The

Dick Tomey Richard Hastings Tomey (June 20, 1938 – May 10, 2019) was an American football coach and player. Tomey served as the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1977–1986), University of Arizona (1987–2000), and San Jose State ...

Legacy Game is the name given to the Hawaiʻi–San José State football rivalry. It is a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

between the Hawaiʻi Rainbow Warriors football team of the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa (University of Hawaii—Mānoa, UH Mānoa, Hawai'i, or simply UH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Manoa, Mānoa, a neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. It ...

and the San José State Spartans football team of

San José State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

. Since 1936, the two teams have played each other 46 times. Beginning in 2019 the winner of the game receives the Dick Tomey Legacy Trophy. As of 2023, San Jose State leads, 23–22–1.

Historical overview

The series between San José State and Hawaiʻi began in 1936 with a game in Honolulu, which San José State won 13–8. Two years later in 1938, Hawaiʻi won their first game of the series, a 13–12 victory in Honolulu. In 1941, the San José State Spartans football team served unexpectedly with the

Honolulu Police Department The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu CDP. Officially recognized as a part of the government of the ...

during World War II. The team had just arrived in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

to play a series of postseason bowl games, known as the

Shrine Bowl The Shrine Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game. The first game was played on December 18, 1948, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas, between Hardin–Simmons University and Ouachita Baptist College.Foldesy, Jody. "Bowl ...

, against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and the Willamette University Bearcats when the U.S. Navy base at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

was attacked on December 7, 1941. The team was stranded on the islands for a number of weeks following the attack, and players were employed by the local police department to help improve island defenses against a possible Japanese amphibious assault and as guards for military bases on the island. They were rescued on December 19 aboard the . In 1996, San José State joined the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

, making the pair conference rivals. In 2007, Hawaiʻi had their seventh consecutive win, the longest win-streak of the series. In 2012, Hawaiʻi moved their football team to the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

, they were followed by San José State the following year, allowing the teams to continue to be conference rivals. In 2019, after the death of

, a former head coach for both schools, the near-annual game was renamed to the Dick Tomey Legacy Game, the winner of which would receive the Dick Tomey Legacy Trophy.

Statistics

Game results

References

{{Mountain West Conference football rivalry navbox College football rivalries in the United States San Jose State Spartans football Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football Recurring sporting events established in 1936

Historical overview

Statistics

Game results

See also

References