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Postgame Notes
Hawai‘i at Stanford
Aug. 29, 2026
Stanford Stadium  –  Stanford, Calif. 

GAME CAPTAINS
  • Dean Briski, Wydnen Ho‘ohuli, Ethan Spencer, Matagi Thompson
 
SERIES INFORMATION
  • The teams met for the sixth time and the first time at Stanford. 
  • Stanford now leads the series, 5-1, with UH’s lone win coming last year in Honolulu.
  • The teams are scheduled to meet again in 2030 at Stanford.
 
UH VERSUS THE ACC
  • UH dropped to 2-1 against ACC teams. 
  • UH defeated both Stanford and California in 2025 during their first season in the league last year.
 
UH VERSUS THE POWER CONFERENCES
  • UH had dropped 11 of its last 13 games against Power Conference teams dating back to 2019. (UH defeated BYU in 2019 and Houston in 2020 when both were non-Power Conference teams).
  • UH is 2-7 against Power Conference teams under Timmy Chang.

TEAM STREAKS/TRENDS 
  • UH has dropped its last three road season openers, all against Power Conference teams (2021 at UCLA, 2023 at Vanderbilt, 2026 at Stanford.)
  • UH is 6-4 in its last 10 season openers.

INDIVIDUAL STREAKS/TRENDS 
  • Elijah Palmer has played in a team high 25 straight games dating back to the 2024 season.
  • Pofele Ashlock  saw a team-high streak of 18 straight starts come to a close when was sidelined for the season opener. He has started all 37 games he has appeared in.
  • Senior running back Cam Barfield has had at least one reception in 15 straight games. 

TEAM NOTES
  • UH dropped to 32-31-1 (.508) all-time in season openers against collegiate opponents, including an 8-10-1 record in true road games. 
  • UH moved to 5-5 all-time in Week 0 games, going 2-4 in away contests (includes one neutral site game)
  • UH’s all-time record in the month of August moved to 9-13 (Division I era).
  • The Rainbow Warriors nearly made its greatest fourth-quarter comeback in school history, erasing a 16-point deficit, before Stanford scored the final 14 points of the game.
  • Twelve different receivers caught a pass against Stanford.
  • Kaeo Akana blocked Emmet Kenney’s 33-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter. It was the second straight year that UH blocked a Stanford field goal attempt after Luther McCoy blocked Kenney’s 34-yard attempt in the 2025 season opener. 
  • Stanford blocked a UH punt for a safety to begin the second half. The last time a UH opponent blocked a UH punt was on Nov. 9, 2024 (Ricky White III, UNLV). The last time UH surrendered a safety was Sept. 8, 2018 versus Rice (defensive safety).
  • Stanford scored on a fumble-recovery for the second straight year against Hawai‘i when Tevarua Tafiiti scored from 31 yards out in the fourth quarter. 

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
  • Sophomore quarterback Micah Alejado finished 30-of-50 for 269 yards and two touchdowns.
  • Alejado had thrown at least one touchdown in 13 of his last 14 games, including multiple touchdowns in eight of the last nine. 
  • Kansas State transfer DeVon Rice scored a pair of touchdowns in his Rainbow Warrior debut, one on the ground and one through the air. 
  • Rice tallied the first touchdown of the 2026 UH campaign when he scored on a 3-yard rush with a 3-yard run at the 10:18 mark of the second quarter. He also scored on a 29-yard touchdown catch  late in the fourth quarter to put UH ahead momentarily. 
  • Sitane Mikaele scored his first career touchdown on a 5-yard rush on a 4th-and-1 early in the fourth quarter. The sophomore running back rushed four times for 15 yards. 
  • Sophomore wide receiver Tama Uiliata enjoyed a career-game with a team-high eight catches for 62 yards. He scored his first touchdown in 18 career games on an 11-yard reception in the fourth quarter.
  • Kaikai Carvalho also enjoyed a career game with five catches for a team-high 72 yards, including a 32-yard long reception in the fourth quarter. 
  • Junior safety Kona Moore racked up a career-best 14 tackles, including a pair of tackles-for-loss. The 14 tackles were the most by a Rainbow Warrior since defensive back Nalu Emeron had 14 at Utah State on Nov. 16, 2024.
  • Senior safety Matagi Thompson also set a career high with eight tackles versus the Cardinal.
  • Texas transfer and redshirt freshman Gehrig Heil made his debut at punter and averaged 43.0 yards on seven attempts. He also had a punt blocked early in the second half.  
  • Nine players made their first career starts as Rainbow Warriors. Four on offense – including Devin Alves (WR), Carson Brown (WR), Blaze Kamoku (WR) and Lipe Moala; and five on defense – Jaylon Edmond (DB), Elijah Gipson (DB), Kona Moore (DB), Geoffrey Speight (DL) and Josh Sagapolutele (DL) .