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Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 10:43 am
by caleyear01
Sorry guys, noob question here.

I have been a UH fan my entire life but I am still young (23 years old). Who have been the UH Football or just UH sports rivals in general throughout history?

Wikipedia only lists Fresno State, Air Force, and Wyoming. I assume this is because these three games have trophies. Doesn't the UNLV vs Hawaii game have a trophy too?

I remember playing NCAA Football games on my Xbox as a kid and seeing BYU as one of Hawaii's rivals.

So there is Fresno State, Air Force, Wyoming, UNLV, and BYU (No Trophy). Am I missing anyone else?

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 11:41 am
by johnny
The California hotel is the proud backer of the UH UNLV Trophy. Since UH won last year, the trophy did not move from the UH locker room. UH beat UNLV in 2019 at Sam Boyd stadium so the trophy moved from Las Vegas to Hawaii. That was the last UH UNLV game played at Sam Boyd stadium. Starting in 2021 the games will be in the new NFL stadium.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 1:10 pm
by poidog
this is a hard question to answer... partly because we do not have any other program nearby or in-state or anything like that. However, I think its mostly because nearly all of college football "traditions" are things that were established pre-modern era or pre- conference expansion/realignment. Most UH fans consider BYU to be our most hated rival because they were unbeatable by Hawaii teams for so long and because they were one of the first great "poachers" of local talent, but fans on the BYU side insist that it was not a rivalry for them (I think they downplay the rivalry because the series became less one-sided once the 1989 UH football team broke the streak and UH started winning more games against BYU in all sports, and especially after 2001 - go watch that game on youtube if you haven't already!) . But once BYU and company left the WAC to create the MWC, they left with most of the other long-time members of the WAC and left UH in a conference with teams it had very little history playing against.

Starting with the June Jones era, the following potential rivalries have emerged:

Fresno St. - Two of the consistently better football programs in the conference since 1999 with a healthy rivalry between coaches (June Jones and Pat Hill) with a lot of competitive football games between the two. UH beat Fresno for the conference title in 1999. UH came back to beat them in 2001 while Fresno was ranked. Fresno came back to hang 70 on UH in 2004 to help ruin Timmy Chang's senior year. Since then the series has mellowed out a bit but UH seems to rise to the occasion against Fresno more often than not, sweeping 2001-2003, 2006-2008, 2010, and playing them close in Greg McMackin's last season and 2 of Norm Chow's terrible 4 seasons. Rolo went 1-3 vs Fresno and Graham's first win here was against them. It's a very even series that I enjoy because UH sometimes wins when they aren't supposed to (like in 2008 and 2016). Then there's that screwdriver incident... https://www.sbnation.com/college-footba ... trophy-yes

UNLV - Even prior to rejoining the MWC, UNLV was a regular home-and-home series on the schedule because of the large contingent of Hawaii people who live in Vegas and are wiling to travel there for road games, as UNLV isn't usually a big draw at home and liked to schedule UH because they sold a lot of tickets to those games. The first of the current series of games against UNLV was in 2003, where UH played at UNLV at the end of a two-game road trip that started at USC the week before. Optimism was high for this UH team and they had just played USC pretty tough (tougher than the score, anyway). But expectations did not meet reality and UNLV won the game and a series of brawls broke out in the stands. UNLV concessions do not limit you to 1 or 2 beers per purchase, and this likely contributed to it! UH always wins the games at home (including Chris Naeole has a win against them in his short stint as interim HC), but tends to underperform at UNLV. The on-field rivalry isn't anything special, but the fan dynamic makes it interesting. most fans will have the UNLV game circled on their calendar simply because it's a good excuse to take a trip to the 9th Island and party with other Hawaii fans.

Nevada - As a fan, I always get up for the UH-UNR game because they've been very good at beating us in recent history, though we've won the last two. We were often victims of their once-revolutionary pistol offense and whoever their RB was at the time would have a career day against us, and there was a healthy rivalry between contemporaries June Jones and Chris Ault that continued through the next era as several former UH players were coaches at UNR (Rolo, Ashley Lelie, Timmy Chang). If you have not seen the 2010 UH vs UNR game, I recommend you watch that on YouTube.

