A win against BYU could be bright spot in dreary season

A former rival might be the cure for an ailing Hawaii football team.

The Rainbow Warriors close their season against Brigham Young this coming Saturday, reviving a rivalry that was last contested in 2012.

“If anything can end this season on a positive note, it’s a win vs. BYU,” UH coach Nick Rolovich said. “We need to come together and do everything we can possibly do to come out with a victory on Saturday night.”

This past weekend’s 38-0 loss to Utah State was the Warriors’ eighth defeat in the past nine games, dropping them to 3-8 overall and 1-7 in the Mountain West.

By not achieving at least a break-even regular season for the seventh consecutive year, the Warriors did not qualify for the Hawaii Bowl they helped create. It was the Warriors’ rout of previously unbeaten BYU in 2001 that led to the inaugural Hawaii Bowl the following year.

Rolovich said this week’s game should not be viewed “as a bowl game. We should look at it as an incredible opportunity to pay respect to the past.”

Prior to that 2001 meeting, Rolovich, who was the Warriors’ starting quarterback that season, did not realize the historical importance of the rivalry. Stories had been retold of BYU’s dominance for several years, and then the reversal, when quarterback Garrett Gabriel led UH to back-to-back victories, including one on the same day that Cougars’ quarterback Ty Detmer was named the 1990 Heisman Trophy winner.

“But I didn’t realize it until after the (2001) game,” Rolovich said. “The emotions, the joy. That’s what it really comes to.”

Rolovich said the impact of that 2001 game grew over time.

“It’s more the days, weeks, months, years later,” Rolovich said. “That’s the memory a lot of people bring up, and how happy they were that day, and how many people were there, and all that stuff.”

This has been a difficult season for the Warriors. They have lost players to injuries and other circumstances. They have been understaffed since Chris Naeole resigned as offensive line coach on Oct. 6. Against Utah State, starting guard J.R. Hensley and John Wa‘a exited after aggravating injuries. The Warriors finished the game with two freshmen — center Taaga Tuulima and tackle Brandon Kipper — in the lineup. But now the Warriors have an opportunity to gain momentum heading into the offseason.

“Growing up (in Hawaii), BYU, I would say, was our biggest rivalry,” said Craig Stutzmann, quarterbacks coach and a former Warrior slotback. “When UH played BYU, you knew it was going to be a big week. There would be a lot of hitting, a lot of scoring, a lot of fun times. It doesn’t matter if BYU is 11-0 coming in to play or 0-11. It’s going to be a hard-fought game. … I don’t think you could ask for a better opponent right now to get our juices flowing.”