Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 76. Hawaii
Rainbow Warriors from the Aloha State
Hawai’i nei. When I think of Hawaii football, I think of a rich state-wide sporting culture that manifests as 11 warriors flying around the football field. Hawaii’s had an up and down, but very proud, football history. Going 0-12 in 1998 to subsequent 9-4 and 3-9 records the following years might be a perfect microcosm of Rainbow Warrior football. For me, and I’m sure for a lot of other fans, the Colt Brennan Hawaii teams in ‘06 and ‘07 were some of the funnest teams to ever watch, and I look forward to watching games in the new Aloha Stadium once complete.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+--------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+--------+------+--------------+--------+
| 15 | Hawaii | 2007 | 25.05 | 12-1 |
| 22 | Hawaii | 2006 | 21.485 | 11-3 |
| 17 | Hawaii | 1992 | 18.606 | 11-2 |
| 24 | Hawaii | 2001 | 14.04 | 9-3 |
| 27 | Hawaii | 1988 | 11.296 | 9-3 |
| 31 | Hawaii | 2010 | 10.66 | 10-4 |
| 28 | Hawaii | 1989 | 9.147 | 9-3-1 |
| 39 | Hawaii | 2002 | 5.005 | 10-4 |
| 44 | Hawaii | 1984 | 3.359 | 7-4 |
| 37 | Hawaii | 1999 | 2.417 | 9-4 |
| 47 | Hawaii | 2019 | -0.233 | 10-5 |
| 52 | Hawaii | 2003 | -1.953 | 9-5 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 1990 | -3.354 | 7-5 |
| 50 | Hawaii | 1986 | -7.97 | 7-5 |
| 55 | Hawaii | 2004 | -8.607 | 8-5 |
| 67 | Hawaii | 2020 | -8.638 | 5-4 |
| 53 | Hawaii | 1983 | -9.57 | 5-5-1 |
| 55 | Hawaii | 1985 | -15.427 | 4-6-2 |
| 74 | Hawaii | 2008 | -16.873 | 7-7 |
| 88 | Hawaii | 2018 | -17.472 | 8-6 |
| 77 | Hawaii | 2016 | -18.955 | 7-7 |
| 86 | Hawaii | 2021 | -20.577 | 6-7 |
| 85 | Hawaii | 2011 | -22.783 | 6-7 |
| 74 | Hawaii | 1987 | -22.914 | 5-7 |
| 74 | Hawaii | 1993 | -22.975 | 6-6 |
| 84 | Hawaii | 2009 | -23.43 | 6-7 |
| 85 | Hawaii | 2005 | -23.848 | 5-7 |
| 72 | Hawaii | 1991 | -24.411 | 4-7-1 |
| 83 | Hawaii | 1994 | -29.734 | 3-8-1 |
| 93 | Hawaii | 1995 | -39.548 | 4-8 |
| 109 | Hawaii | 2014 | -40.176 | 4-9 |
| 99 | Hawaii | 1997 | -44.75 | 3-9 |
| 101 | Hawaii | 2000 | -45.638 | 3-9 |
| 119 | Hawaii | 2017 | -50.21 | 3-9 |
| 125 | Hawaii | 2022 | -51.589 | 3-10 |
| 113 | Hawaii | 2012 | -52.216 | 3-9 |
| 121 | Hawaii | 2015 | -54.033 | 3-10 |
| 112 | Hawaii | 2013 | -56.308 | 1-11 |
| 105 | Hawaii | 1996 | -59.31 | 2-10 |
| 112 | Hawaii | 1998 | -76.256 | 0-12 |
+------+--------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 12366 (76th)244-253-6 record
4 conference titles
8-6 bowl record
0 consensus All-Americans
48 NFL players drafted
Hawaii’s 0 consensus All-Americans is surprising given the talent of some players that’ve come through the Aloha state. WR Greg Salas led the nation in receiving yards in 2010, catching 119 passes for 1889 yards and 14 TD, but still couldn’t get everyone to say “this guy’s an All-American.” Neither could WR Ashley Lelie, who was 2nd in 2001 with 1713 yards, and led the nation with 19 TD. Not to mention Colt Brennan and some of the other skill position players from those 2006/07 teams. Players aside, Hawaii’s had a healthy rate of winning seasons (20 seasons of .500 win % or better), conference titles (1 every 10 years), players drafted (over 1 a year), and has a winning bowl record, including a 6-4 record in Hawaii Bowls.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 1998 (0-12 overall, 0-8 WAC)
Hawaii STUNK. Coach Fred von Appen finished his 3 year tenure as head coach with a 5-31 record, with 1998 being Hawaii’s only ever winless season. #24 Arizona, whose coaching staff featured Hawaii coaching expats Dick Tomey, Rich Ellerson, and Bob Wagner, beat the Warriors 27-6 in the opener. It set the tone for the season, as Hawaii went winless while Arizona finished 12-1. After a loss to Utah, 0-20 and 0-28 losses to Arkansas State and SMU put them at 0-4. The closest score the rest of the season season was just 10 points in a 20-30 loss to New Mexico. Worst losses included 13-30 to 3-8 UTEP, 17-45 to 4-8 San Jose State, 12-51 to 5-6 Fresno State, and 21-47 to 3-9 Northwestern. Overall, Hawaii ranked dead last in offense with 12.4 PPG while giving up 35.2 PPG against the 79th ranked Strength of Schedule. In 1999 new head coach June Jones would complete the biggest turnaround in NCAA history, winning 9 games.
