The Arizona Wildcats (1-1) will host University of Hawaii (1-0) on Saturday night at 7:45 p.m. in a non-conference game. The two teams meet for the first time since 1998, when Arizona defeated Hawaii 27 to 6 in Honolulu. Arizona leads the all-time series 4-0 against Hawaii.
Arizona will wear special uniforms on Saturday to honor the sunken battleship USS Arizona to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Peal Harbor. Different facets of the ship will be shown on the uniform, including the ship's hull number and date of the attack. A shoulder patch will honor the 47th Pursuit Squadron, which shot down eight Japanese planes on the day of the attack.
Lauren Bruner, a survivor of the U.S.S. Arizona attack, will be recognized during halftime.
Thursday's injury report listed quarterback Anu Solomon as "questionable" with a knee injury, indicating that sophomore Brandon Dawkins may start for the second straight week.
Dawkins made his first career start against Grambling State, when he rushed for 97 yards and recorded one touchdown. Arizona trailed Grambling State 21-3 at halftime, but scored four second-half touchdowns to win the first game of the season with a score of 31-21.
"We've got to do something to get into a rhythm offensively. When we get some first downs and getting some confidence. Like any team, once you get in a rhythm offensively and get some first downs and get some momentum, it's easy to take off from there. We haven't done that in two halves in a row," Rodriguez said in a press conference on Monday.
The Wildcats, who are just one win shy of 600 in the history of the program, have experienced yet another tumultuous week.
Sophomore Orlando Bradford was dismissed from the football team after the running back was arrested on domestic violence charges.
The events allegedly occurred with a female who Bradford was in a relationship with on September 12th and 13th, and were reported to the Tucson Police Department by the accuser on the morning of September 14th.
Bradford was charged with four counts of aggravated assault and three counts of kidnapping Wednesday.
A second accuser came forward to TPD on Friday. Four new domestic violence aggravated assault charges were added to Bradford's case. Bradford is currently being held at the Pima County Jail on $20,000 bond.
Legendary college football coach Dick Tomey will enjoy the meeting between Arizona and Hawaii. Tomey is the winningest coach in Arizona and Hawaii history. Tomey was the head coach of the Warriors from 1977 to 1986, and left Hawaii to coach the Wildcats.
Tomey coached at the U of A from 1987 until 2000. The 1992 Pac-10 Coach of the Year lead Arizona to 95 wins over his tenure. Tomey returned to Hawaii to be the special teams coach under Greg McMackin for the 2011 season.
When asked if Rich Rodriguez keeps in contact with Tomey, he responded, "I do... he was just at practice the other day and we talk about every week. Great coach, even better person and I'm happy to have him back in town."
Arizona and Hawaii kick off at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday night. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
