Mountain West schedule gives University of Hawaii Warriors a decent season opener at Fresno State

COURTESY UH ATHLETICS

Hawaii isn’t practicing at the moment, but it knows that its first opponent will be at Fresno State on Oct. 24.

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Putting faces to places, the Mountain West Conference announced the football matchups for the coming eight-game regular season.

The University of Hawaii football team’s ninth Mountain West season will open with consecutive road games against Fresno State on Oct. 24 and Wyoming on Halloween.

The Rainbow Warriors’ home opener is against New Mexico on Nov. 7.

The even schedule calls for the Warriors to play four home games and four road games.

“We are excited about the opportunity to play the great game of football and compete for the Mountain West championship,” UH head coach Todd Graham said, adding, “Go ’Bows.”

Because not all the 12 Mountain West teams are playing eight league opponents, the Dec. 19 title game will pair the two teams with the best winning percentages against conference foes. Air Force is playing against six MW opponents because of previous commitments to play against Navy and Army. Boise State is playing seven league games to honor its game against independent Brigham Young. Because Air Force is at its eight-game limit, San Diego State, which was to play the Falcons, is seeking to fill a vacated slot on Dec. 12.

Air Force also opted out of its game against UH. Wyoming, which competes in the Mountain Division, is replacing Air Force as the Warriors’ cross-over opponent on Oct. 31.

The Warriors plan to remain on the mainland between the Fresno State and Wyoming games.

The wish is that all the games could be played. Because of the tight window — eight regular-season games in eight weeks — any game that cannot be played because of a coronavirus-related incident will be canceled and not postponed. All games must meet state and local guidelines on health and safety.

The Warriors did not practice on Thursday in the aftermath of Wednesday’s announcement that four football players tested positive for COVID-19. The four are asymptomatic and in isolation. About 140 players, coaches and staff were tested on Tuesday. The team was notified of the positive results during the early phase of Wednesday’s practice. The Warriors ended practice at that point. UH officials said further evaluations showed there were no other positive results beyond those four.