2018 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team

2018 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football
2018 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football
Hawaii Bowl, L 14–31 vs. Louisiana Tech
Conference	Mountain West Conference
	West Division
Record	8–6 (5–3 MW)
Head coach	Nick Rolovich (3rd season);
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
v t e
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

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
West Division
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]

Defense

Jahlani Tavai – LB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 25	2:30 p.m.	at Colorado State	Canvas Stadium Fort Collins, CO	CBSSN	W 43–34	31,007
September 1	5:00 p.m.	Navy*	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	CBSSN	W 59–41	29,702
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Rice*	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	SPEC HI	W 43–29	23,112
September 15	6:00 a.m.	at Army*	Michie Stadium West Point, NY	CBSSN	L 21–28	31,133
September 22	6:00 p.m.	Duquesne*	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	SPEC HI	W 42–21	26,175
September 29	1:00 p.m.	at San Jose State	CEFCU Stadium San Jose, CA (Dick Tomey Legacy Game)	SPEC HI	W 44–41 ^5OT	16,363
October 6	6:00 p.m.	Wyoming	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI (rivalry)	SPEC HI	W 17–13	23,907
October 13	4:15 p.m.	at BYU*	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN2	L 23–49	52,354
October 20	6:00 p.m.	Nevada	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	SPEC HI	L 22–40	24,475
October 27	4:30 p.m.	at Fresno State	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 20–50	33,659
November 3	6:00 p.m.	No. 18 Utah State	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	SPEC HI	L 17–56	21,476
November 17	6:00 p.m.	UNLV	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	SPEC HI	W 35–28	25,697
November 24	4:30 p.m.	at San Diego State	SDCCU Stadium San Diego, CA	ESPNU	W 31–30 ^OT	28,014
December 22	5:30 p.m.	Louisiana Tech*	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI (Hawaii Bowl)	ESPN	L 14–31	30,911
*Non-conference game Homecoming 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

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	HAW	CSU
1	10:02	10	75	4:58	HAW	John Ursua 4-yard touchdown reception from Cole McDonald, Ryan Meskell kick good	7	0
1	5:26	14	85	4:26	CSU	Bisi Johnson 10-yard touchdown reception from K. J. Carta-Samuels, Wyatt Bryan kick good	7	7
1	1:18	9	72	4:08	HAW	21-yard field goal by Ryan Meskell	10	7
2	11:32	9	67	3:53	HAW	Cole McDonald 12-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass failed	16	7
2	0:28	6	46	1:43	HAW	Cole McDonald 6-yard touchdown run, Ryan Meskell kick good	23	7
3	8:48	7	75	3:34	HAW	John Ursua 19-yard touchdown reception from Cole McDonald, Ryan Meskell kick good	30	7
3	3:35	3	70	1:24	HAW	Cedric Byrd 55-yard touchdown reception from Cole McDonald, Ryan Meskell kick good	37	7
3	2:20	3	75	1:15	CSU	Preston Williams 7-yard touchdown reception from K. J. Carta-Samuels, Wyatt Bryan kick good	37	14
3	0:08	2	72	0:24	CSU	Bisi Johnson 58-yard touchdown reception from K. J. Carta-Samuels, 2-point pass failed	37	20
4	8:15	4	99	1:06	CSU	Preston Williams 26-yard touchdown reception from K. J. Carta-Samuels, Wyatt Bryan kick good	37	27
4	6:42	5	63	1:33	HAW	30-yard field goal by Ryan Meskell	40	27
4	4:42	8	75	2:00	CSU	Izzy Matthews 9-yard touchdown reception from K. J. Carta-Samuels, Wyatt Bryan kick good	40	34
4	0:44	9	58	3:58	HAW	35-yard field goal by Ryan Meskell	43	34
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							43	34

Navy

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

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	NAVY	HAW
1	9:12	12	75	5:48	HAW	Cedric Byrd 7-yard touchdown reception from Cole McDonald, Ryan Meskell kick good	0	7
1	3:13	10	71	4:00	HAW	Fred Holly III 1-yard touchdown run, Ryan Meskell kick good	0	14
2	13:18	4	40	1:37	HAW	JoJo Ward 34-yard touchdown reception from Cole McDonald, Ryan Meskell kick good	0	21
2	11:08				HAW	Maxwell Hendrie blocked punt returned 19-yard touchdown, Ryan Meskell kick good	0	28
2	6:52	8	75	4:16	NAVY	Zach Abey 3-yard touchdown run, Bennett Moehring kick good	7	28
2	4:17	6	75	2:35	HAW	John Ursua 50-yard touchdown reception from Cole McDonald, Ryan Meskell kick good	7	35
2	4:02	1	75	0:15	NAVY	Malcolm Perry 75-yard touchdown run, Bennett Moehring kick good	14	35
2	0:00	12	71	4:02	HAW	23-yard field goal by Ryan Meskell	14	38
3	8:08	12	75	6:52	NAVY	Zach Abey 1-yard touchdown run, Bennett Moehring kick good	21	38
3	6:35	3	9	0:58	NAVY	Zach Abey 7-yard touchdown run, Bennett Moehring kick good	28	38
4	14:07	7	71	2:11	HAW	Cedric Byrd 31-yard touchdown reception from Cole McDonald, Ryan Meskell kick good	28	45
4	12:06	6	75	2:01	NAVY	Tre Walker 19-yard touchdown reception from Malcolm Perry, Bennett Moehring kick good	35	45
4	14:07	2	78	0:54	HAW	JoJo Ward 75-yard touchdown reception from Cole McDonald, Ryan Meskell kick good	35	52
4	4:45	9	60	4:26	HAW	JoJo Ward 9-yard touchdown reception from Cole McDonald, John Ursua kick good	35	59
4	2:46	11	75	2:46	NAVY	Zach Abey 2-yard touchdown run, 2-point run failed	41	59
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							41	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	4	OT	2OT	3OT	4OT	5OT	Total
Rainbow Warriors	3	7	6	15	7	0	0	3	3	44
Spartans	0	17	7	7	7	0	0	3	0	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	4	OT	Total
Rainbow Warriors	3	21	0	0	7	31
Aztecs	14	0	3	7	6	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

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

[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".

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v t e Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football
Venues	Moiliili Field (1911–1926) Honolulu Stadium (1926–1974) Aloha Stadium (1975–2020) Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex (2021–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Air Force Fresno State San Jose State: Dick Tomey Legacy Game Wyoming
Culture & lore	Vili The Warrior Marching band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
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