Hawaii football’s comeback falls short, falling to San Diego State, 41-34

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Rainbow Warriors football team kept it competitive for three quarters, but would run out of gas in the fourth quarter, falling to San Diego State, 41-34.

The ‘Bows get the ball to start and their slow starts continue to plague them, SDSU took a 10-0 lead in the first frame of play.

In the second, Hawaii’s run ‘N shoot offense found it’s stride to make it a 17-14 ball game at the half.

After the break, momentum was on Hawaii’s side, they took the lead 24-20 going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, UH would go stagnant as SDSU took back the lead to make it 41-31.

Down by two scores, UH finds their way to the red zone but head coach Timmy Chang elects to kick a field goal on second down to preserve time on the clock.

Hawaii tries for the onside kick, but is unsuccessful, Aztecs run out the clock, final score, 41-34.

Coach Chang apologizing to UH fans to open his press conference Saturday night for the decision he made to kick a field goal.

“I apologize to the state because I know they root for us and kicking the field goal, that’s a decision, I mean, we played the game to win in that situation,” Coach Chang told reporters. “The time with the time outs and we needed two possessions, when you look at the situation, the clock’s not on your side and so you try to score as fast as you can and so that’s why I kicked the field goal and I apologize.”

On the stat sheet Hawaii out gained SDSU this game 480 yards of total offense as opposed to the Aztecs’ 378.

Brayden Schager went 29 of 48 for 427 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception while Peter Manuma tallied 9 total tackles and an interception.

Despite the good performance statistically, the loss was frustrating for a team that’s playing for their bowl game dreams.

“We played a good game, I mean, we really did, It’s just little things, we’re just shooting ourselves in the foot,” Schager said. “It’s turnovers on my end and it’s just another one where we’re so close and I know that’s frustrating for the whole team and for all the fans and everybody, but it sucks, we’re really close.”

Up next, Hawaii takes a trip to Albuquerque for a game against New Mexico on October 21st.