Akron’s pullout leaves Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier is working the phones with even more fervor now that Akron is officially off the Warriors' football schedule this fall.
UH scrambling
The Warriors are searching
for another team, possibly Texas,
to play in the season openerBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comFrazier is looking for a replacement for the Zips, who were scheduled to open against UH at Aloha Stadium on Aug. 30.
Yesterday Akron released its 2003 schedule, and the Warriors were not on it. The Zips open with a regionally televised game against rival Kent State on Aug. 28.
It wasn't a surprise to Frazier or anyone else at Manoa's lower-campus offices.
"We knew early on that Akron had a potential problem with their conference scheduling," Frazier said via a news release yesterday. "However, there is a contractual obligation and we have been trying, in good faith, to find a replacement. Now that Akron is completely out of the picture, we will continue to try to find a team to fill the vacant date as expeditiously as possible."
If Hawaii finds a replacement for Akron, the Zips won't have to worry about paying a $250,000 fee for opting out of the Hawaii game.
"I have had discussions with school officials of several possible replacements and there are different scenarios, but I want to hold off on commenting because it could affect negotiations," Frazier said.
Akron also wanted to reschedule its game at UH because it plays at Wisconsin the following week.
"Unfortunately, we were unable to play the Hawaii game in the season opener in order to move the Kent State game to an earlier date," Akron athletic director Mike Thomas said. "We had hoped to move the Hawaii game later in the 2003 season, but that didn't work out. However, our intent is to play Hawaii in a future season."
Akron joins Iowa State, Notre Dame, Virginia, Texas, Purdue and Washington State as teams that have pulled out of scheduled games against Hawaii in the four years since June Jones became UH coach.
Texas -- which pulled out of its 2000 season opener at Hawaii -- has arisen in speculation as a possible replacement for Akron.
"That's out on the table. Whether it comes to be true or not is another matter," a source close to the Hawaii program said last night.
But a reporter who works in Austin covering Texas football for the San Antonio Express-News said there have been no indications that Texas wants to change its schedule.
"It would surprise me," Mark Wangrin said. "If anything, I think (UT coach) Mack (Brown) would want to play fewer games."
The Longhorns have a 12-game schedule, plus potential 13th and 14th games if they make the Big 12 championship game and qualify for a bowl.
Texas is booked for Aug. 30, as it opens against New Mexico State. But the Longhorns and Warriors could conceivably meet on Aug. 23 in the Kickoff Classic in Rutherford, N.J. Since the game does not count against schedule limits, Texas would not have to change its schedule and Hawaii could still try to schedule another home game for Aug. 30.
With all that said, Frazier's comments yesterday seemed to preclude playing an elite team on the road to open the season.
"I assure you our football team will have an opponent on Aug. 30 to open the season because I really feel opening the season on the road against a top five program like USC is ill-advised," Frazier said in his statement.
If Akron is not replaced, Hawaii opens at USC on Sept. 13 and goes to UNLV on Sept. 20 before it opens at home against Rice on Sept. 27.
In another scheduling matter, UH sports information director Lois Manin said Frazier doesn't plan to address ESPN's proposal to move the Nov. 8 home game against Boise State to Dec. 6 until the issue of replacing Akron is resolved.
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