Hawaii football had flown under the radar for almost 100 years, but that all changed in 2007 when they went 12-0. The Warriors were ranked 10th in the national polls. Hawaii became the first non-BCS school to play in BCS bowl game, against third-ranked Georgia on January 1st, 2008. Hawaii lost to Georgia 41-10.
Humble Beginnings
The University of Hawaii football team used to be called the College of Hawaii "Fighting Deans." They played their first football game 1909. The Fighting Deans defeated McKinley High 95-6.
In those days, college competition was sparse, so the College of Hawaii took on a mixed bag of high school, club and military teams. Hawaii played a limited schedule. The Fighting Deans usually played about four games a year and they usually lost to the McKinley and Punahou high schools.
Hawaii Name Change
The College of Hawaii became the University of Hawaii in 1920. That same year Hawaii played their first college football game. Hawaii took on Nevada on Christmas Day and lost 14-7.
Hawaii still played a mixture of colleges as well as high school and military teams during this time. Two years later, on Christmas Day, 1922, Hawaii won its first college game when they beat Pomona 25-6.
Otto "Proc" Klum Era
After guiding Hawaii to their first college victory, Otto Klum's 1923 Hawaii team pulled off one of the school's biggest upsets when they defeated Oregon State 7-0. Both Oregon State and Hawaii were locked in a scoreless tie when a rainbow appeared over the field. Hawaii then scored the only touchdown of the game.
The local sportswriters started to refer to Hawaii as "The Rainbows." That name stuck until it was changed to "The Warriors."
Klum's 1925 football went undefeated. They were called "The Wonder Team." Hawaii defeated Colorado State, Colorado and Washington State. Klum's Rainbows outscored their opponents 606-29.
Klum coached Hawaii from 1921 to 1939 and his record was 84-51-7. He was fired in 1939 because he wanted to spend the off-season at his farm in Oregon.
Hawaii's First All-America
Little Tommy Kaulukukui played halfback for Klum's 1935 Hawaii Rainbows. In 1935, Hawaii traveled to Los Angeles to battle UCLA at the famed Los Angeles Coliseum. Tommy returned a kick-off 103 yards for a touchdown. Hawaii lost to UCLA 14-7.
Sportswriter Grantland Rice was present at the game. He dubbed Tommy as "Grass Shack." That name stuck. Tommy Kaulukukui was named to the All-America team in 1935.
Tommy Kaulukukui later coached the Hawaii Rainbows from 1946 to 1950. He was 42-19-3 as coach.
Post-World War II
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Hawaii stopped playing football. They re-started the football program in 1946. Hawaii played a NCAA division two football schedule; this was a mixture of local teams as well as some college teams.
Nebraska visited Hawaii in 1954 and blew out the Rainbows 55-0. The following year Hawaii traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska and upset the Cornhuskers 6-0. To this day, this is still considered one of the biggest wins in Hawaii's football history.
Hawaii had trouble getting on the schedules of other big-time universities, which forced the university to drop football in 1961. A year later, the university came under pressure from the community to resume football. Hawaii restarted the program in 1962. They started to play an all-college football schedule in 1966.
Dave Holmes Era
Dave Holmes was hired to coach Hawaii football in 1968. Holmes coached the Rainbows from 1968 to 1974; his career record was 46-17-1. His never had a losing season during his tenure as Hawaii football coach. Holmes lured Larry Cole to play for Hawaii in 1968. Cole played just one season at Hawaii and became the first Hawaii football player drafted by the NFL, by the Dallas Cowboys. Larry Cole became the first Hawaii football player to play in a Super Bowl, playing in Super Bowl V and Super Bowl VI as a member of the Cowboys.
Modern Day Hawaii Football
After many years of striving to become an NCAA division one football program, Hawaii finally achieved this goal when they joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1979.
Hawaii was invited to play in its first major bowl game in 1989. Hawaii lost the Aloha Jeep Eagle Bowl to Michigan State 33-14. Hawaii won its first WAC championship in 1992 and that same year the team went on to win the Thrifty Car Rental Holiday Bowl, defeating Illinois 27-17.
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