UH to play Hawaii filled an immediate need and another for the future in its football scheduling with the additions of home games against Appalachian State this Aug. 30 and Purdue on Nov. 23, 2006.
Appalachian State,
Purdue
The Division I-AA Mountaineers
replace Akron; Boilermakers set to
come to Hawaii in 2006By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comAppalachian State replaces Akron, which pulled out last week of a game here set for that date.
"We're excited to have a successful program like Appalachian State come to Honolulu," Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier said today. "They are among the top programs in Division I-AA football and have a great (overall) athletic program as well."
The addition of Purdue is in line with the philosophy of Frazier and football coach June Jones to book big-name opponents whenever possible.
"Purdue is a quality program and we were fortunate to reach an agreement with them for 2006," Frazier said. "We hope to fill our football schedules with more top-notch programs like Purdue in the future."
Appalachian State associate athletic director Mark Dreibelbis said ASU athletic director Roachel Laney contacted Frazier when he found out the Warriors might have an opening the Mountaineers could fill.
"We just finalized it yesterday," Dreibelbis said. "We had some other opportunities, but when the Hawaii opportunity came about we thought it would be great for our players and our entire program."
Appalachian State is in Boone, N.C., the Mountaineers are a Division I-AA that went 8-4 overall last year. ASU went 6-2 in the Southern Conference to finish second to Georgia Southern.
"I don't know much about them yet. I knew they were one of the teams we were trying to get," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "But whoever shows up, we'll play."
At this point, the Appalachian State game is the season-opener for both teams. But Jones said he still wants to pursue the possibility of playing in a game Aug. 23, probably the BCA Classic.
Hawaii has never played Appalachian State or Purdue in football before.
UH Athletics
