Posted on: Friday, June 24, 2005

UH's 2008 football opener is at Florida

Advertiser Staff

The University of Hawai'i football team will open its 2008 season at the University of Florida, the first matchup between the schools on the football field.

Athletic director Herman Frazier yesterday announced that UH has signed a contract to play the Gators on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, also known as The Swamp, in Gainesville, Fla.

Florida is one of several marquee non-conference opponents scheduled for upcoming seasons. This season, Hawai'i will host Southern California and Wisconsin, and play at Michigan State. In 2006, the Warriors will play at Alabama and host Purdue. Hawai'i will host Michigan State in 2007, Wisconsin in 2009 and USC in 2010.

"We are constantly striving to diversify our non-conference schedule," Frazier said. "We are excited about the opportunity to open our 2008 season in Gainesville. Florida has a great football program and we are looking forward to providing our student-athletes a quality experience."

The contract includes a $600,000 guarantee, Frazier said.

"We have been working on getting this game on our schedule for quite some time," said UH coach June Jones. "I think it will be a highly rated game as both offenses are exciting to watch. It will also be exciting for our kids to play in that type of atmosphere."