what college football is all about. That’s what bowl weeks are all about. Our guys are dialed in right now and they know we have to go in and say, ‘hey we have to keep bringing our own tension and our own spirit and we’re a system that likes to apply a lot of stress on the offense as well.’”