What to know before Cal kicks off in Hawaii Bowl

"Series history: Cal leads 3-2. The Bears won the most recent matchup, 51-31, at Sydney, Australia on Aug. 27, 2016. Davis Webb passed for 441 yards and four touchdowns in his debut and Chad Hansen caught 14 passes for 160 yards and two TDs. The teams met for the first time on Jan. 1, 1935 in Honolulu, with Hawaii claiming a 14-0 victory."

"Cal storylines: The Bears, playing in their third consecutive bowl, are hoping to achieve their first eight-win season since 2019. Cal will be led going forward by new head coach Tosh Lupoi, hired after Justin Wilcox was dismissed in his ninth season following Cal's 31-10 Big Game loss at Stanford. But for one more game Nick Rolovich will serve as interim head coach after leading the Bears to a 38-35 victor over No. 21 SMU in the regular-season finale. Freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has passed for 3,117 yards, most by a Cal quarterback Webb totaled 4,295 yards in 2016. Junior running back Kendrick Raphael, who needs 118 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the season, has scored 13 touchdowns, trailing only Jahvid Best, Justin Forsett and J.J. Arrington, each with 15, among Cal players this century."

"Hawaii storylines: The Rainbow Warriors are in their fourth season under coach Timmy Chang, a former Hawaii star quarterback. He has directed the team to its best season since 2019, when Hawaii was 10-5 under Rolovich, who was Chang's backup QB at Hawaii. Hawaii has wins over San Diego State and Stanford, which both beat Cal. The offense is spearheaded by 5-foot-10 redshirt freshman quarterback Micah Alejado, a Honolulu native who passed for 2,832 yards and 21 touchdowns, including a five-game stretch where he had three TD passes in each game."

Cal enters the game 7-5 overall and 4-4 in the ACC while Hawaii is 8-4 and 5-3 in the Mountain West. The kickoff is 5 p.m. PT Wednesday at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu with TV on ESPN and radio on 810-AM. Cal leads the series 3-2 and won the most recent meeting in 2016. Cal has a coaching change coming and an interim for the bowl, a freshman quarterback with 3,117 passing yards, and a running back nearing 1,000 yards with 13 touchdowns. Hawaii features coach Timmy Chang, season-best results since 2019, and redshirt freshman Micah Alejado with 2,832 yards and 21 touchdowns.

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