Cal’s Christmas Eve Hawaii Bowl appearance has similarities to first meeting 91 years ago
Cal’s football connection to Hawaii goes deeper than the islands being the home of freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and the college alma mater of Bears interim head coach Nick Rolovich.
The Bears (7-5) and Rainbow Warriors (8-4) will square off in the Hawaii Bowl on Wednesday at 5 p.m., nearly 91 years after the two programs first met under oddly similar circumstances.
This game serves as a transition following nine seasons under former coach Justin Wilcox to the 2026 campaign, when Tosh Lupoi takes the helm. Lupoi, who signed a five-year contract with Cal, will remain defensive coordinator for Oregon as long as the Ducks are active in the College Football Playoff. The fifth-seeded Ducks play No. 4 Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day in a quarterfinal game.
In the meantime, the Bears will play their second game under the guidance of Rolovich, who led them to a 38-35 upset victory over No. 21 Louisville in their regular-season finale on Nov. 29. Rolovich will reportedly stay on as quarterbacks coach to Sagapolutele, although the school has made no official announcement.
Back in 1934 — 25 years before Hawaii became the 50th state and four months before the first commercial flights from the Bay Area to Honolulu — Cal traveled to Hawaii for two games to end its season.
The Bears had lost 9-7 to Stanford — their seventh game scoring no more than seven points — prompting head coach Bill Ingram to resign with the two Hawaii games still to play. Similarly, Cal was defeated 31-10 in the Big Game this season, and Wilcox was fired the next day.
Just as Rolovich is in charge for Cal’s final two games this season, Leonard “Stub” Allison coached the last two games in 1934 when he named permanent coach after Ingram’s exit.
But while Rolovich projected a confident air heading into the regular-season finale vs. SMU game, Allison was far less upbeat in his messaging in the days before Cal faced a Honolulu “town team” on Christmas Day.
“If we lose, I guess we can take it,” Allison told the Associated Press. “At any rate, there won’t be any squawks.”
The Bears lost 26-3 in the Christmas game, then dropped a 14-0 decision to the University of Hawaii on New Year’s Day.
Not exactly a glorious start for the Bears’ new coach. But Cal began the 1935 season with nine straight victories before losing 13-0 to Stanford. Two years later, Allison directed the team to a 10-0-1 record and a 13-0 triumph over Alabama in the Rose Bowl, the program’s most recent New Year’s Day win at Pasadena.
The 1937 “Thunder Team” was powered by the running back tandem of Vic Bottari and Sam Chapman and a defense that posted seven shutouts, earning the Bears a share of their most recent national championship with Pittsburgh. Cal fans can only dream Lupoi’s return to his alma mater triggers success approaching that level.
The Bears are taking this trip to Hawaii much more seriously. For Sagapolutele, who grew up near Ewa Beach, about 25 minutes from the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, where Wednesday’s game will played, this is his first game in his home state since committing to remain at Cal next season.
He was eager to share the culture of his home state with teammates.
“Hawaii’s a great place and they’ll enjoy it,” he said. “I’m just going to let them take it in and just enjoy it as much as they can. Just make it the best experience for them.”
Making it the best experience, Rolovich said, requires winning the game. He played quarterback for the Rainbow Warriors, initially as a backup to Timmy Chang, now Hawaii’s head coach.
When Chang was injured three weeks into the 2001 campaign, Rolovich became the starter and over the final three games of the season passed for 1,548 yards and 20 touchdowns.
“Timmy has done a great job. They’ve got a confidence, they’ve got a toughness, a real obvious element of being together,” Rolovich said. “Hawaii’s a scary team on the island when they’re playing well. That will be conveyed to our guys.”