HONOLULU — The University of Hawai'i and Southern California have agreed to a two-game home-and-home football series in 2012 and 2013, UH Athletics Director Jim Donovan and USC Athletics Director Mike Garrett announced on Wednesday.

 

In addition, the 2010 contest at Aloha Stadium originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 4, will be moved to Thursday, Sept. 2 at 5:30 p.m. HT to accommodate ESPN, which will pick up the game on one of its stations.

 

The teams will meet again Sept. 1, 2012 in Los Angeles and Aug. 31, 2013 in Honolulu.

 

“I'm very pleased that we're able to extend this series with the University of Southern California,” Donovan said. “As associate A.D., I worked with (USC senior associate A.D.) Steve Lopes on the current three-game series which ends in 2010 and we were able to agree to a home-and-home extension. This series is positive for us because USC has always been a perennial Top 10 team and the fact that playing in Southern California appeals to our West Coast fans and alumni and is an area we heavily recruit.”

 

“We're really excited about this series and for the opportunity to play a perennial national championship contender,” UH head coach Greg McMackin said. “It'll be good for our fans to be able to see us play one of the top teams in the country which will be an indication of where our program is at. Also it's an opportunity to play a West Coast team, where the travel won't be too hard. Our fans on the mainland will get a chance to see us play in person and it'll really help us recruiting-wise.”

 

“We're excited to be able to add some more games against Hawai'i to our schedule,” USC head coach Pete Carroll said. “It's a great way for us to open our seasons in 2012 and 2013. This is a match up of two fine programs that have a history dating back nearly 80 years.

 

“I know our players and fans enjoy traveling to Honolulu for the game, and we get good crowd support from the many Trojan fans living in Hawai'i who get to see us play. And it works out well for Hawai'i coming to the Coliseum, because they have such a strong fan base in Southern California.”

 

By moving the 2010 game to Thursday, Donovan says it allows UH extra travel days before leaving for a long two-game road trip to Army and Colorado.

 

“In addition to being able to play on national television, which is important for our program, we'll have extra days to prepare for the Army/Colorado road trip,” Donovan said. “We won't run into problems about not having enough practice days due to the long flight to New York.”

     

The Warriors and Trojans have met a total of six times, including three in the last 10 years – 1999, 2003, and 2005. USC has won all six meetings in the series which began in 1930.