ON THIS DATE IN 1975: Larry Price outwits June Jones

On this date in 1975, the Hawaii football program got its first win at the expense of a former UH quarterback and future head coach.

Norris Birdsong (132 yards) and Arnold Morgado (94) controlled the ground game and Larry Price’s Rainbows turned back Portland State 24-7 before a wet Aloha Stadium crowd of 20,157.

Price worried all week how he would contain Portland quarterback June Jones, who led the team to a 5-1 record and 43 points per game. Price found his answer in his defensive line of Cliff Laboy, Pat Richardson, John Woodcock and Harris Matsushima.

That foursome limited Jones to 19 completions on 31 attempts with two interceptions.

On the back end, Price went with a dime defense with only one linebacker, an unheard of formation at the time.

Jones transferred to Portland state because Price didn’t give him any playing time behind Alex Kaloi and reportedly made him shave off his Fu-Manchu mustache.

“I told him he was too tall at 6-foot-4 to look like Fu-Manchu,” Price said. “And also that it looked like hell.”