ON THIS DATE IN 1988: Hawaii beats Oregon in ‘humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa Bowl’

On this date in 1988, Hawaii wasn’t involved in a bowl so fans made their own.

Warren Jones passed for a school record-tying four touchdowns and ran for another as Hawaii blitzed Oregon 41-17 in front of a senior-night crowd of 39,301 at Aloha Stadium. Fans wore shirts proclaiming it the Humuhumunukunukuapuaa Bowl.

The Rainbows were 5-7 the year before. It was the biggest single-season turnaround in program history. Oregon committed five turnovers and finished 6-6.

Heikoti Fakava ran for his school record 34th touchdown of the season but didn’t get a chance to add to it. Despite all of their losses to Bowl teams, UH didn’t get invited to one.

The Aloha Bowl instead featured Washington State (8-3) and Houston (9-2).

“We knew back then (at 7-2) and we know now that we belong in a bowl,” UH coach Bob Wagner said.