HAWAII vs. FRESNO ST.
RWP: Rainbow Warrior Perspective
Location: Honolulu, Oahu (Clarence T.C. Ching Complex)
Date/Time: Saturday, September 20th at 6:00 p.m. (Hawaii Time)
Television: Spectrum Sports
Streaming: For fans on the mainland, the game should be free on the Mountain West app. Apparently, the game is available on Spectrum Sports TV in parts of western mainland too.
Radio: ESPN Honolulu
Head-to-Head: Fresno State leads the series 30-25-1. The Bulldogs had won eight games in the series from 2011-2019, totally one-sided
until 2020. Then the series flipped and Hawaii has now won three of the last four, including last year’s surprising 21-20 win at Bulldog Stadium. This will be the first time the programs have played each other on Oahu since the 2021 upset of the ranked Jake Haener Bulldogs.
Three things to look for:
1. How good are the 2025 Rainbow Warriors?
Timmy Chang and his staff entered the 2025 football season with some pressure to perform. Chang inherited a disaster in 2022, a disaster that in some cases still hasn’t recovered (looking at you, Halawa), but the pressure to qualify for the Hawaii Bowl is ever present. Thanks to the week 0 contest, Hawaii will play five football games before we reach October. Two more to go, this Saturday against Fresno State and then a trip to Colorado Spring to face Air Force.
Hawaii is 3-1, halfway to bowl eligibility. Since 2011, Hawaii has exited the month of September with at least three wins on only three occasions, 2011, 2018, and 2019. The 2011 and 2018 teams collapsed after fast starts. The 2019 team was Hawaii’s lone squad to ever make the Mountain West championship game.
I’m confident that Hawaii, barring a barrage of injuries, is on pace to make a bowl game. If they manage to beat Fresno State this week and move to 4-1, it might be time to start considering the Warriors as an unexpected competitor atop the conference standings. However, that’ll be a tough ask against these Bulldogs.
Is this a good Hawaii team, or just a team with a frontloaded home slate? Time will tell.
2. The Bulldogs are back
In summer 2024, Fresno State head coach Jeff Tedford had to step away from the program to focus on his health. This sudden setback forced the program into a purgatory of sorts, having to manage games in-between permanent head coaches. Hawaii took advantage of this, picking up an unexpected win at Valley Children’s Stadium last season.
Fresno State hired Matt Entz from USC to take the Bulldogs forward, another coach from the North Dakota State dynasty tree. Facing heavy roster turnover, a transition season of sorts was expected this fall, but so far the Bulldogs are off to an excellent start. A tough loss at Kansas was followed up with emphatic wins vs. Georgia Southern and eh, just Southern, sandwiched by a road win in Corvallis against Oregon State setting the stage for a battle of 3-1 teams at Clarence T.C. Complex.
Quarterback E.J. Warner, son of NFL legend Kurt Warner, is completing 72% of his passes on the season, throwing four touchdown passes and five interceptions. The heart of the offense is the rushing attack, Bryson Donelson and Rayshon Luke are both averaging over 6 yards per carry. They might make-up the best running back tandem in the conference.
Linebacker Jadon Pearson leads the team in tackles with 34, barely doubling up the second-leading tackler. Korey Foreman is the man to fear in pass rush, and defensive back Al’zillion Hamilton is probably the team’s best player. If you were hoping for a Bulldogs team in transition, I’m sorry to report this team has hit the ground running, in particular.
3. Alejado returns
Applause is in order for Hawaii quarterback Luke Weaver. For most teams, resorting to the second-string quarterback means an uptick in losses. Weaver needed to spot start for Micah Alejado against Sam Houston and Portland State and Hawaii emerged 2-0 in that stretch, keeping their bowl hopes alive.
Timmy Chang said postgame that Alejado will return to play against Fresno State, hopefully close to fully recovered from his ankle injury that was aggravated against Arizona. Will center Ethan Spencer and wide receiver Nick Cenacle also return? We shall see, but the softer part of the schedule enabled Hawaii to bring Alejado and others along slowly without compromising the win column. Can they hit the ground running after the layoff? This game is a tone-setter for the rest of the season.
Prediction:
Early in the week, FanDuel showed Fresno State as a 2.5-point favorite in this contest with an o/u of 48.5, and the spread has floated roughly in that area all week. In a new twist for Mountain West football games, teams are now obligated to release an availability report. It would appear wide receivers Jackson Harris and Nick Cenacle are listed as questionable, as are defensive linemen Luther McCoy, Tariq Jones, and center Ethan Spencer. A long list of key talent.
Hawaii and Fresno State have unofficially squared off for the golden screwdriver for years, one instant classic after another. It would be a shame if this series goes on hiatus (or worse, ends) on a lame note. I will predict otherwise. Give me Rainbow Warriors 33, Bulldogs 27 2OT
