WARRIOR FOOTBALL
UH to play Oregon State this fall
Jones is elated about the agreement for two games against the Beavers, who recruit here
Hawaii and Oregon State, competitors in recruiting, will settle it on the football field this year and at least once more after that.
The Warriors and Beavers will play Dec. 2 at Aloha Stadium, and in 2007 or 2008 at Corvallis, UH announced yesterday.
UH can schedule another nonconference opponent for 2006 to bring the total games to 13. That may or may not happen.
"We have the option to play a 13th game, but that has not yet been determined," athletic department spokeswoman Lois Manin said yesterday.
UH's other nonconference games are at Alabama (Sept. 2) and at home against Purdue (Sept. 16) and UNLV (Nov. 25).
The Beavers were 5-6 last year. The Warriors were 5-7.
Hawaii and Oregon State have played each other six times, with both teams winning three games. UH beat OSU in the most recent meeting, 23-17 in the 1999 Oahu Bowl.
Resumption of the series could be the beginning of a rivalry for several reasons.
Warriors assistant Mike Cavanaugh -- a highly-regarded offensive line coach -- left Manoa after six seasons last year to join the Beavers staff. Cavanaugh and two other former UH coaches, Mark Banker and Greg Newhouse, helped a recruiting effort that netted six signed letters-of-intent from the islands two weeks ago.
The prospects join four others from Hawaii on the veteran roster, including sophomore center Jeremy Perry from Kahuku. UH and Oregon State were engaged in an intense competition to land Perry.
Also, when June Jones left the San Diego Chargers (where he was interim head coach) to take over at UH after the 1998 season, Riley replaced him at the helm of the NFL team.
"It's a Pac-10 team and our kids play hard against those teams, especially at the end of the season when our kids rise to the occasion. It'll be a game the fans will like to see," Jones said of playing Oregon State.
Jones is from Portland, Ore., about an hour's drive from Corvallis. The game at Oregon State will be the first time he coaches a college game in his home state.
"Jerry (Glanville) and I took the Houston Oilers to Portland for a preseason game against the Seahawks once," he said.
Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier had tried to schedule Washington for the end of the upcoming season, but the Huskies' administration decided against a game at Hawaii that could hurt their bowl chances.
"We are very pleased to come to closure with Oregon State on a game in Honolulu," Frazier said in a news release yesterday. "We have a wonderful relationship with the Pac-10 Conference and its member institutions and we hope this leads to additional scheduling opportunities in the future."
Oregon State was able to add Hawaii late because of the rule that allows teams playing here to schedule one more game than the regular NCAA-mandated limit (which was changed from 11 to 12 going into 2006).
"We think it's great that we're adding this game against Hawaii," Riley said. "It'll be a real treat to bring all of our Hawaiian players home for a game. It's an important recruiting area for us, so it's great to go and play a game there and let everyone see our football team in person."