Rainbows athletic director Hugh Yoshida confirmed yesterday that the season opener with Boston College on Aug. 31 will be shown nationally on ESPN-TV.
Rainbows athletic director Hugh Yoshida confirmed yesterday that the season opener with Boston College on Aug. 31 will be shown nationally on ESPN-TV.
The kickoff will be moved from 7 p.m. to some time in the early afternoon. Yoshida said the details hadn't been finalized, but he expected it would be between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.
"We're very excited about the opportunity to be on national television, and to be on prime time on the East Coast," Yoshida said.
"We need something like this to help generate interest in our team. It's a great way to start a new era in our football program."
Boston College is coming off a rough 4-8 season, but did play five teams that qualified for postseason action. This year, the Eagles play Virginia Tech and Miami of Florida of the Big East, as well as Notre Dame and Michigan in nonconference action.
"We will not know much about the University of Hawaii," third-year head coach Dan Henning said in the Boston College spring football media guide.
"But I have been associated with (new UH head coach) Fred vonAppen in the past, and I know that
their program is being run by outstanding football people."
This is just one of several national television appearances for the Big East school that beat Kansas State in the 1994 Aloha Bowl.
The Eagles also will have their games with Notre Dame, Michigan, Pittsburgh and Miami of Florida shown nationally.
"It's a good opportunity for our program," vonAppen said last night. "It's fine being on national television. I'm not worried about that.
"Moving the kickoff time back is good because it will be a lot hotter out there, and it also gives us a chance to be in the newspapers on Sunday morning across the country."
Yoshida also said that he has filled the hole in the 1997 schedule with North Texas State. The other three nonconference games that season are Minnesota, Northeast Louisiana and Notre Dame.
"We also have Arizona lined up for 1998," Yoshida said. "The home-and-home deal with USC fell through. We just couldn't make the numbers work."