UCLA Football: 2017 Game-by-game predictions
By Zach Bigalke
A decade after their shining moment as a BCS Buster, Hawaii would love merely to get back to bowl eligibility again. Nick Rolovich led the Rainbow Warriors to a seven-win season in his first year as a head coach. Were they to take down UCLA in the Rose Bowl, it would establish Hawaii as a legitimate contender in the Mountain West this season.
Hawaii’s trip to Pasadena marks the first meeting between the Bruins and Rainbow Warriors in nearly eight decades. The two teams last faced one another on January 2, 1939 in the short-lived Poi Bowl, back during the first wave of bowl expansion. UCLA won 38-7 that time, and also won their only other contest in 1935.
Those games are long forgotten by all but the most ardent fans of the two teams. This year’s contest, though, could resemble that long-ago bowl game in one respect. The final margin of victory should look similar, as the Bruins defense begins to gel and Rosen has a big statistical performance in the first half before taking a well-deserved seat for good sometime in the third quarter.
Hawaii will still have a legitimate chance at returning to the postseason this year. But a statement win over a Power Five opponent will not come when the Rainbow Warriors make their September trip to Los Angeles.