HONOLULU — Not counting former BYU offensive line coach Mark Weber, who now holds the same position for the University of Hawaii, no person affiliated with the Cougars’ 2012 football team is still around to let them know that winning a bowl game on an opponent’s home field can be done.
Of course, BYU drubbed homestanding San Diego State 23-6 in the 2012 Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium, thanks to defensive ace Kyle Van Noy’s heroics, and will attempt to pull off a similar feat on Tuesday when it faces the Rainbow Warriors at Aloha Stadium (6 p.m. MST, ESPN).
“We don’t really care about having to play them on their home field. We are just excited that we’re in Hawaii, playing a good team that we can compete with.” — BYU defensive tackle Trajan Pili
Hawaii (9-5) has already played eight games here this season, posting a 6-2 home record. The Cougars (7-5) won here 30-20 two years ago, but bowl games have an altogether different feel than regular-season finales. The teams have had weeks to prepare for each other, for instance, and Hawaii has a reputation for getting fired up when old nemesis BYU comes to town.
“They are an outstanding football team regardless of where they play, but yeah, they are especially good when they play at home,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said.
These aren’t Norm Chow’s Warriors. Having taken over for the former BYU and Utah offensive coordinator in 2016, fun-loving former UH quarterback Nick Rolovich has the program trending upward. The Honolulu media is selling the Christmas Eve game as a chance for the Warriors to get a statement win over a longtime rival that pummeled them 49-23 last year in BYU QB Zach Wilson’s first career start.
BYU is a slight favorite, meaning that if UH wasn’t playing at home, the Cougars would probably be favored by more than a touchdown. Hawaii fans will outnumber BYU fans, but by how much is anybody’s guess.
Having to play an opponent on its home field in a bowl game seems like a raw deal, but the Cougars don’t seem to mind.
“Not worried about it,” Sitake said Saturday afternoon after the Cougars practiced at Kamehameha High School’s field. “I think there will be plenty of fans supporting both sides. … We have tons of respect and admiration for that program and their fans. We are looking forward to the game and honored to be here.”
So honored that he would like to see the old rivalry rekindled.
“Just good people on both sides and I wouldn’t mind playing them every year,” said Sitake, who grew up on Oahu’s North Shore.
If nothing else, BYU will look like the home team. As the designated home team in the game, the Cougars will wear their royal blue jersey tops.
“Whether we are the home team or not, we will come out to win this game,” said senior Aleva Hifo, the only member of Sitake’s first signing class in 2016 who played four straight years. “I do feel like we are going to have a lot of people supporting us in this game. It is not going to be a dead crowd for us. They will be there for us.”
The Cougars, who have a 13-8 record against UH at Aloha Stadium, are probably the state’s second-favorite college football team because, in 2018, 73,927 of Hawaii’s 1,428,557 residents, or 5.17%, identified themselves as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the faith that owns and operates BYU.
“We don’t really care about having to play them on their home field,” said BYU defensive tackle Trajan Pili. “We are just excited that we’re in Hawaii, playing a good team that we can compete with.”
The Cougars practiced Saturday in rainy, windy conditions, and more of the same is expected Tuesday at 6 p.m. MST.
Advantage, Warriors?
“I don’t think it favors anybody,” said BYU quarterback Zach Wilson. “No matter what we are going to come to play. I know those guys are going to come to play as well. They are from here. They are used to it. We got to make it so it doesn’t affect us.”
Wilson, whose father Mike grew up in Hawaii but moved to Utah when he was 17 to play football for the Utes, said the rain won’t be a problem but the wind “sucks” for a quarterback.
“We will figure out a way to make it work,” he said.
Sitake said “both teams have to play in the elements” so the weather won’t be a factor either way. The Cougars played perhaps their best game of the season in a driving rainstorm, beating Boise State 28-25 on Oct. 19 in Provo. Boise State dumped Hawaii 31-10 two weeks ago in Boise, but the game was much closer than the score indicated, Sitake said.
“It doesn’t matter where we are playing, or who we are playing,” he said. “It is a bowl game and the last opportunity to play for the seniors. We will echo what Hawaii has said and confirm that it is a special game for us as well. It is going to be fun for both teams.”
Cougars on the air
SoFi Hawaii Bowl
BYU (7-5) vs. Hawaii (9-5)
At Aloha Stadium, Honolulu
Tuesday, 6 p.m. MST
TV: ESPN
Radio: 1160 AM, 102.7 FM