PROVO, Utah (Dec. 8, 2019) — Mountain West Conference Championship runner-up University of Hawai‘i (9-5) has been selected to play BYU (7-5) in the 2019 SoFi Hawaii Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 24 at 3 p.m. HT at Aloha Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
“The University of Hawai‘i has enjoyed a tremendous season and we are thrilled the Rainbow Warriors accepted an invitation to play BYU,” SoFi Hawai’i Bowl executive director Daryl Garvin announced.
BYU accepted its invitation on November 16 to play in the 18th annual SoFi Hawai’i Bowl and now knows its opponent will be the hometown Rainbow Warriors.
“Hawai’i is a really good team and I’m looking forward to the matchup,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “I have tons of respect for Nick Rolovich and his entire coaching staff. I love the way they play the game. It will be an honor for us to take the field with them at Aloha Stadium.”
Tickets are on sale for the Hawai’i Bowl at BYUtickets.com. Ticket prices begin at $35. Buying tickets through the BYU Ticket Office ensures that you will sit among other Cougar fans and helps support the BYU football program. For more information on bowl activities and attending the Hawai'i Bowl, visit this fan guide page.
Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors
Hawai’i has already played in 14 games in 2019, boasting a 9-5 record after playing in the Mountain West title game as West Division champions on Saturday. The Rainbow Warriors went 5-3 in league games and finished the regular season winning five of six outings, including four in row, before coming up short in the championship game against No. 19 Boise State.
The Rainbow Warriors feature a potent offense that ranks No. 13 in the nation in total offense (469.3 yards per game) as the top-rated team from the Mountain West. Hawai’i’s passing attack ranks No. 6 in the country (325.9 yards per game) and the Rainbow Warriors rank 33rd overall in scoring offense (33.6 points per game).
Hawai’i began playing football in 1909. In 2019, the Rainbow Warriors captured their first Mountain West divisional crown since joining the league in 2012. This will be Hawai’i’s 13th bowl appearance and ninth in the current Hawai’i Bowl. The Rainbow Warriors also played in the 1989 Aloha Bowl and 1999 Oahu Bowl.
BYU Cougars
BYU enters the Hawai’i Bowl having won five of its last six games and boasts victories this season over nationally ranked USC and Boise State. The Cougars started the season as the only program to play three ranked teams and four Power 5 opponents in their first four games.
BYU’s five wins against teams with winning records ranks tied for No. 7 nationally, topped only by LSU, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, Boise State and Oregon. Overall, BYU played four ranked opponents and nine of its 11 FBS opponents finished the season bowl eligible.
The Cougars finished the regular season ranked No. 24 in passing offense (285.6 yards per game) despite starting three different quarterbacks. During the team’s final five games—all in November—BYU boasted the nation’s No. 8 offense (520.6 yards per game), No. 13 passing offense (323.0 yards per game) and No. 34 rushing offense (197.6 yards per game).
On defense, BYU tied for No. 9 nationally with 15 interceptions, while ranking tied for No. 18 in turnovers gained with 22. The Cougar defense also proved effective limiting big plays, finishing tied for No. 6 in fewest plays of 20 or more yards allowed with 37.
Series & Bowl Histories
BYU and Hawai’i will be playing for the 32nd time in a series that dates back to 1930. The two are former conference rivals from the days of the Western Athletic Conference. The two schools first matched up in 1930 in Honolulu and played just four times over the next 47 years before Hawai'i joined the WAC in 1978. Beginning in 1978, the two played in 22 of the next 25 seasons before revisiting the series in 2011 for four more games up to the present. BYU holds a 23-8 advantage in the series, with a 13-8 edge in Hawai’i.
The two schools have several historical connections over the years. BYU head coach Kalani Sitake spent much of his youth growing up on the North Shore of Hawai’i, while Rainbow Warriors’ head coach Nick Rolovich quarterbacked Hawai’i to the program’s last win over the Cougars in 2001. Rolovich tossed a school-record eight touchdown passes against BYU, spoiling the Cougars’ undefeated run after 12 straight wins.
This is BYU’s 37th bowl appearance dating back to the 1974 Fiesta Bowl and its first time in the SoFi Hawai’i Bowl. BYU’s 37 bowl appearances rank No. 22 among college programs—more than storied programs such as UCLA (36), Notre Dame (36), Virginia Tech (33), Wisconsin (31) and Stanford (30). The Cougars have gone bowling in 14 of the past 15 seasons.
BYU’s 37 bowl appearances consist of 19 different bowls in 11 states, including the 1992 Aloha Bowl versus Kansas on Christmas Day in Honolulu. BYU has made 22 appearances in the Islands since its first game against the University of Hawai’i in Honolulu on Dec. 10, 1930.
Hawai’i will be making a record ninth appearance in the SoFi Hawai‘i Bowl’s 18-year history. The Rainbow Warriors will appear in back-to-back games for the first time since making three consecutive appearances from 2002-05. Hawai‘i owns a 4-4 record in the bowl.
Overall, this marks UH’s 13th all-time bowl appearance and third in four seasons under current head coach Nick Rolovich. UH is 1-1 in the SoFi Hawai‘i Bowl under Rolovich with a win over Middle Tennessee in 2016 and a loss to Louisiana Tech last season.
The Hawai’i Bowl has been played annually at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu since 2002. Hawai'i has previously hosted several other bowl games in its history, such as the Poi Bowl (1936-39), Pineapple Bowl (1940-41, 47-52), Aloha Bowl (1982-2000) and Oahu Bowl (1998-2000). The Hawai’i Bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Events.