This ranks as the 5th worst season ever, by any team, since 1983.
5. 1988 (9-3 overall, 5-3 WAC)
Now let’s take it back 10 years in the past, from 1998 → 1988. Hawaii was a better football team back then. 2x Super Bowl champion kicker Jason Elam, just a freshman at the time, nailed 47 and 23 yard FGs in the 4th quarter in a 27-24 upset of #9 Iowa. A week 6 matchup between 4-0 Hawaii and 4-1 UTEP would determine who’d be Wyoming’s biggest challenger for the WAC title, but UTEP won 42-25. Andy Reid was an OL coach for the Miners at the time. Hawaii did their best to keep pace in the conference, going 7-2 with close wins over San Diego State and the now defunct Long Beach State 49ers. A loss to #16 Wyoming ended any shot at a WAC title, but wins over Air Force and Oregon to end the year were sweet, with Hawaii finishing the year 2-0 against Power 5/6 teams (Iowa and Oregon). QB Warren Jones was one of the best players in the WAC, leading the conference in passer efficiency, throwing 2000+ yards with 19 TD 11 INT, and adding another 669 and 8 TD on the ground.
4. 2001 (9-3 overall, 5-3 WAC)
The 2001 senior class had had enough. From 0-12 in 1998 to 9-4 then 3-9, what the heck did 2001 have in store? Nobody knew. The season opener against FCS team Montana was anyone’s bet, as the Grizzlies were #2 in the FCS rankings. Hawaii won 30-12, but 2 straight one-possession losses had them fall to 1-2. That’s when QB Nick Rolovich and the offense took flight. 3 straight wins including a 66-7 pummeling of UTEP improved Hawaii to 4-2. Hosting David Carr and #18 Fresno State in a packed Aloha Stadium of 38,000, Rolovich threw a 20 yard TD pass with 13 seconds left to win the Golden Screwdriver 38-34. Splitting their next 2 games, Hawaii was 6-3 with 3 of their toughest games left, and Rolovich WENT NUCLEAR. He outdueled Ben Roethlisberger and 7-3 Miami (OH), throwing 7 TD passes in a 52-51 win. That was followed up by a 5 TD performance against Air Force, winning 52-30. And the best was saved for last. Hosting 12-0, #9 BYU, Rolovich had the performance of a lifetime, throwing 8(!!!) TD passes in a 72-45 shocker, blowing the doors off the Cougars in a sold out 50,000 seat Aloha Stadium. Chad Owens had a kick return TD and punt return TD, and set an NCAA record for return yards in a single game with 342. WR Ashley Lelie had a monstrous 8 catches for 262 yards and 2 TD.
But despite the 9-3 record, Hawaii wasn’t invited to a bowl game, which spawned the creation of the Hawaii Bowl in 2002. Rolovich ended the year with 3361 passing yards 34 TD 9 INT, 3rd in the nation in passing TDs.In his last 3 games, Rolovich had 20 passing TD with just 1 INT, arguably the best 3 game stretch by a player in Hawaii history. Ashley Lelie had 84 catches for 1713 yards and 19 TD, and was the 19th overall pick by the Denver Broncos in the 2002 NFL Draft. Backup QB Timmy Chang would go on to become the NCAA’s all time leading passer with 17,072 yards by 2004.
