UH adds Huskies to 2007 schedule

The Warriors will close their regular season with Washington

Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan grew up in California dreaming of playing Pac-10 football. The Heisman Trophy candidate learned yesterday he gets at least one more chance to play against a team from that conference in his senior season this fall.

Nonconference games A look at what Hawaii football has scheduled beyond WAC play in the next five years. 2007 Sept. 8: Eastern Washington* Sept. 15: at UNLV Dec. 1: Washington 2008 Aug. 30: at Florida Nov. 29: Washington State 2009 Sept. 5: Navy Sept. 12: at Washington State Sept. 19: at UNLV Nov. 28: Wisconsin 2010 Sept. 4: USC Sept. 25: UNLV 2011 Sept. 24: at UNLV Nov. 26: Washington State * -- Not confirmed by UH Note: Under current NCAA rules and WAC structure, UH may schedule up to five nonconference games per season

The Warriors will play Washington on Dec. 1 at Aloha Stadium, the schools announced yesterday. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m. unless TV dictates otherwise.

"I'm definitely excited about that. Washington's a highly respected program and I know how excited the islands get when a Pac-10 team comes to town," Brennan said.

UH has lost to USC and Oregon State since 2005, but also beat Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl last month as Brennan passed for a school-record 559 yards and five touchdowns, breaking the NCAA record for scoring passes in a season in the process.

Washington went 5-7 last year, including 3-6 in the Pac-10. Hawaii and Washington tried to schedule a game in Hawaii to conclude the 2006 season, but UW opted out and was eventually replaced by Oregon State.

The Warriors will also play a game at Washington on an unannounced date in a future season.

UH has a nonconference game scheduled at UNLV this Sept. 15, and I-AA Eastern Washington officials said they have agreed to play at Hawaii on Sept. 8. That leaves two more openings on the Warriors' nonconference schedule. Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier said they will be Division I, and is leaning toward home games after Brennan announced Wednesday he will return for his senior season rather than go pro.

"Anytime we can be home it's a big advantage. It helps us a lot," Brennan said. "I prefer to be home, but I also don't mind playing at great venues like we have at Michigan State and Alabama."

A big road victory could move the Warriors up in the rankings. There also has been some informal talk about a game at Louisville that would match Brennan against Cardinals quarterback Brian Brohm, also a Heisman candidate.

Washington and Hawaii have split their two meetings, and haven't played since 1973, when UH got one of its program's biggest road wins with a 10-7 victory in Seattle. In 1938, Washington beat Hawaii 53-13 in the Pineapple Bowl.

The Huskies also played in the first two Aloha Bowls, beating Maryland 21-20 in 1982 and losing to Penn State 13-10 in 1983.

"Hawaii has a much-respected program under the direction of June Jones and returns an outstanding quarterback in Colt Brennan," Washington coach Tyrone Willingham said. "Hawaii will present a great challenge for us and I think, as our program continues to develop, we should be well prepared for the opportunity to play them."

Washington has often recruited successfully in Hawaii, including centers Bern Brostek and Olin Kreutz. Brostek went on to a solid NFL career, and Kreutz is a perennial Pro Bowl player with the Chicago Bears. The Huskies currently have former Hawaii high school standout linemen Daniel Teo-Nesheim and Wilson Afoa on the roster, and received an oral commitment recently from Kamehameha-Hawaii defensive end Kalani Aldrich.

"We're very excited about playing a quality Pac-10 team like Washington at home this season," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "Tyrone Willingham is a first-class coach and person and he'll have a very competitive team next season, so we'll need to be ready. In regards to the rest of the schedule, I know Herman has some exciting things in the works, so it will be great to see it all come together."

Frazier expects to announce the rest of the schedule early next month.

Esera plays today: Former UH offensive lineman Tala Esera is playing for the West team in today's Dell East-West Shrine Game at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The game is on ESPN2 at 2 p.m.

Esera, who was a 6-foot-4, 308-pound All-WAC left tackle, is being projected as an NFL guard and has worked out at that position this week.

Warriors defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis was to play in today's game, but will not because of a pectoral injury suffered in Sunday's Hula Bowl.

Former UH center Samson Satele is in next week's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.