San Diego St. - We have history with them that goes back to the OG WAC days, but games against them were so one-sided especially during the Marshall Faulk years. In both 2018 and 2019, games between UH and SDSU have been especially close with potential bowl invites and division titles on the line. They beat us up worse than the score shows last season, so we'll have to see how the post-Rolo series with them goes.

It is hard to consider any of the teams in the Mountain division of the MWC as true rivals because we do not play them every year anymore. We have history with WYO, CSU, and AFA from the old WAC days, but there are almost no similarities between recent games vs these teams with games against them in the 80s and 90s. And for Boise - we just aren't consistently good enough to be their rival at the moment.

If our home-and-home this season with New Mexico St is competitive in any way, that could have some future potential simply because of their need as an independent to fill a schedule and the dwindling FBS scheduling opportunities with teams having less open dates and more conference games these days. We'll likely see them on the schedule more often.

I'm sure someone will come along and point out that none of these teams consider us to be a real rival or blah blah blah. The question of a rival is hard to answer, but it is a good question and worth attempting to answer, even if the answer is not perfect.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 1:23 pm
by poidog
I would also like to add that the Fresno rivalry also extended to basketball for a time. Anthony Carter & Alika Smith vs Chris Herren and Rafer Alston was a great rivalry for the two years that it existed, and they beat us in the final 8 of the NIT in 1998. Moving to the Big West put an end to that, however.

Nowadays, there's potential for a decent rivalry with Long Beach St in basketball and mens and womens volleyball. We beat them in 2016 to go to the big dance, and they beat us for the mens vball national championship. i don't know how the fans on the LBSU side of things feel about UH, but I hate them in every sport!

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 1:33 pm
by wyokie
Speaking as a WYOMING fan, I love our Paniolo Trophy series. Personally, Hawaii is one of our big rivals which includes Air Force, Fort Fart aka Colorado State, and the Evil Empire aka BYU!!!!!

I even did an article for Sports Hawaii about 15 years ago on here about the Paniolo Trophy series. DAMNED this board has been around for a long time.

Oh, btw, 66-0!!!!!!!!!!! :D :cowboy:

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:29 pm
by shrek2
caleyear01 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 10:43 am Sorry guys, noob question here.

I have been a UH fan my entire life but I am still young (23 years old). Who have been the UH Football or just UH sports rivals in general throughout history?

Wikipedia only lists Fresno State, Air Force, and Wyoming. I assume this is because these three games have trophies. Doesn't the UNLV vs Hawaii game have a trophy too?

I remember playing NCAA Football games on my Xbox as a kid and seeing BYU as one of Hawaii's rivals.

So there is Fresno State, Air Force, Wyoming, UNLV, and BYU (No Trophy). Am I missing anyone else?
This is a great question. There is the Kuter Trophy between the Air Force and Hawaii, Golden Pineapple Trophy between UNLV an Hawaii, Paniola Trophy between Wyoming and Hawaii and the Old Golden Frequent Flyer Cup Trophy between UMass and Hawaii.
https://www.sbnation.com/2018/10/4/1792 ... esno-state
Fresno State has always been a hostile environment for UH players and fans because of Fresno fan behavior especially with the Mexican drug cartels making home in the Central Valley. BYU used to be a bitter rival when Lavell Edwards was head coach because there was a certain arrogance that the team brought with them and there were often altercations on the field IMHO. Now with Sitake at the helm, its just a really competitive football game.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:43 am
by uhwarriors
Awesome writeup poidog. I agree with your analysis.

