The University of Hawai'i football team opened as a 10-point favorite over Washington for Saturday's season finale, which is a far cry from the last time the two teams met.

"Back then (in Seattle in 1973)," recalls Rick Blangiardi, "we turned on the TV and Jimmy the Greek, who was doing telecasts, said we were 50-point underdogs. That was the way people viewed it."

A prized game ball — with the score, Hawai'i 10, Washington 7, emblazoned in white — sits in a prominent place in Blangiardi's office of president and general manager at KGMB-TV, enduring testimony to one of the biggest victories in UH history. It's a reminder for the former UH assistant coach and all who come across it of what a relentless, motivated underdog can accomplish.

That should be a pointed lesson for the current Warriors, too, as they prepare to take the final step to an unbeaten regular season and the likely Bowl Championship Berth in the Sugar or Fiesta bowls that would await.

But, then, the Huskies thought they were going places, too, in 1973. Coming off an 8-3 finish of a year before, the Huskies envisioned UH as a season-opening warmup, a shakedown cruise for the retooling that had taken place after the departure of Sonny Sixkiller.

Instead, the UH defense knocked Sixkiller's heir apparent, James Anderson, out of the game, overcame six Hawai'i turnovers and blunted UW on five fourth-down situations, including three inside the 10-yard line as a backup quarterback named June Jones and 52,500 fans watched.

A defense that ranked as one of the best in UH history, featuring, among others, Levi Stanley, Cliff Laboy, Manny DeSoto, Jeris White and Hal Stringert, carried the day and was awarded two game balls for the effort.

One ball Blangiardi spent the night cutting up in small squares just big enough to write the score and date on in ballpoint pen, distributing a piece to each of the coaches and defensive players. He carried one in a wallet for 30 years until it was stolen. The remaining game ball is a cherished retirement gift from the defensive coordinator, Larry Price.

UH went on to win its first eight games, was nationally ranked among college division teams (forerunner of Division I-AA) for a time and finished 9-2. The Huskies never recovered, thudding to a 2-9 finish that marked the beginning of the end for coach Jim Owens, a UW icon.

Even as UH chases a milestone victory Saturday, history offers a cautionary tale from the past.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.