Prime opportunity awaits Hawai’i to close non-conference play

HONOLULU – Happy Homecoming Weekend, Hawai’i fans.

The University of Hawai’i football team will host Portland State (0-3) on Saturday for the earliest “Homecoming Game” in program history, welcoming in former UH QB John-Keawe Sagapolutele for a homecoming of his own along with his new PSU teammates for the first meeting between programs in four years.

Already off to the best start to a season in the four-year tenure of head coach Timmy Chang, Hawai’i (2-1) has a chance to get halfway to clinching the team’s first bowl bid since the 2021 campaign with a victory over the Vikings on Saturday.

Coming off a solid 37-20 victory over Sam Houston last weekend, the buzz about the ‘Bows kicked up again. Led by backup QB Luke Weaver’s three touchdowns and a strong defensive performance, Hawai’i calmed nerves of fans about the injury status of usual starting QB Micah Alejado ahead of the lone FCS game on the UH schedule.

Once again listed as a game-time decision while dealing with an injury to his lower right leg, Alejado could benefit from another week of rest before Mountain West play kicks off for UH next Saturday against Fresno State. With Hawai’i facing a Portland State team that has mustered up 20 points and allowed 161 points across three games, Weaver showed he is more than capable of manning the controls for one more week while Alejado gets as close to 100% healthy as possible.

Even if they are without the services of the standout redshirt freshman for another game, the Rainbow Warriors can (and should) dispatch the Vikings this weekend and extend the program’s 23-game win streak over opponents from the FCS. Doing so would put UH in prime position to clinch a postseason bid with even just average play through the conference slate and all but guarantee an eventual bowl by program’s historic standards.

Since 1999, no Hawai’i football team that started a season with a 3-1 record or better missed out on postseason play. While it’s far from clinching an actual spot in a bowl game, recent Rainbow Warrior history shows what a fast start to a season can do in the long run of a year.

It’ll be important for Hawai’i to take care of business on Saturday and not look past the winless PSU team, which put up 20 points with Sagapolutele starting last week against North Dakota. While the Rainbow Warriors have a pair of quality wins under their belt already, their coach continues to emphasize focusing on what’s right in front of his team on a consistent basis.

“Coming off of Stanford and going into Arizona, I thought that our focus was not there,” Chang said when asked about the practice intensity. “So, coming off of a win, homecoming week, a lot of different things going on, the focus has got to be us. There’s got to be a lot of discipline, a lot of details.”

Dating back to the final game of the 2024 season, Hawai’i has won three straight home games as T.C. Ching Complex works closer to being a temporary fortress for the Rainbow Warriors. UH will try to continue flying high Saturday when they line up against a defense that enters the weekend allowing an average of over 500 yards of offensive production to opponents so far this season.

The Portland State offense has been susceptible to turnovers throughout the course of the young 2025 campaign, giving the ball away eight times (5 INTs, 3 fumbles lost) in three losses. In turn, the defense has only jumped on three fumbles as the Vikings sit at -5 in the turnover margin department.

Giveaways have also been a bugaboo for the Rainbow Warriors through three outings, sitting at -6 with a pair of turnovers that led directly to a touchdown. This weekend could provide an opportunity for UH to make up ground in turnover margin but also proves as a major key to putting away Portland State early.

The Hawai’i defense also has one more opportunity to buff out any remaining scratches to the car before rubber hits the road in Mountain West play next Saturday. The Rainbow Warriors got into the backfield at a consistent rate against Sam Houston (4.0 sacks, 7.0 TFLs, 79 total rush yards allowed) while holding their third straight opponent under 200 passing yards and getting the program’s first pick-six since 2022.

Opportunity knocks on Saturday for UH to enter the Mountain West gauntlet in great shape while moving towards their best football.

It’s up to the Rainbow Warriors to rise up to the occasion.