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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, February 28, 2003

Warriors scramble for new foe after Akron withdraws

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer

For the third time in four seasons, the University of Hawai'i football team will go with a "Plan B" opponent for its season opener.

The Warriors are scrambling for a replacement after their scheduled foe, Akron, yesterday officially withdrew from the Aug. 30 date. Instead, Akron will play Mid-American Conference rival Kent State Aug. 28 in a game to be regionally televised by Fox.

Previously, Texas (2000) and Iowa State (2001) pulled out of contracted UH openers.

UH athletic director Herman Frazier has pledged to find a replacement to spare the Warriors from having to open their season with back-to-back road games at Southern California (Sept. 13) and Nevada-Las Vegas (Sept. 20).

"I assure you our football team will have an opponent on Aug. 30 to open the season because I really feel opening the season on the road against a top-five program like USC is ill-advised," Frazier said in a statement.

Frazier said the vacancy will be "filled as expeditiously as possible."

UH officials said the school is still attempting to secure a Division I-A opponent. Failing that, Frazier has said he will have a I-AA opponent.

Because the Akron game was contracted before the Warriors began inserting six-figure penalty clauses in their agreements, UH is not assured a buy-out payment, an Akron spokesman said. More recent contracts carry as much as a $250,000 penalty.

Akron officials had sought to move the UH game so the Zips wouldn't play on the road at UH and Wisconsin on successive weekends.

"We had hoped to move the Hawai'i game later in the 2003 season, but it didn't work out," Akron athletic director Mike Thomas said in a release. "However, our intent is to play Hawai'i in a future season." The 2006 and '07 seasons have been mentioned as possibilities.

UH officials acknowledged the school has been approached by promoters of an Aug. 23 kickoff game but say it is unlikely anything will come of it. UH had been mentioned as a candidate to play at Texas in that game, but a Texas spokesman said the school was not pursuing the offer.

The choice of a season-opening opponent has also held up a decision on whether UH and Boise State will move their Nov. 8 game to Dec. 6 to accommodate ESPN, which wants to televise it as part of the network's "Championship Week" lineup.