Cal reportedly will play Hawaii in Hawaii Bowl on December 24
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and Nick Rolovich will return to the 50th state for their final football game this year.
The California Golden Bears will finish the season in Honolulu against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, reports Brett McMurphy of On3. Tony Kransinski of the Calgorithm also had the initial intel earlier in the week.
This game is a reunion of sorts, as head coach Nick Rolovich will return to the school he coached at from 2008 to 2019, first as an assistant, and then as leader of the program. Obviously, quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele will also be returning to his home islands, where he set single-season records for touchdowns as a high school senior last year, and holds the state record for most passing yards over Dillon Gabriel.
This should also continue to help Cal with local exposure in its recruiting efforts in the Aloha State, as the Bears signed four more prospects on National Signing Day, including quarterback Nainoa Lopes, offensive lineman Kamo’i Huihui-White, offensive lineman Esaiah Wong, and tight end Taimane Purcell.
The game is scheduled for December 24 at 8 PM Eastern, 3 PM Hawaii time on ESPN. Start booking your holiday flights and hotels, and get ready to wear the leis!
Really nice of ESPN to set this up. Cal was too far down the pecking list to go to any of the old Pac-12 tie-in games and with JKS and Rolo back in Hawaii against a fun Hawaii team, that small stadium should sell out and the ratings should be excellent for Christmas Eve.
Should help also with Cal recruiting in Hawaii - need to keep that pipeline flowing
I like this.. while it takes a bowl game trip off my agenda this year, it’s great for the program and JKS!