The 2018 Hawaii Bowl was a college football bowl game being played on December 22, 2018, in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was the 17th edition of the Hawaii Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. This was the first time since 2007 that the bowl was not played on Christmas Eve. Sponsored by the SoFi personal finance company, the game was officially called the SoFi Hawaii Bowl.
Teams The game was played between the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors of the Mountain West Conference and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs of Conference USA (C–USA). The teams had faced each other 10 times, with Hawaii holding an 8–2 lead in the series; both teams previously were members of the Western Athletic Conference.
This was Louisiana Tech's first trip to the Hawaii Bowl; it was Hawaii's eighth time in this bowl.
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Hawaii secured a spot in the bowl with a win on November 17 over the UNLV Rebels, ending a four-game losing streak and assuring the Rainbow Warriors of a bowl-eligible winning record, as they reached 7–5 with one game left to play. Hawaii subsequently defeated the San Diego State Aztecs, ending the regular season with an 8–5 overall record, 5–3 in conference. The Rainbow Warriors' participation in the Hawaii Bowl was confirmed by bowl organizers on November 28.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Louisiana Tech announced their acceptance of a Hawaii Bowl bid on November 28. The Bulldogs compiled a 7–5 regular season record, 5–3 in conference.
Game summary Scoring summary
Statistics
Statistics HAW LT First downs 17 23 Plays–yards 66–226 70–453 Rushes–yards 32–58 38–168 Passing yards 168 285 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 17–34–3 19–31–1 Time of possession 29:23 30:37
Team Category Player StatisticsHawaii Passing Cole McDonald 10/20, 85 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT Rushing Fred Holly III 9 car, 57 yds Receiving Jason-Matthew Sharsh 5 rec, 67 yds, 1 TDLouisiana Tech Passing J'Mar Smith 19/31, 285 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Jaqwis Dancy 15 car, 57 yds Receiving Teddy Veal 8 rec, 107 yds
References
External links
Box score at ESPN