UH to face Arizona State for first time in 20 years

News admin October 10, 2026 0 Comments

UH to face Arizona State for first time in 20 years

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The University of Hawaiʻi is looking to bounce back from a tough loss to San José State with a road test against Arizona State.

The Rainbow Warriors will visit the Sun Devils in Tempe for the first time since 1958. UH has lost its last 18 road matchups against Power conference opponents.

Starting fast is a focus this week. Hawaiʻi has scored just three points in the first half over its last two games.

“I’ve been telling everyone, it’s all mental. It’s all about how you go about things. It’s all about how you take the play, how you take the next play, it’s all mental,” UH linebacker Juju Smith said. “You just gotta stay strong minded. Mental toughness is what we preaching on and we’ll be good. We just gotta do our job, take it day by day, play by play. We’ll be good.”

Looking back at the 2006 Hawaiʻi Bowl

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 2006 Hawaiʻi Bowl, the last time UH faced Arizona State. The game is among the most iconic in the program’s history.

Hawaiʻi was held to a field goal in the first half, then scored 38 points after halftime. Colt Brennan threw for a school-record 559 yards and five touchdowns. Jason Rivers had 14 catches, two touchdowns and an NCAA bowl-game record 308 receiving yards.

Hawaiʻi won 41-24.

Rich Miano, who was on June Jones’ staff at the time, said the game helped set the stage for the 2007 undefeated season.

“It was just like wow, as a coach, I wanted to be a fan. I wanted to just witness this. You talk about exciting football, that was hard to imagine,” Miano said. “The success, the timing, the intricacies, the nuances of the run-and-shoot offense. Those guys had two weeks to practice for us because that was a bowl game. I’m not sure they practiced, but if they did, they couldn’t stop Colt to Jason Rivers.”

Brennan and Rivers were named co-MVPs, and the UH offense finished with 680 yards.

How to watch the game

Kickoff between the Rainbow Warriors and Sun Devils is set for 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Hawaiʻi time. The game will air on FS1 and stream on the Mountain West app.