3. 1992 (11-2 overall, 6-2 WAC)
This isn’t the usual Hawaii team you’re used to. They ran the option. They were 2nd in the nation in rushing. The starting RB ran for more yards than the entire team passed for combined. It makes sense when you notice their 6th year offensive coordinator was Paul Johnson, future Navy and Georgia Tech head coach. The season opener featured a 24-21 win against Oregon in Autzen Stadium, following up with a 6-3 win over an Air Force team that finished 1991 in the top 25, and finishing the opening 3-week stretch with a 36-32 win over BYU, who was coming off 3 straight years of top 25 finishes. After a minor setback against Utah, Hawaii reeled off 4 straight wins to improve to 7-1 and be ranked #24, before losing to San Diego State and Marshall Faulk. Thanks to a 42-18 win over Wyoming, Hawaii clinched a share of the WAC title, sharing it with Fresno State and BYU, both of whom Hawaii beat. The regular season finished with a nice 36-23 win over Pitt, and then 27-17 over Illinois in the bowl. Hawaii finished with an 11-2 record, #20 ranking, and 3-0 record against Power 6 (7?) teams. RB Travis Sims set a Hawaii single season record with 1498 rushing yards, on a WAC-best 6.8 YPC.
2. 2006 (11-3 overall, 7-1 WAC)
And here we have the teams everyone knows about. The June Jones/Colt Brennan “throw it every down because you can’t stop us” offenses that turned kids like me into college football fans. A 1-2 start featured understandable losses at Alabama and at Boise State, who finished 13-0. Hawaii won 10 of their last 11, including a win over 8-5 Nevada, a 54-17 win over 9-4 San Jose State, three 50+ point wins over Idaho, Utah State, and Louisiana Tech, a 42-35 win over Purdue, and finally a 41-24 win over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl. Those wins, along with losses to Alabama away, a 10 win Oregon State, and an unbeaten Boise State, earned a #22 final ranking in my algorithm. In some ways, this team was better than their 2007 version that went 12-0.
Hawaii led the nation in scoring with 46.9 PPG, with the next closest team averaging just 39.7 (Boise State). There was a bigger difference between Hawaii and 2nd place than 2nd place and 12th place! QB Colt Brennan set an NCAA record for passing efficiency in a season and passing TDs in a season, completing 72.6% of passes for 5549 yards 58 TD and just 12 INT. Brennan finished 6th in Heisman voting and won the Sammy Baugh Trophy and WAC Offensive POTY. RB Nate Ilaoa was a 5’9 245 lb do-it-all freak of nature, rushing for 990 yards and 13 TD on 7.6(!) YPC, and caught 67 passes for 837 yards and 5 TD. For a 245 lb RB, he accumulated 1827 yards and 18 TD on 9.2 yards per touch! WR Davone Bess led with 1220 receiving yards, Jason Rivers was second with 1178, and Ryan-Grice Mullen (2nd in Hawaii career receiving TDs) added 770. All three had 10+ receiving TDs.
Hawaii had 17 punts all season, setting an FBS record for the least amount of punts per game with just 1.2. There were 5 games in which they didn’t punt a single time!
1. 2007 (12-1 overall, 8-0 WAC)
In 2007, a perfect storm of returning talent + easy schedule combined to help Hawaii complete one of the most magical regular seasons we’ve seen from a team. Hawaii went 12-0, with some games being too close for comfort (45-44 OT win over Louisiana Tech, 42-35 OT over San Jose State, 28-26 over Nevada), but ultimately ending with big wins over #17 Boise State and Washington. #14 Hawaii and #17 Boise State played late in the year for the outright WAC title, with Hawaii coming out on top 39-27, outgaining Boise by 200+ yards with 5 passing TD from Brennan. #10 Hawaii played #4 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, but the Bulldogs played like the best team in the nation that night, winning 41-10.
Brennan was invited to New York as a Heisman finalist, finishing 3rd. He completed 70.4% of passes for 4343 yards 38 TD 17 INT, and ran for 8 TD. Brennan finished his career as the NCAA’s all time leader in passing TDs with 131, doing so in just 3 years. Hawaii’s esteemed WR trio went off, with Ryan Grice-Mullen snagging 106 balls for 1372 yards and 13 TD, Davone Bess getting 108 catches for 1266 yards and 12 TD, and Jason Rivers catching 92 passes for 1174 yards and 13 TD. All 3 finished as Hawaii’s top 3 all-time leading receivers: Rivers with 3919 yards, Bess with 3610, and Grice-Mullen with 3370. June Jones was named WAC Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award.
2007 Hawaii nearly missed out on finishing as a top 50 Group of 5 team since 1983 according to my algorithm, but is an honorable mention.
5th Quarter
Will we see the Braddahood return to 06/07 levels any time soon? What do you remember about Colt Brennan and those Hawaii teams? Where do you rank that 2007 Hawaii squad against all-time Group of 5 teams? They were dominant, but against the 11th weakest schedule in football that year. Do you think the ‘06 or ‘92 team was better than the ‘07 team? Who was the best Hawaii player outside of Brennan in the last 20-30 years? And finally, do you think Hawaii’s rank on this list is fair?
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
Image is “Rainbow at Big Island Hawaii”, by dbking, licensed under CC BY 2.0
