The University of Hawaii football team travels to Laramie, Wyoming this week to take on Mountain West rival Wyoming in a special Friday contest. ESPN Honolulu will again provide full game day coverage, starting with the “Countdown to Kickoff” pre-game show live from Big City Diner (Windward Mall) at 1:45 p.m. Kickoff is set for 3:45 with Bobby Curran and John Veneri calling the action. Then stick around after the game for postgame interviews and the always-popular “Fan’s Voice” call-in show.
Here are a few interesting facts about the Hawaii-Wyoming rivalry and Friday’s game:
♦ Wyoming leads the all-time series with UH, 14-10. The Rainbow Warriors are 3-7 on the road against the Cowboys. The last time Hawaii won in Laramie was on Aug. 31, 1991, when the UH defeated the Cowboys, 32-17. In that game, Hawaii QB Michael Carter, making his first collegiate start, rushed for 214 yards and 2 TDs. He also had 112 passing yards. Kicker Jason Elam contributed 4 field goals, including a school-record 55-yarder in the second quarter.
♦ The last time the two schools met was in 2018. Hawaii prevailed, 17-13, at Aloha Stadium. QB Chevan Cordeiro, making his first start, threw a 38-yard scoring pass to JoJo Ward with 1:26 remaining in the game to give Hawaii the win. RB Dayton Furuta, also making his first career start, rushed for 101 yards on 16 carries.
♦ The two schools compete for the Paniolo Trophy, an award donated by the Wyoming Paniolo Society (a group of Hawaii residents with Wyoming roots) in an effort to strength ties and foster friendship between the two institutions. The first Paniolo Trophy game occurred in 1979. The Cowboys won that game, 21-13.
♦ The rivalry between Hawaii and Wyoming hit “pause” from 1998 through 2012. During this time, Wyoming bolted the WAC to form the Mountain West Conference with other defecting schools. Essentially, the rivalry skipped both the June Jones and Greg McMackin eras of UH football.
♦ The longest winning streak in this rivalry belongs to Wyoming (six games). During a two-game stretch during this streak, the Cowboys outscored the Rainbow Warriors, 118 to 6 (including a 66-0 shutout in 1996). Both games were in Laramie.
♦ While Hawaii was victorious last Saturday against Fresno State, Wyoming lost their opener at Nevada, 37-34, in overtime. To make matters worse, the Cowboys lost their starting QB, redshirt sophomore Sean Chambers, who broke his left fibula on his very first carry of the season. The hard-luck Chambers also missed much of his first two years at Wyoming due to injury.
♦ The Wyoming program has a reputation of being a “stepping stone” for several prominent college football coaches, including Bob Devaney, Fred Akers, Pat Dye, Dennis Erickson and Joe Tiller. The Cowboys’ current coach is Craig Bohl, who is in his seventh year at Laramie. Prior to joining Wyoming, Bohl led North Dakota State to three consecutive FCS national championships.
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