I'll just add to the BYU discussion. When we got into the WAC in the 1979, Dick Tomey made it a point to say winning the championship was through BYU. Tomey never did beat BYU. In fact his teams lost 7 times in 8 years. Bob Wagner also lost to BYU the next 2 years. There were several 1 point losses, the Walter Murray drop, the BYU fumble that ended up being recovered in the endzone for the only BYU score and the win, the left foot punt by BYU QB Jim McMahon (he was a right footed punter) that ended up on our 1 yard line after the snap went over his head, the BYU TE that gave the finger and was caught on TV, etc. There were longtime older fans that pleaded with UH to please beat BYU before they died. Finally in 1989, the Garret Gabriel team beat BYU 56-14. Up to that point that had to be the highlight game for many fans. The joy around the State was incredible.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 8:56 am
by My3Cats
Great question caleyear. And terrific analysis poidog. Hawaii has no true rival, primarily due to geography. Old time Hawaii fans always referred to BYU, but BYU's traditional rivalry was with Utah. Fresno State was a rivalry when JJ and Hill were friendly rivals, but not before, and not since. Wyoming and Air Force are trophy games but not much else in terms of rivalries. UNLV only because of the alleged screwdriver incident, but not really a rivalry. All are healthy, fun opponents, including those from the MWC/WAC but alas, no one is universally hated by the Warrior ohana.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:38 pm
by poidog
I forgot to include that even Fred VonAppen had a win against a favored Fresno St. It was one of three wins in 1997, one of which was against DI-AA CSUN and the other against a Minnesota team accused of point shaving.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2021 5:04 am
by UnBiasFan
We have played San Jose State 43 times with 22 wins 20 losses and 1 tie.

The rivalry with SJSU is as big as any other. Most fans won’t recognize this. But that is because they ignore science and over inflate their own team. We tend to think that SJSU is not good enough to be a rival. LOL. The players know not to look past this game.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 1:54 pm
by poidog
UnBiasFan wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 5:04 am We have played San Jose State 43 times with 22 wins 20 losses and 1 tie.

The rivalry with SJSU is as big as any other. Most fans won’t recognize this. But that is because they ignore science and over inflate their own team. We tend to think that SJSU is not good enough to be a rival. LOL. The players know not to look past this game.
Well, Hawaii is 15-6 against SJSU since the start of the June Jones era, so there's that. That's why it doesnt feel so much like a rivalry, even though some of the UH-SJSU have been pretty epic and exciting.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 4:14 pm
by UnBiasFan
poidog wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 1:54 pm
UnBiasFan wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 5:04 am We have played San Jose State 43 times with 22 wins 20 losses and 1 tie.

The rivalry with SJSU is as big as any other. Most fans won’t recognize this. But that is because they ignore science and over inflate their own team. We tend to think that SJSU is not good enough to be a rival. LOL. The players know not to look past this game.
Well, Hawaii is 15-6 against SJSU since the start of the June Jones era, so there's that. That's why it doesnt feel so much like a rivalry, even though some of the UH-SJSU have been pretty epic and exciting.

In recent years, nothing feels like a rivalry because the stadium has been mostly empty. Maybe a full, small stadium will help this year. And there is a trophy on the line for the September game on the practice field.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:53 am
by TheDuke
a real rivalry is for bragging rights, is a two way street and has a lot of history; UCLA vs USC, Alabama vs Auburn, Oregon vs Oregon State, Michigan vs Michigan State, Michigan vs Ohio State. Although there are State rivalries like Oklahoma vs Texas most are in state. We really don't have any real rivalries because of our geo and because we have changed conferences too often. Hawaii fans like to think we have rivalries but the schools we hold as rivals don't feel the same way about it. To the schools we play we are just another game.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:24 am
by Maui Boy in Alaska
Any sport will always be BYU. Amazing history from Volleyball, Baseball, Basketball, and Football. Most BYU fans won't see it this way as they have Utah, but talk with some of the older fans and you will find people that had a lot of respect for UH vs. BYU.

In football Fresno State, Air Force, Wyoming, and UNLV games have Trophies. I would also put USC on the list. UH has beaten most of the Pac 12 at some point. But the only school we have not is USC, and UH has played them many times in the past. UCLA as well, but I think we have only played them once before this year.

Re: Who Are Our Rivals?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2021 7:29 pm
by UnBiasFan
Maui Boy in Alaska wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:24 am Any sport will always be BYU. Amazing history from Volleyball, Baseball, Basketball, and Football. Most BYU fans won't see it this way as they have Utah, but talk with some of the older fans and you will find people that had a lot of respect for UH vs. BYU.

In football Fresno State, Air Force, Wyoming, and UNLV games have Trophies. I would also put USC on the list. UH has beaten most of the Pac 12 at some point. But the only school we have not is USC, and UH has played them many times in the past. UCLA as well, but I think we have only played them once before this year.
SJSU game has the recently created Dick Tomey legacy trophy