SAN DIEGO — The Hawaii football team was a few seconds away from opening Mountain West Conference play with a victory and giving its first-year head coach his first victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent.
Instead, Timmy Chang and the Rainbow Warriors will rue late mistakes in a 16-14 loss at San Diego State’s brand-new Snapdragon Stadium. UH dropped to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the MWC.
UH, which showed off a vastly improved defense but could do nothing right offensively in the first half, rallied to claim a 14-13 lead on Dedrick Parson’s 22-yard touchdown with 1:19 left.
But after kickoff specialist Kyler Halvorsen booted the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, allowing SDSU to begin at its 35, the Aztecs new quarterback, Jalen Mayden, took over.
Mayden, a Mississippi State transfer making his first career start at quarterback, engineered a seven-play, 56-yard drive to get to the UH 9, going 6-for-6 passing plus a pass interference call on UH.
SDSU lined up a 26-yard field-goal attempt for kicker Jack Browning, who’d missed a 31-yard attempt wide right on the Aztecs’ previous drive.
With 10 seconds left, Browning’s game-winning attempt was wide right — but Chang simultaneously called UH’s last timeout to ice the kicker.
It backfired dramatically as Browning’s do-over was true and the Aztecs snuffed out UH’s final drive at midfield after an 18-yard Brayden Schager pass to Zion Bowens, followed by an awkward lateral pass that was fumbled and fallen on by SDSU (3-3, 1-1).
Mayden was 24-for-36 for 322 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions, while Schager was 20-for-34 for 196 yards and a score.
Bowens, making his return from a four-game injury absence, grabbed nine balls for 108 yards, including a head-turning 66-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the third quarter.
Two weeks ago, UH gave up 357 rushing yards in a 45-26 loss to one of the worst FBS teams in the country, New Mexico State.
A much-improved defensive effort in the MWC opener gave UH a chance. It held SDSU, a power running team by reputation, to 34 yards on the ground in the first half.
Despite not committing a turnover or a penalty, UH was held to an offensive standstill in the first half with 114 yards as they trailed 3-0 at intermission on Browning’s 45-yard boot in the final minute.
San Diego State got the ball to begin the second half and broke through, going 65 yards on seven plays capped with a 15-yard pass from Mayden to Jordan Byrd for a 10-0 lead. It was the first trip to the red zone for either team.
UH had a response. On third and long, Schager aired out a ball for Bowens and caught him perfectly in stride for the 66-yard touchdown.
John Tuitupou swallowed up Mayden for a sack to blunt SDSU’s next drive. But after putting together three first downs, UH stalled and had to punt.
The Aztecs tacked on a 30-yard field goal with 11 minutes to play for a 13-7 lead and UH went three-and-out.
Mayden then found Tyrell Shavers deep for 42 yards and the Aztecs continued to bleed clock. But Browning was wide right on a 31-yard field goal with a chance to go up by two scores.
Tylan Hines took the ensuing play 27 yards up the middle for UH. Schager hit Koali Nishigaya on a slant to get into SDSU territory with under four minutes left, then Jalen Walthall for 12 more yards.
Parson went up the middle, breaking two tackles for the temporary go-ahead score.
SDSU, the worst team in the country at converting on third down, was an improved 7-for-16 to UH’s 3-for-10.
The Aztecs played their first game with new offensive coordinator Jeff Horton after firing Jeff Hecklinski following a demoralizing loss to Boise State.
Former four-year UH linebacker Justus Tavai, who transferred to SDSU amid a number of player defections amid the Todd Graham saga, had four tackles in the win.
UH was led defensively by linebacker Penei Pavihi and defensive back Peter Manuma, who each had 10 tackles. Meki Pei had eight tackles and broke up two passes.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.