Harris’ hat trick helps power Hawai’i statement against San Diego State

HONOLULU – A rainy night that was filled with Rainbows.

The University of Hawai’i football team brought the heat on chilly evening in the islands on Saturday, handing San Diego State (7-2, 4-1 Mountain West) its first conference loss of the season behind a complete team effort, 38-6.

Redshirt freshman QB Micah Alejado diced up the Aztecs’ league-leading defense to the tune of 256 yards and three touchdowns, completing 22-of-34 passes as the Rainbow Warriors (7-3, 4-2 Mountain West) clinched a winning season for the first time under fourth-year head coach Timmy Chang.

Sophomore WR Jackson Harris posted his fifth consecutive 100+ yard receiving game with a team-high seven catches, 130 yards and three touchdowns for Hawai’i. The 6-foot-3 pass catcher became the first UH receiver to surpass the century mark in five or more straight games since Greg Salas had six in a row with 100+ in 2010 and the first WR since John Ursua in 2018 to have three consecutive games with multiple scores.

Coming off the unit’s worst showing of the season, the Hawai’i defense dominated on all fronts as the group forced a season-high four turnovers while holding an FBS opponent without a touchdown for the first time this year.

(It was the second time UH held an opponent completely out of the end zone this season, previously keeping FCS opponent Portland State to only three points.)

While the defense came out firing in the opening quarter for the Rainbow Warriors, the offense needed a little extra time to get going as Alejado tossed his seventh interception of the year on UH’s first drive. Alejado and the hosts quickly capitalized on a second chance after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Aztecs extended Hawai’i’s second possession, leading the freshman signal caller to drop a dime to Harris for the first touchdown of the night to go up 7-3 with 6:37 left in the first frame.

After the score, the Hawai’i defense again forced a three-and-out as Jackie Johnson III recorded his conference-leading seventh sack of the year, setting up the second of Alejado-to-Jackson touchdown connections on the next drive to go up 14-3 after 15 minutes of action.

San Diego State QB Jayden Denegal found WR Donavan Brown on the next drive for a 45-yard gain to set up the Aztecs for another field goal, but the Rainbow Warriors responded two minutes later with Harris’ third score of the night as he burned the defense again for a 35-yard TD.

The dream evening added a piece of history right before the half as senior Kansei Matsuzawa broke Richard Spelman’s 41-year-old UH single-season made field goals record with his 22nd made kick of the year, connecting on a 22-yarder with 4:23 left to extend the lead to 24-6.

Hawai’i wasted little time adding onto the lead once play resumed in the second half as RB Cam Barfield made an 86-yard house call on the opening kickoff in the third quarter, putting the Rainbow Warriors up 31-6 before fans had returned to their seats from the midway bathroom break.

Elijah Palmer added the final score of the night for UH to wrap up the third frame, perfectly baiting Denegal for a 53-yard interception returned for a touchdown as the Hawai’i defense and special teams units each recorded a touchdown in the same game for the first time since November 24, 2012.

UH’s defense held Denegal to just 10-of-27 passing for 132 yards and two interceptions while limiting SDSU RB Lucky Sutton to 78 yards on 18 carries, completely keeping the junior out of the end zone for just the third game this year. The six points allowed by Hawai’i was the lowest total in a meeting against the Aztecs since 1980, helping snap a five-game losing streak against SDSU.

RB Cam Barfield posted career highs for both rushing attempts (11) and rushing yards (69) while fellow back Landon Sims added 10 carries for 48 yards on the ground for the Rainbow Warriors. Facing the first true rain game of the season, Hawai’i leaned into the ground attack with a season-high 35 rushing attempts, eclipsing 100+ rushing yards as a team for the third time in the last four contests.

Hawai’i’s defensive line continued wreaking havoc on opponents, totaling three more sacks and seven of the team’s eight QB hits throughout the night. UH’s overall defensive unit held the Aztecs to a putrid 2-of-14 on third downs and 0-of-2 on fourth downs. UH led the Mountain West in sacks entering the weekend.

The San Diego State defense, which entered the night ranked No. 2 nationally for points per game allowed (10.0) and was without starting LB Tano Letuli and CB Chris Johnson, struggled playing man coverage against the Rainbow Warriors before recovering slightly in the second half.

Hawai’i enters its third and final bye week of the season, sitting in third place in the Mountain West and a half-game behind SDSU and Boise State for the top spots in the conference. UH returns to action on November 21, visiting UNLV for a rare Friday night game at 5:30 p.m. HT.