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2018 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football
Hawaii Bowl, L 14–31 vs. Louisiana Tech
Conference Mountain West Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record8–6 (5–3 MW)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Brian Smith (2nd season)
Offensive scheme Run and shoot
Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon (1st season)
Base defense 4–2–5
Home stadium Aloha Stadium
Seasons
←  2017
2019 →
2018 Mountain West Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Mountain Division
No. 23 Boise State x   7 1     10 3  
No. 22 Utah State   7 1     11 2  
Wyoming   4 4     6 6  
Air Force   3 5     5 7  
Colorado State   2 6     3 9  
New Mexico   1 7     3 9  
West Division
No. 18 Fresno State x$   7 1     12 2  
Nevada   5 3     8 5  
Hawaii   5 3     8 6  
San Diego State   4 4     7 6  
UNLV   2 6     4 8  
San Jose State   1 7     1 11  
Championship: Fresno State 19, Boise State 16 (OT)
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team represented the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rainbow Warriors played their home games at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. They competed in the West Division of the Mountain West Conference and were led by third-year head coach Nick Rolovich. They finished the season 8–6, 5–3 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Hawaii Bowl where they lost to Louisiana Tech. The Rainbow Warriors clinched their first winning season since 2010 with a 31-30 overtime win at San Diego State, while also clinching a winning conference record in the process.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year
Fred Biletnikoff Award [1] John Ursua WR JR
Butkus Award [2] Jahlani Tavai LB SR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy [3] Jahlani Tavai LB SR
Wuerffel Trophy [4] Noah Borden LS SR

Mountain West media days

During the Mountain West media days held July 24–25 at the Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip, the Rainbow Warriors were predicted to finish in fifth place in the West Division. [5]

Media poll

West Division
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Fresno State 126 (16)
2 San Diego State 116 (6)
3 UNLV 78
4 Nevada 72
5 Hawaii 45
6 San Jose State 25

Preseason All-Mountain West Team

The Rainbow Warriors had one player selected to the preseason all-Mountain West team. [6]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
August 252:30 p.m.at Colorado State CBSSNW 43–3431,007
September 15:00 p.m. Navy*CBSSNW 59–4129,702
September 86:00 p.m. Rice*
  • Aloha Stadium
  • Honolulu, HI
SPEC HIW 43–2923,112
September 156:00 a.m.at Army*CBSSNL 21–2831,133
September 226:00 p.m. Duquesne*dagger
  • Aloha Stadium
  • Honolulu, HI
SPEC HIW 42–2126,175
September 291:00 p.m.at San Jose StateSPEC HIW 44–41 5OT16,363
October 66:00 p.m. Wyoming
  • Aloha Stadium
  • Honolulu, HI ( rivalry)
SPEC HIW 17–1323,907
October 134:15 p.m.at BYU* ESPN2L 23–4952,354
October 206:00 p.m. Nevada
  • Aloha Stadium
  • Honolulu, HI
SPEC HIL 22–4024,475
October 274:30 p.m.at Fresno StateESPN2L 20–5033,659
November 36:00 p.m.No. 18 Utah State
  • Aloha Stadium
  • Honolulu, HI
SPEC HIL 17–5621,476
November 176:00 p.m. UNLV
  • Aloha Stadium
  • Honolulu, HI
SPEC HIW 35–2825,697
November 244:30 p.m.at San Diego StateESPNUW 31–30 OT28,014
December 225:30 p.m. Louisiana Tech*
ESPNL 14–3130,911
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Hawaii time

[7]

Staff

Name Position Alma Mater Joined Staff
Nick Rolovich [8] Head Coach Hawaii (2004) 2016
Brian Smith [9] Associate head coach / offensive coordinator / running backs Hawaii (2005) 2016
Mark Banker [10] Assistant Head Coach / Inside Linebackers Springfield (MA) (1978) 2018
Corey Batoon [11] Defensive coordinator / Safeties Long Beach State (1991) 2018
Michael Ghobrial Special Teams Coordinator UCLA (2011) 2018
Craig Stutzmann Passing Game Coordinator / quarterbacks Hawaii (2002) 2016
Mark Weber Offensive Line Cal Lutheran (1980) 2018
Andre Allen Wide Receivers Ashford (2014) 2018
Ricky Logo Defensive Line North Carolina State (1992) 2018
Abe Elimimian [12] Cornerbacks Hawaii (2004) 2015
Jacob Yoro [13] Outside Linebackers / Nickelbacks Hawaii (2008) 2017

Coaching Source

Game summaries

At Colorado State

1 2 3 4 Total
Rainbow Warriors 10 13 14 6 43
Rams 7 0 13 14 34

Navy

1 2 3 4 Total
Midshipmen 0 14 14 13 41
Rainbow Warriors 14 24 0 21 59

Sophomore quarterback Cole McDonald was named Mountain West Offensive player of the week. [14] He finished 30–41 for 428 yards and six touchdowns.

Rice

1 2 3 4 Total
Owls 7 3 3 16 29
Rainbow Warriors 14 7 7 15 43

At Army

1 2 3 4 Total
Rainbow Warriors 7 7 0 7 21
Black Knights 7 14 0 7 28

Duquesne

1 2 3 4 Total
Dukes 14 0 0 7 21
Rainbow Warriors 7 14 7 14 42

At San Jose State

1 2 3 4OT2OT3OT4OT5OT Total
Rainbow Warriors 3 7 6 1570033 44
Spartans 0 17 7 770030 41

Wyoming

1 2 3 4 Total
Cowboys 3 0 7 3 13
Rainbow Warriors 0 3 7 7 17

At BYU

1 2 3 4 Total
Rainbow Warriors 0 3 14 6 23
Cougars 14 14 7 14 49

Nevada

1 2 3 4 Total
Wolf Pack 10 10 6 14 40
Rainbow Warriors 14 0 0 8 22

At Fresno State

1 2 3 4 Total
Rainbow Warriors 3 10 0 7 20
Bulldogs 14 23 10 3 50

Utah State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 18 Aggies 28 0 28 0 56
Rainbow Warriors 3 0 14 0 17

UNLV

1 2 3 4 Total
Rebels 7 14 0 7 28
Rainbow Warriors 3 3 7 22 35

At San Diego State

1 2 3 4OT Total
Rainbow Warriors 3 21 0 07 31
Aztecs 14 0 3 76 30

Louisiana Tech–Hawaii Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 3 0 21 7 31
Rainbow Warriors 0 7 0 7 14

Players drafted into the NFL

Round Pick Player Position NFL Club
2 43 Jahlani Tavai LB Detroit Lions
7 236 John Ursua WR Seattle Seahawks

References

  1. ^ "2018 Biletnikoff Award Watch List". July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  2. ^ "Butkus Award - 2018 Collegiate Watchlist". The Butkus Award. July 23, 2018. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  3. ^ "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  4. ^ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  5. ^ "Boise State, Fresno State Picked to Win 2018 Mountain West Football Divisional Titles".
  6. ^ "2018 Mountain West Football Preseason All-Conference Team".
  7. ^ "2018 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  8. ^ "Nick Rolovich - Football coach". University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  9. ^ "Brian Smith - Football coach". University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  10. ^ "Mark Banker - Football coach". University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  11. ^ "Corey Batoon - Football coach". University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  12. ^ "Abe Elimimian - Football coach". University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  13. ^ "Jacob Yoro - Football coach". University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  14. ^ "2018 Mountain West Football Players of the Week - Sept. 3".