New Mexico overcomes nightmare first half to hand fourth straight loss to Hawai’i

HONOLULU – The devil is in the details.

Despite holding a double-digit halftime lead, committing less penalties and forcing more turnovers than the defense that entered the night pacing the country in total takeaways, the University of Hawai’i football team saw a final result that’s become far too familiar as they fell 21-10 against New Mexico (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) on Saturday night inside Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.

Hawai’i (1-6, 0-4 Mountain West) saw its cursed offense fail to get off the ground again, managing just three points off the three takeaways produced by the defense while getting shut out after halftime.

“Well-fought, hard played game,” head coach Timmy Chang said to open his postgame press conference. “That’s a really good team on the other side, well-coached, and the guys gave them all that they could handle. Just a few more plays were made on that side of the ball, so the result is losing by 11.”

New Mexico turned in a nightmare first half in the islands, committing 12 of the team’s 16 total penalties in the opening 30 minutes to help Hawai’i extend multiple drives while forcing the Lobo offense to deal with multiple speed bumps before the break.

Hawai’i failed to take advantage of the slow start by New Mexico, mustering up only three points in the first quarter after DB Jeremiah Hughes’ first career interception set the offense up near midfield. With help from a pair of late hit penalties against the Lobos, the Rainbow Warriors pushed inside the red zone before being forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Sean Olvera-Harle, taking a 3-0 lead midway through the opening frame.

The UH defense provided another boost at the start of the second quarter, forcing another turnover as DB Matagi Thompson punched the ball free after a 40-yard scramble by New Mexico QB Toa Fa’avae that DB Kona Moore fell on top of it to start the Hawai’i offense again out near midfield.

This time, the hosts failed to capitalize at all from the second turnover of the half as WR Audric Harris got the ball punched away on a would-be touchdown catch before Olvera-Harle misfired on a 29-yard FG attempt, keeping the lead at 3-0 with 10:14 remaining in the first half.

A few more flags on the New Mexico offense, combined with a botched snap, sent the ball back to Hawai’i in plus territory with just under two minutes remaining until halftime and one timeout to work with.

This time, Hawai’i perfectly handled business as the hosts drained down the remainder of the clock before Titan Lacaden scored his first career touchdown on a one-yard catch to open up a 10-0 lead for the Rainbow Warriors heading into the locker room.

The New Mexico offense finally got going to start the second half, marching 75 yards in nine plays to open the third quarter with help from a 4th-and-4 trick play conversion that saw Fa’avae take a pass 35 yards to the doorstep of the end zone. UNM RB Scottre Humphrey hammered into paydirt from a yard out a few plays later, cutting the deficit to 10-7 a little over five minutes after play resumed.

Hughes grabbed some momentum back for Hawai’i towards the tail end of the third, securing his second interception of the night after back-to-back punts by the Rainbow Warrior offense spanned the middle portion of the period.

QB Micah Alejado and the offense seemed primed to put more points on the board at the start of the fourth quarter after the sophomore gunslinger connected with WR Josiah Fetui on a 47-yard rainbow before entering the final 15 minutes, but the Lobos defense stood tall and forced a fumble at the goal line from Alejado to keep the Rainbow Warrior lead at three.

New Mexico didn’t let the turnover go unpunished, draining seven minutes off the clock before Fa’avae finished off a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive with a tough 21-yard touchdown run that put the visitors ahead for the first time all night, 14-10.

Hawai’i reverted back to bad habits on the following drive, seeing an unnecessary roughness penalty push the offense out of a potential fourth-and-short situation near midfield and force a punt back to the Lobos with 3:32 to play.

Starting in Hawai’i territory, New Mexico needed just one play to drive home the dagger as Humphrey hustled 49 yards to open up a two-score lead for the visitors late in the fourth. Alejado and company attempted to rally one last time, but a pass from Alejado that bounced off the chest of WR Tama Uiliata straight up into the air was intercepted by UNM’s Tavin Combs to close out any chance at a comeback for the Rainbow Warriors.

Alejado finished the night completing 23-of-40 passes for 250 yards, a touchdown and an interception while also fumbling once. Lacaden tallied seven receptions for the second straight game, adding 41 receiving yards and the lone trip into the end zone for the Rainbow Warriors.

“It’s not really much to say,” Lacaden said about the continued poor execution. “We’ve got to clean up the little things. I feel like that’s the story every week for us … Call a spade a spade, that’s what it is. It’s the little things for us, we’re killing ourselves with the pre-snap errors, the penalties, the offsides, the holding. We’ve just got to make the plays when plays come our way.”

Humphrey handled his business in a big way after halftime, racking up 78 of his 90 rushing yards and both touchdowns in the second half. After a rough opening quarter of turnovers, Fa’avae also put together a solid evening with 171 yards of total offense as he passed for 59 yards, ran for 77 more and had one reception for 35 yards in the win.

Hawai’i will wrap up a five-games-in-five-weeks stretch next weekend, hitting the road to take on Northern Illinois on October 24. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. HT as the Rainbow Warriors and Huskies each look for their first conference victory of the season.

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