HONOLULU — Hoping to return to more glorious times, the University of Hawaii football team will wear its “retro” rainbow-trimmed green jerseys with plain white helmets Saturday for its homecoming game vs. Nevada.
HONOLULU — Hoping to return to more glorious times, the University of Hawaii football team will wear its “retro” rainbow-trimmed green jerseys with plain white helmets Saturday for its homecoming game vs. Nevada.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Aloha Stadium. The game will be televised live statewide on Oceanic Pay-Per-View (Digital Ch. 255) and Hawaiian Telcom Pay-Per-View (Ch. 969), and live on radio via KKON in West Hawaii.
The Rainbow Warriors (2-5 overall, 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference) are coming off a frustrating road loss at San Diego State, while Nevada (4-3, 1-2) is fresh off a 42-35 upset at Brigham Young.
But UH has played significantly better at home this season than on the road: The Rainbow Warriors are averaging 27.8 points and 411.5 yards of total offense per game on Hawaiian Airlines Field, compared to an average of only 12 points and 270.3 yards per game on the mainland.
UH rushed for a season-low 90 yards at San Diego State, but is averaging 174.2 ground yards per game at home. Hawaii running back Joey Iosefa, considered the team’s best offensive weapon, will sit out again while serving the second game of his three-week suspension.
The Rainbow Warriors average 237.2 yards passing per game at Aloha Stadium, compared to just 148.7 ypg on the road.
Defensively, UH is more stout against the run at home vs. the road, allowing an average of 123.5 yards per game at home compared to 181.3 ypg away.
But no matter the venue, the defense has provided the offense with opportunities by forcing opponents into an average of 5.57 three-and-outs per game, which ranks first in the Mountain West and No. 10 in the nation. The Rainbow Warriors also are No. 15 in the country in opponents’ third-down conversion percentage, at 30.3 percent.
UH quarterback Ikaika Woolsey has struggled with accuracy for most of the season, and ranks 110th (out of 114 eligible QBs) in the nation in completion percentage at 48.8 percent, and he is 111th in pass efficiency rating (100.1). But he has shown improvement in the past two weeks, completing eight of nine passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns in the second half of a 38-28 home victory over Wyoming on Oct. 11 and hitting 17 of 31 attempts for 174 yards and one TD at San Diego State.
The good news for Woolsey is that Nevada ranks dead last in the nation in passing yards allowed (321 ypg), and is 101st (out of 125 teams) in opponents’ pass efficiency rating (142.5). The bad news is that Wolf Pack senior defensive end Brock Hekking ranks second in career sacks among active Football Bowl Subdivision players with 21.
More bad news for Hawaii is that Nevada ranks 11th in the nation in red zone offense, scoring 93.6 percent of the time it reaches the opponent’s 20-yard line, and is No. 9 in turnover margin at +1.14 per game. The Wolf Pack also is 37th in third-down conversions (44.4 percent) and 41st in fourth-down conversions (58.3 percent), so it is an opportunistic team.
The leader of the Pack is senior quarterback Cody Fajardo, a dual threat who is the reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for 332 total yards (285 passing/47 rushing) and three touchdowns (two rushing, one passing) at BYU. He led Nevada from a 15-point third-quarter deficit to 28 unanswered points for a thrilling comeback victory.
Among active FBS players, Fajardo ranks third in career total offense (11,735 yards), fourth in rushing TDs (39), sixth in pass completions, attempts and yards (8,847 yards), and ninth in rushing yards (2,888).
But if UH and its fans want to dig into the past looking for a ray of hope, they do not even have to go back to the days of rainbow-trimmed jerseys: Just four years ago, the Rainbow Warriors turned back No. 19-ranked Nevada and its heralded quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, 27-21, in a key October conference showdown.
RAINBOW WAHINE RETURN TO ACTION: The UH women’s volleyball team will be back in Big West Conference action after a short hiatus, playing host to Cal Poly on Friday and UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.
Friday’s match, which will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Stan Sheriff Center, is set for 7 p.m. and will be televised live statewide on OCSports (Oceanic Ch. 16) and broadcast live on radio via ESPN 1420 AM. Sunday’s match is set for 4 p.m.
The Rainbow Wahine (12-5 overall, 4-2 Big West) are unranked after losing road matches at Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State two weekends ago.
Cal Poly is 7-10, 2-5, and UC Santa Barbara is 9-9, 4-3.
The Stan Sheriff Center first opened on Oct. 21, 1994, for a UH women’s volleyball match vs. San Jose State.
SOCCER TEAM ‘SENIOR NIGHT’ FRIDAY: The UH women’s soccer team will close out its home schedule Friday with a 7 p.m. “Senior Night” game vs. UC Davis at Waipio Peninsula Stadium.
Seniors Alexis Colacchio, Korinne Estrada, Hayden Gibson, Ashley Haruki, Krystal Pascua and Olivia Stanford will be honored following the game.
The Rainbow Wahine (6-9 overall, 1-4 Big West) are in ninth (last) place in the conference standings but are mathematically still alive in the chase for a berth in the four-team Big West Tournament. A loss would eliminate them from playoff contention.
Hawaii has lost three straight Big West games, including back-to-back 2-0 defeats at the hands of Cal Poly and Long Beach State. UC Davis (4-10-3, 1-3-2) is in seventh place in the Big West.