Hawaii football is set to kick off its season against Delaware State University – an HBCU on the far east coast of the continental United States.
It’s a 10-and-a-half hour flight for the HBCU squad, one that it was set to leave on Tuesday morning. But the trip did not go as planned and Delaware State missed its flight to Honolulu, according to multiple reports.
Delaware State officials say they are “working on a plan,” after a snafu on the way to the airport caused the missed flight, according to the Star-Advertiser.
Update: According to CBS Sports, bus company takes blame for Delaware State’s missed flight.
During Monday’s weekly MEAC coaches football call, Delaware State head coach Lee Hull talked about preparing for the lengthy trip, stating that it was providing some logistical challenges.
“We’re we’re actually out of practice right now. So we get these guys some time off and pack and get ready to go because we leave at four in the morning,” Hull said.
There is a six-hour difference between Dover and Honolulu, so the HBCU squad was leaving Tuesday for a Saturday game against Hawaii football.
Delaware State is the first HBCU team to make the trip to play Hawaii since Grambling State did so during the Eddie Robinson days. DSU worked steadfastly to prepare for the trip, but even on Monday, Hull hinted at how big of an undertaking actually getting it done would be.
“Still, today people coming in – ‘Oh we got an issue here, we got an issue there. What are we doing here?” Hull elaborated. “You know, so that last minute stuff that that comes up because of the the long flight. You know we got to drive to JFK which is three hours away. And then we got a direct flight, which is another 10.5 hours. So yeah, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Hull said that despite the issues, he was looking forward to getting his team to Hawaii and taking in some cultural things, such as Pearl Harbor.
“I told the guys today in a team meeting – ‘you’re not well only representing yourself and Delaware State University, but you’re representing the whole HBCU community,” Hull said. “So it’s it’s a big responsibility for us.”