HONOLULU — It was a dream homecoming for Chevan Cordeiro.
In a zero-sum emotional game, it was a nightmare for the Hawaii football team.
Cordeiro, the former UH standout quarterback, directed San Jose State to a 35-0 shutout of the Rainbow Warriors in front of 9,205 people on homecoming night Saturday at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
Cordeiro, who was 16-for-26 for 251 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, was in control all night at his former stomping grounds. He hardly had to use his legs, finishing with minus-7 yards on the ground.
But SJSU (4-5, 3-2 Mountain West) delivered over and over in tight situations, finishing 10-for-15 on third-down conversions — 9-for-10 in the first half as the Spartans led 21-0 at intermission.
Cordeiro spent extensive time soon after the game greeting friends and family in the Diamond Head stands for selfies, hugs and lei.
“At the beginning, it was kind of tough. I kinda let the emotions get to me for a little,” Cordeiro told Spectrum News. “Took my three deep breaths and then I just played my game, went through my game plan and I trusted my boys and we came out with the dub.”
UH (2-7, 0-4 Mountain West) took its fourth straight loss and once again yielded the Dick Tomey Trophy to the Spartans.
UH was last shut out at home twice in the winless 1998 season, 20-0 and 28-0 to Arkansas State and SMU on back-to-back weeks. The Rainbows were held to 198 yards of offense to SJSU’s 468.
“I gotta watch this film. Obviously there’s breakdowns, and I gotta find out where the breakdowns are,” coach Timmy Chang said. “We didn’t execute on offense. Defense, I thought we fought. …
“Today was definitely a regression. I definitely thought we took a step back.”
Quarterback Brayden Schager, Cordeiro’s former understudy, was ineffective for much of the night, going 17-for-29 for 132 yards and an interception, underscoring the void between UH present and UH past as Cordeiro continued to lead effective drives with clutch passes on the move. SJSU won its third straight game after a 1-5 start.
Cordeiro transferred out of UH after the 2021 season, his fourth at UH, in protest of coach Todd Graham’s leadership. He chose Brent Brennan’s Spartans as his new home and has been an effective fit over the last two years in a balanced offense.
He greeted more than a dozen former teammates and familiar UH staff members on the field in Saturday’s aftermath. As he was about to walk to the visitors’ locker room in Les Murakami Stadium, Chang came over and gave him a hug.
Cordeiro was not unmoved by the familiar environment at the Ching Complex. He played the 2021 season there, the first year UH played its games on campus as a result of the shuttering of Aloha Stadium.
“Going into the fourth, when they do the Colt Brennan (Final 15) thing, I remember my last year here; that was the first time I think we did that thing,” he said. “It brought me back to the four years that I spent over here. Obviously, it means something. If I would go back, I wouldn’t change anything. I loved it here. This is always my home. I was born and raised over here and I have a lot of family over here, and I still got boys on the team. It’s always love playing them and we’re all brothers at the end of the day.”
Running back Kairee Robinson led the Spartans with 17 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Receiver Nick Nash caught both of Cordeiro’s touchdown slings.
UH’s penchant for slow starts persisted as the game opened with a muffed kickoff return by Cam Stone, recovered by SJSU at the UH 6.
While the Spartans got no points from the gifted possession, the visitors still led 7-0 after a quarter.
SJSU converted on its next nine third downs to help it to a 21-0 halftime lead. Meanwhile, UH generated just 94 yards of offense before intermission.
In the first, linebacker Jalen Smith’s unsportsmanlike penalty extended SJSU’s drive after UH seemed to have forced SJSU to punt deep in its own territory.
The Spartans proceeded to march down the field and Quali Conley’s 5-yard plunge capped the 12-play, 93-yard drive for the game’s first score.
“We had them pinned down there, we give them a cheap penalty and they end up scoring. … That was kind of the start (of it),” Chang said.
SJSU was off and running on its next drive, but Isaiah Tufaga poked the ball out from behind Conley and Virdel Edwards II recovered it inbounds.
Jonah Kahahawai-Welch got Cordeiro on a sack after initially missing, getting up for a second effort and dropping him from behind.
Cordeiro got his team down the field anyway and he slung an 8-yard ball to Nash by the front left pylon for a 14-0 lead.
Cordeiro continued to deliver on third down, finding Nash over the middle for 21 yards on third and 12, then on a heave to Charles Ross for 35 yards on third and 12.
SJSU was 9-for-10 on third downs in the half.
Two Schager mistakes in the third quarter were particularly damaging to the UH cause — a pick thrown in the end zone with no UH receiver in the vicinity and an intentional grounding call at midfield that killed a drive.
“That’s a breakdown, receiving corps not on the same page, quarterback saw one thing and the receivers saw something else,” Chang said.
Backup Jake Farrell finished off the night with the game out of reach.
Some more photos of the homecoming game:
Correction: A photo caption in a previous version of the story listed UH lineman Eliki Tanuvasa by an incorrect position.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.