Posted on: Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Warriors, Broncos big hit for ESPN2
| • | UH focusing on future, not Boise |
| • | Warriors still on Hawai'i Bowl wish list |
| • | Ferd Lewis: UH, foes battling for bowl berths |
Advertiser Staff
More than twice as many households watched Boise State's blowout of the University of Hawai'i football team Friday than tuned in for the Warriors' game at Southern California last year.
An ESPN spokesman said the UH-Boise State game, won by the Broncos, 69-3, received a 1.3 rating, or 1,184,000 households, the second highest of ESPN2's six Friday night games this season.
UH's 61-32 loss at USC in 2003 was a Saturday afternoon game and drew an audience of just 496,000 households on Fox Sports Net.
"We're very happy with the ratings from the (UH-Boise State) game," said Michael Humes, ESPN spokesman. "I mean, the game was not close, so having a rating that high is good for us. I think people were watching out of curiosity for Boise State, which is undefeated, and to see if (quarterback Tim) Chang could break the record. There was interest on two levels. It was a good rating."
Chang entered the game needing 241 yards to break the NCAA career record for passing yards of 15,031 set by BYU's Ty Detmer. Chang finished with 227 yards and has a career total of 15,018 with five games left on the schedule.
This season, only the Boston College-Connecticut game has drawn a higher Friday audience, ESPN said. It drew 1.35 million households. The UH-Boise State game drew more than the Wyoming-Colorado State and Brigham Young-UNLV games combined.
UH is guaranteed one more ESPN appearance this season, Nov. 12 at Fresno State.
