Hawai’i comes up short on road in Mountain West opener against San Diego State

Another year, another heartbreaker against the Aztecs. 

Hawai’i (2-3, 0-1 MWC) came up short against San Diego State (2-3, 1-0 MWC) for the fifth consecutive time on Saturday, falling 27-24 at Snapdragon Stadium. The three-point loss dropped UH head coach Timmy Chang to 1-13 on the road in his career and 0-4 following bye weeks. 

Senior quarterback Brayden Schager set a new program record with his 27th consecutive start as signal caller for the Rainbow Warriors, passing Bryant Moniz (26, 2009-11) for the most all-time. The 6-foot-3 gunslinger finished the day completing 26-of-44 attempts, totaling 272 yards and three touchdowns while tossing an interception for the game’s lone turnover for either team. 

San Diego State got the scoring started with a16-play, 53-yard drive that ended with a 24-yard field, giving the Aztecs a 3-0 lead with 5:35 remaining in the opening quarter. Hawai’i responded with a 15-play, 77-yard drive and 30-yard field goal of their own to knot the game at three through a quarter of play.  

After the Hawai’i defense forced back-to-back punts, Schager was intercepted by SDSU’s Jelani Whitmore on a bomb intended for Dekel Crowdus near midfield with 8:26 left to play in the 1st half. The Aztecs capitalized on the day’s lone turnover, going 55 yards in under four minutes for a touchdown after senior running back Marquez Cooper rumbled in from eight yards out to give a 10-3 lead to the hosts with just over five minutes remaining in the half. 

The UH offense bounced back immediately as Schager connected back-to-back passes with Pofele Ashlock to get out near midfield before a targeting penalty against San Diego State’s Ryan Henderson set up the Rainbow Warriors at the Aztecs’ 23-yard line. Hawai’i would tie it on the next play as Schager lofted a pass to Tylan Hines down the sideline for a touchdown, the first receiving score of Hines’ career.  

San Diego State responded with a pristine two-minute drill, advancing down the field quickly and converting on a critical fourth down in Hawai’i territory on the way to taking a 17-10 lead into the halftime break.  

The Aztecs added on with a 43-yard field goal after forcing a three-and-out from Hawai’i to begin the 3rd quarter, giving a 10-point lead to the hosts. Hawai’i upped the tempo on the next drive, seeing Schager orchestrate a 75-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 6-yard touchdown catch by Ashlock to make the deficit just three points with two minutes left in the third. 

Re-energized, the defense of Hawai’i forced an SDSU punt to give the ball back to the offense with 27 seconds left before the 4th quarter and a chance to tie or take the lead on the drive. 

Starting at the UH 11, a holding penalty set the offense back even further before Brayden Schager put his head down and sprinted for a 14-yard gain on 3rd-and-13 to keep the drive rolling. That conversion proved important minutes later when Nick Cenacle bounced off a defender and twisted his way towards the end zone on a 23-yard touchdown to give Hawai’i a lead for the first time all game, 24-20, with 9:35 left to play. 

A busted coverage on the next possession allowed a 48-yard catch and run for San Diego State, setting the Aztecs up inside the Hawai’i 40-yard line just a minute after the Rainbow Warriors took the lead. SDSU’s Cooper provided the decisive score a couple minutes later, punching into the end zone for a two-yard touchdown to give the Aztecs a 27-24 lead with seven minutes remaining. 

Hawai’i was able to advance into San Diego State territory on the final drive, converting on a 4th-and-18 from their own 42 as Schager heaved it with heavy pressure in his face and connected with Ashlock on a leaping grab to keep the comeback hopes alive. Those hopes were wounded when Schager took a sack two plays later and went to bed when Hawai’i was stopped behind the line of scrimmage on 4th-and-2 at the Aztecs’ 31-yard line with 1:12 left to play. 

It is the sixth time in the last seven meetings between the two programs that the matchup was decided by seven points or less. San Diego State has won 13 of 17 games against the Rainbow Warriors in San Diego, including 11 of the last 12. 

SDSU quarterback Danny O’Neil tallied 224 yards and a touchdown while completing 72.7 percent of his passes in the win for the Aztecs. The true freshman completed his fourth game without an interception thrown, pushing himself to a streak of 113 straight passing attempts without turning the ball over to begin his career. 

Aztecs running back Marquez Cooper totaled 109 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the victory while Nate Bennett led all SDSU receivers with four catches for 74 yards. Louis Brown IV added four receptions for 40 yards and the lone score through the air for San Diego State. 

The Hawai’i offense mustered only 84 net rushing yards throughout the day against the 2nd-worst graded run defense in the Mountain West entering the day. Pofele Ashlock continued his productive sophomore campaign with another eight catches for 77 yards and a touchdown reception, the fourth straight game that Ashlock has found the end zone. 

Elijah Robinson led the effort on defense for Hawai’i, totaling a career-best 11 tackles (10 solo) and 3.0 TFLs for a Rainbow Warrior defense that finished with 10 TFLs total. Jackie Johnson III added his team-high third sack of the year in the loss. 

Hawai’i will return to the islands for a matchup next weekend with Heisman-candidate Ashton Jeanty and nationally ranked Boise State while San Diego State will travel to Laramie to face off with Wyoming.