Hawaii Football: Rainbow Warriors replace Rutgers on UCLA schedule

The Rainbow Warriors take advantage of Rutgers withdrawing from their commitment to play UCLA, by scheduling a three-game series with the Bruins.

The Rainbow Warriors have only faced UCLA three times in school history. However, that figure is set to be doubled within the next 10 years.

As reported by Stephen Tsai of the Star Advertiser, the University of Hawaii and UCLA football teams have reached an agreement to play each other in a three-game series. The announcement was made on Thursday.

The first game will take place Sept. 5 2020, and will be just the second meeting between the two teams in Hawaii. The first contest took place in Honolulu, all the way back in 1939.

The other two games will take place in the Rose Bowl. The fixtures have been scheduled for Aug. 28, 2021, and Sept 18, 2027.

The UCLA Bruins are 3-0 all-time against the Rainbow Warriors. And while the meetings have been sporadic, you don’t have to go back too far, for the last game between the two sides.

That’s because the previous contest took place last season in September, at the Rose Bowl. The Warriors entered the game with a 2-0 record, but suffered a 56-23 loss.

Hawaii actually outgained their hosts 515-505 in yards. However, they were unable to recover from falling behind early and going in at half-time down 35-7.

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Interestingly, the only reason the Rainbow Warriors were able to arrange anything with the Bruins, was because of Rutgers University. As reported by ESPN, the Scarlet Knights withdrew from a two-game series, scheduled for 2020 and 2021.

Rutgers originally signed a deal with UCLA back in 2009, to play a home-and-home series in 2016 and 2017. However, as per USA Today, the games were then pushed back to 2020 and 2021, to accommodate Rutgers’ series with the University of Washington.

Regardless, Hawaii will take advantage of the opportunity to raise their profile. UCLA is one of the most well-known teams in college football, with one national title, 17 Conference titles and 16 Bowl wins.

Other notes:

The addition of UCLA mean the Warriors will now play three Pac-12 teams in 2020. As per Hawaiiathletics.com, they are also scheduled to play at Arizona and host Oregon.

As per the Star Advertiser, the Warriors will play seven of the 13 games on the road in 2021. As well as UCLA, they will travel to face Oregon State and New Mexico State.

What’s your take on the three-game series with UCLA? Do you agree it will help raise the Rainbow Warriors’ profile? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.