| Sport | American football |
|---|---|
| Type | Collegiate |
| First meeting | December 11, 1936 San Jose State, 13–8 |
| Latest meeting | November 1, 2025 San Jose State, 45–38 |
| Next meeting | 2026 |
| Stadiums | CEFCU andClarence T. C. Ching |
| Trophy | Dick Tomey Legacy Trophy |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 47 |
| All-time series | San Jose State leads, 24–22–1 |
| Trophy series | San Jose State leads, 5–1 |
| Largest victory | San Jose State, 48–6 (1960) |
| Longest win streak | Hawaii, 7 wins (2001–2007) |
| Current win streak | San Jose State, 5 wins (2020–Present) |
TheDick Tomey Legacy Game is the name given to theHawaii–San Jose State football rivalry. It is acollege footballrivalry between theHawaiʻi Rainbow Warriors football team of theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and theSan José State Spartans football team ofSan José State University. Since 1936, the two teams have played each other 47 times. Beginning in 2019 the winner of the game receives theDick Tomey Legacy Trophy. As of 2025, San Jose State leads, 24–22–1.
The series between San Jose State and Hawaii began in 1936 with a game in Honolulu, which San Jose 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 Jose State Spartans football team served unexpectedly with theHonolulu Police Department during World War II. The team had just arrived inHawaii to play a series of postseason bowl games, known as theShrine Bowl, against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and theWillamette University Bearcats when the U.S. Navy base atPearl Harbor wasattacked 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.[1][2] They were rescued on December 19 aboard theSS President Coolidge.[3]
In 1996, San José State joined theWestern Athletic Conference, 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 theMountain West Conference,[4] they were followed by San José State the following year,[5] allowing the teams to continue to be conference rivals.
In 2019, after the death ofDick Tomey, 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.[6][7]
Source:[8] | San José State | Hawaiʻi |
|---|---|---|
| Games played | 47 | |
| Wins | 24 | 22 |
| Ties | 1 | |
| Home wins | 8 | 13 |
| Road wins | 16 | 9 |
| Consecutive wins | 5 | 7 |
| Most total points in a game | 105 (2000) | |
| Most points in a win | 57 (2000) | 62 (1999) |
| Most points in a loss | 41 (1999, 2018) | 48 (2000) |
| Fewest total points in a game | 12 (1957) | |
| Largest margin of victory | 42 (1960) | 37 (2006) |
| Smallest margin of victory | 1 (1937, 2011) | 1 (1938) |
| Total points scored in series | 1,242 | 1,107 |
| Shut-outs of opposing team | 4 (1955, 1957, 1962, 2023) | 2 (1956, 2014) |
| San Jose State victories | Hawaii victories | Tie games |
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