UH plans Michigan Hawaii will announce a three-game football series with Michigan State as soon as exact dates are set. That could be by the end of the week, UH athletic director Herman Frazier said today.
State series
The MSU football team will open
Owls know how to ruffle Chang
the 3-game set here in 2004
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comThe Spartans will play here in 2004 and 2007 and the Warriors will play at Michigan State in 2005.
"This takes us through 2005," Frazier said. "We'd like to eventually have our schedule set for the next five to six years."
MSU replaces Brigham Young, which was tentatively on the 2004 schedule. "BYU is no longer on our contracts, but we will work on playing them in the future," Frazier said.
Hawaii's nonconference opponents for the next three seasons are: 2003 -- Akron (Aug. 30), at USC (Sept. 13), at UNLV (Sept. 20), Army (Nov. 22) and Alabama (Nov. 29); 2004 -- Sacramento State (Sept. 11), Idaho (Nov. 20), Northwestern (Nov. 27), Michigan State (TBA); 2005 -- USC (Sept. 3), Wisconsin (Nov. 26), San Diego State (Dec. 3), at Michigan State (TBA).
The Spartans have won all three previous games against Hawaii. In their last meeting, MSU beat UH 33-13 in the 1989 Aloha Bowl.
In their first game in 1947, Michigan State beat Hawaii 58-19 at Honolulu Stadium. UH traveled to East Lansing, Mich., in 1948 and lost 68-21.
This season, Michigan State is 4-6 and 2-4 in the Big-10 after beating Indiana 56-21 on Saturday in interim head coach Morris Watts' first game.
Watts replaced Bobby Williams. Williams was fired two weeks ago, days after starting tailback Dawan Moss was dismissed from the team after a drunk-driving arrest and starting quarterback Jeff Smoker admitted a substance abuse problem after being suspended Oct. 24.
Hawaii is 7-2 and 6-1 in the Western Athletic Conference as it prepares to conclude its league and road schedule at Rice (4-6, 3-4) on Saturday.
UH has already accepted an invitation to play in the ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl on Christmas. But quarterback Tim Chang said that won't dull the motivation of the Warriors, who have won four games in a row. If Hawaii beats Rice, UH will have back-to-back winning seasons on the road for the first time since 1980 and 1981.
"It would mean a lot for us to come back 8-2," Chang said. "This Rice game is important. It ends our road games and our conference games. That's a big chapter in our season."
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