HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i and University of Massachusetts football game has been moved to August 26, 2017 in Amherst, Mass. The game was originally scheduled for October 7.
 
With the switch in dates, the game is now UH's 2017 season-opener and will be played during "week zero," an NCAA exemption given to UH and its opponents who are allowed to play one week prior to the official start of the college football season.
 
"The move limits the likelihood of back-to-back road games in the middle of season which cuts down on the amount of missed class time by our student-athletes," head coach Nick Rolovich said. "Not having consecutive road games this past season had a positive impact on our team grade point average and we appreciate the Mountain West's understanding of the rigors of our travel during the course of a season."
 
UH and Cal played during "week zero" in the 2016 opener in Sydney, Australia.
 
The UH-UMass game will mark the furthest east a Hawai'i football team will play in its history at more than 5,000 miles. The previous record was 4,955 miles for a 2010 game at Army in West Point, N.Y. Last season, UH traveled 5,073 miles south to Sydney for its opener against Cal.
 
The game will also mark only the ninth time UH will play in the Eastern Time Zone and third time in the last six seasons that the Warriors will open on the road
 
In addition to four MW road games, the Warriors will also travel to UCLA for a non-conference game, Sept. 9 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. UH's non-conference home games are against Western Carolina, Sept. 2 and Brigham Young, Nov. 25.