Rainbow Warriors withdraw from Hawaii Bowl amid surge in coronavirus infections

COVID-19 put an end to the University of Hawaii’s football season.

Citing the surge in COVID-19 cases in its football program, UH withdrew from today’s nationally televised EasyPost Hawaii Bowl at the Ching Complex.

“The recent surge in COVID-19 cases has forced us to not participate in the game,” UH athletic director David Matlin announced on Twitter. “We are disappointed for our players, coaches and fans.”

UH coach Todd Graham added, “We are disappointed our season has to end this way. As competitive as we are and as much as want to play the game, we cannot put the health and safety of our student-athletes at risk.”

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser learned that at least 30 members of the program — players, coaches and staff — are in quarantine following positive test results for the coronavirus. That number includes several starters on offense, mostly the offensive line.

Memphis, the bowl’s other participant, did not report any positive results.

There will be no replacement team, so the game was canceled.

Hawaii Bowl organizers did not immediately provide information on how ticket refunds would be handled.

It is not known whether the Rainbow Warriors will have to forfeit their participation fee. Each team reportedly was to receive the financial value of $1.2 million, a payout that also must cover meals, lodging and transportation.

And UH assistant coaches were set to receive a month’s salary as a bowl bonus, while head coach Todd Graham was entitled to $20,000 for qualifying for the bowl and another $20,000 for winning it.

The Warriors reported that nearly all of the players, coaches and staff had received COVID-19 vaccinations. There were a few exemptions for health and religious reasons.

UH began testing last week when some players reported symptoms that were confirmed to be COVID-19 exposures. In accordance with state protocols, those who tested positive were placed into isolation for 10 days. Because of the staggered diagnoses, there was a wide-ranging timeline for release from quarantine.

The Warriors practiced Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Ching Complex in UH’s lower campus in Manoa. But following Thursday’s practice, it was determined that a health/safety threshold had been surpassed, making it too much of a competitive disadvantage for the Warriors to field a team. If the game were to go on, the Warriors would have about 12 players who did not see action this season on the two-deep chart.

The Warriors checked into the Moana Surfrider on Sunday and had already received their gifts from the bowl.

The Tigers were set to depart on a charter after the game. Some Memphis players said on social media that today would be a “beach day.”

In a statement, Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said: “We are very disappointed to hear that Hawai‘i will be unable to participate in the EasyPost Hawai‘i Bowl on Friday. We hope that Hawai‘i players and staff get healthy soon.

“I’m upset for our seniors and the rest of the team that battled this season to earn this opportunity. We’ve had a terrific time here in Hawai‘i as a program and we are sad our trip ended this way.”

Hawaii joins Texas A&M as teams that were forced to withdraw from bowl games. On Wednesday the Aggies announced they would not play in the New Year’s Eve Gator Bowl because of COVID-19 issues and season-ending injuries. On Thursday, Texas A&M was replaced by Rutgers, which will play Wake Forest after an NCAA committee decided to adhere to an existing policy for making teams with 5-7 records bowl-eligible.

The Warriors won their last two regular-season games to finish at 6-7. Only teams with .500 or better records in the regular season are considered bowl-eligible. But with 83 qualifying teams for 82 bowl berths, the NCAA decided to add a 42nd bowl. That opened the way for one at-large team.

As the only 6-7 FBS team, the Warriors received the final berth spot.