Riding a three-game win streak and newly bowl-eligible, the University of Hawai‘i football team will head to the Bay Area this weekend to face San José State in a Mountain West matchup with the Dick Tomey Legacy Trophy at stake.
Kickoff is set for Saturday, Nov. 1 at 4:30 p.m. HST at CEFCU Stadium. The game will be carried nationally on CBS Sports Network.
The Rainbow Warriors (6–2, 3–1 MW) are looking to reclaim the trophy and snap a four-game skid in the series. The Spartans (2–5, 1–2) have held the trophy since 2020 and lead the all-time series 23-22-1. San José State won last season’s meeting 35–0 in Honolulu.
The trophy honors Dick Tomey, the late head coach who led both programs and died in 2019. Tomey went 63-46-3 in 10 seasons at Hawai‘i (1977–86) before later taking over at SJSU, where he authored a nine-win campaign in 2006.
Saturday’s meeting also highlights two Polynesian head coaches, Hawai‘i’s Timmy Chang and San José State’s Ken Niumatalolo, a former UH quarterback and assistant. Niumatalolo was the second Polynesian to helm a major college program; Chang became the fourth when he took over at UH in 2022.
SJSU’s staff features multiple Hawai‘i ties, including former UH assistants Craig Stutzmann (OC/QBs), Billy Ray Stutzmann (WRs), John Estes (OL) and offensive analyst Kolney Cassel.
During game week media availabilities, aforementioned coaches Chang, Niumatalolo, and Stutzmann all spoke on the significance of the matchup and what it represents.
“We’re battling for a trophy this weekend,” Chang said. “I got to talk to Nancy Kincaid, (the wife of the late Tomey) just to ask about Coach Dick, what he valued. It’s a unique game that we get to share the space with a great program like San Jose State.”
“Coach Tomey catapulted Hawai‘i football into the national limelight,” Niumatalolo said. “I was recruited by him, played for him, a lot of what I do is because of Coach Tomey. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here.”
“You like to say every game’s the same, but there’s a little extra with this one,” said SJSU assistant Craig Stutzmann, a Hawai‘i alumnus. “Born and raised there, played there, coached there, it’s a big Tomey legacy game with a lot of tie-ins. But we still have to treat it like just another game.”
Hawai‘i is off to its best eight-game start since 2018 after a 31–19 win at Colorado State. Quarterback Micah Alejado has thrown for 300 or more yards and three-plus touchdowns in each of the last three games, powering an offense averaging 39.7 points and 505.3 yards per game during that span.
‘Bows Place-kicker Kansei Matsuzawa is one field goal shy of tying the program’s single-season record of 21 (Richard Spelman, 1984).
San José State has dropped two straight games, including a 30–25 loss at Utah State. Four of SJSU’s five losses have been decided by one score.