13 sign to UH on Early Signing Day

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Early signing day continued the momentum for the Rainbow Warriors. Coming off the season ending victory against University of New Mexico then the one-year contract extension for head coach Timmy Chang the Warriors signed 13 new student athletes who are set to join the Braddahhood. Signing day usually comes with a lot of drama as young athletes tend to change their minds often but the Bows got commitments from all of the early verbal commits and added on to the class recently with a couple of JC DB targets. In this early signing period the emphasis was on keeping local talent home and replenishing the defensive backfield which saw Cam Stone, C-Bo Brown and Meki Pei graduating from the program. 

The local boys who committed to the Warriors in the summer followed through on their commitment on signing day. Public school athletes Jordan Kernaghan and Aisiah Paogofie signed on the dotted line from Campbell High School and rush end Zaiden Mariteragi from Farrington put their commitment in writing. The state offensive player of the year, Titan Lacaden from St. Louis was the gem of the local recruiting class. Local boys who played most of their high school career on the continent, Brandon Gaea and KJ Hallums also signed with the home team. Jarrett “JJ” Nielsen who hails from California is also a commit who has grown up around the program with his cousin Corey Nielsen suiting up for the Bows and his father Jon Nielsen who is connected to the UH program.

Reloading the defensive backfield was another priority and the Bows filled that need with four prospects from the JC ranks. Big hitting safety Julian “Juju” Smith from Bakersfield College, and three speedy and rangy corners, TJ Jones, Elijah Gipson and Zavier Fairley provide instant depth and competition at the corners. The opportunity to work with Coach Dennis Thurman who has developed some of the best corners in the NFL was a draw for many of the players.

The last two commits who signed do not fit into the local boy or DB category but are perhaps the players with the highest upside. Uluaki Taukiuvea was a versatile player in high school who played Tight End, Quarterback and Defensive Line but is expected to compete on the Offensive Line. Falelua Moalele keeps the American Samoa pipeline open with a big frame that allows for a lot of physical development and will join the defensive line room.

With all the turmoil in the athletic department the UH football coaches were able to sign a solid class that keeps kids home and fills areas of need. With further transfer announcements and graduation we expect that the Bows will have room to fill another 20+ scholarships before the start of the 2025 season. Go Bows.

Zavier Fairley | CB | 6-3 175lbs | Pearl River Community College

Brandon Gaea | WR | 5-11 188lbs | Mililani High School | Greyshirt

Elijah Gipson | CB | 5-10 165lbs | Glendale Community College

Kawika “KJ” Hallums | OL | 6-2 270lbs | Bishop Gorman | Greyshirt

TJ Jones | CB | 6-0 190lbs | Blinn College

Jordan Kernaghan | OL | 6-3 279lbs | Campbell HS

Titan Lacaden | WR | 5-6 173lbs | St. Louis 

Zaden Mariteragi | LB | 6-1 219lbs | Farrington HS

Falelua Moalele | DL | 6-5 220lbs | Liberty HS

Jarrett “JJ” Nielsen | QB | 5-11 210lbs | Jordan HS (Long Beach)

Aisiah Paogofie | LB | 6-1 196lbs | Campbell HS

Julian “Juju” Smith | Saf | 6-1 200lbs | Bakersfield College

Uluaki Taukiuvea | OL | 6-4 274lbs | Hunter HS

With the Rainbow Warriors sitting at 4-5 and three games remaining, each week is crucial to keeping their bowl hopes alive. After a slow start to the season with a couple of heartbreaking 4th quarter losses, the resilient Rainbow Warriors have bounced back to win two league games in a row. They look to extend that win streak to three by defeating league rival UNLV who enter the game at 6-2 overall and 2-1 in conference. This game matches up one of the top running attacks in the conference versus one of the top run defenses in the conference.

Dennis Thurman and his defensive crew are giving up just over 119 yards per game which is ranked 35th in the FBS and 3rd in the Mountain West Conference. However, they are coming off a signature win on the road at Fresno State where the defense gave up a total of 176 yards for the game which was their best outing this year. They will have their hands full with the Rebels’ rushing attack orchestrated by former UH coach Brennan Marion that ranks 6th in the nation in average rushing yards per game and 2nd in the Mountain West behind Boise State and Heisman hopeful Ashton Jeanty. Making the matchup a bit tougher for the Warriors is the loss of two regulars on the defensive line in Jamar Sekona and Ezra Evaimalo. Malachi Finau and Daniel “Sauce” Williams have taken on expanded roles and came up big in Fresno accounting for five tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack. Although UNLV features the run game early and often they also have one of the more dynamic receivers in the conference in Ricky White III who has 51 catches for 671 yards and nine touchdowns this year. Cam Stone, the top rated CB in the FBS according to PFF.com will undoubtedly get the assignment to contain White on the perimeter which makes for another intriguing matchup to watch.

On offense the Warriors have started to find their groove in the last two games with a balanced attack that has utilized Senior QB Brayden Schager in more RPO play calls which has kept the defense on its toes. Tylan Hines has also taken on a more expanded role, totaling 15 touches in Fresno splitting time in the backfield and split out as a receiver. The run game has also been bolstered by using tight ends Oakie Salave’a and Devon Tauaefa as blockers to seal edge rushers. A key for Saturday will be the health of top receiver Pofele Ashlock who left the game at Fresno after taking a shot to the head that was ruled as targeting. Starting lineman Zhen Sotelo and Mike Milovale also left the game in Fresno due to injuries and did not return. Luke Felix-Fualalo and backup Judah Kaio came in and the line didn’t seem to miss a beat especially with the two fourth quarter scoring drives to cap off the dramatic win with 15 seconds left.

If the ‘Bows can rekindle some Manoa Magic on Saturday it will pull the team back to .500 at 5-5 and give the team a shot at qualifying for the Hawaii Bowl for the first time since 2019. The game will be televised nationally on CBSSN with the kickoff starting earlier at 4pm Hawaii Time. It will also be Military Night where all active, DOD civilians, reservists and retired members of the military will receive 30%-50% off tickets. Pack the Ching Warrior fans and let’s take back the Golden Pineapple! 

As it gets harder each year to secure non conference opponents in the future due to conference realignment, the University of Hawai’i football team has yet to find a 13th game for 2025.

As it stands right now the Rainbow Warriors open the season Week Zero at home against ACC opponent Stanford on August 23rd. Then there are three more non conference games(8/30 at Arizona, 9/6 Sam Houston, 9/13 Portland State). Since Portland State is an FCS opponent it would be almost certain that UH will not add a second FCS team on their 2025 schedule as a second FCS win will not count towards bowl eligibility. 

Thanks to the help of FBSchedules.com, here is a list of FBS teams that need to fill one or more games on their 2025 schedule to make it to the minimum 12 games.  Also note all these teams listed except for Ole Miss, Wake Forest, Washington State and WKU have not scheduled an FCS opponent yet.

Hawai’i open dates 9/20,9/27

(11/29 could be an option but unlikely due to conference scheduling and championship games the next week)

As of 9/15/24

App State 9/20

Baylor 9/20,9/27

Cal 9/27

Duke 9/20,9/27

FIU 9/20,9/27

Kennesaw State 9/27

Kent State 9/27

LSU 9/20,9/27

Miami (FL) 9/27

New Mexico State 9/20

Northwestern 9/20,9/27

Ole Miss 9/27

Pitt 9/20,9/27

Rutgers 9/20,9/27

Temple 9/27

ULM 9/27

USC 9/20,9/27

Wake Forest 9/20, 9/27

Washington State 9/20

WKU 9/20,9/27