It was there for the taking, but once again the Hawaii football team went down in the endgame of a tight battle at San Diego State.

SDSU prevailed 27-24 at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday as UH lost its Mountain West opener for the fourth straight year, dropped to 1-13 in road games and 0-4 coming off bye weeks in the three-year Timmy Chang era.

What You Need To Know

  • In a familiar outcome, the Hawaii football team gave itself a chance to come away with a road win at San Diego State, only to stumble in the endgame as the Aztecs won the teams' Mountain West Conference opener, 27-24 at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night

  • UH could not convert a key fourth-and-2 situation from the SDSU 31 in the final minutes and the Rainbow Warriors dropped to 1-13 on the road in the three-year Timmy Chang era, and fell to 0-4 coming off bye weeks over the same period

  • Quarterback Brayden Schager threw three touchdowns and one interception and came up with some key plays on the ground despite getting sacked five times

  • UH's schedule ramps up significantly starting next week as it hosts conference favorite Boise State at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on Saturday

The going only gets tougher from here for the Rainbow Warriors (2-3, 0-1 MWC), who host conference favorite Boise State (4-1, 1-0) on Saturday.

SDSU (2-3, 1-0), one of five MWC teams to officially announce it will join the depleted Pac-12 Conference starting in 2026, is rebuilding under first-year head coach Sean Lewis. Nevertheless, it claimed its 11th win in 13 games against UH in the Mountain West. 

“Their connection, the conviction that we play with and the character of the club, the attitude never wavered,” Lewis told the CBS Sports Network crew after the game. “It’s good to get this one.”

UH dropped to 4-13 all-time against SDSU on the continent. Two years ago, in Chang's first season, UH lost 16-14 at SDSU on a last-second field-goal.

On the biggest play this time, UH faced fourth-and-2 from the SDSU 31 with under two minutes left. UH eschewed a game-tying field-goal attempt from 48 yards — close to the extent of the range of first-year FBS kicker Kansei Matsuzawa — and, without calling timeout, went for it. The ‘Bows appeared somewhat discombobulated and turned the ball over on downs when Dekel Crowdus caught a bobbled ball that quarterback Brayden Schager intended for Pofele Ashlock behind the line of scrimmage. Crowdus was met by Aztecs well short of the first-down marker and UH turned it over on downs with 1:12 remaining in the game.

Schager was 26-for-44 for 272 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, plus 21 yards on the ground despite being sacked five times.

Ashlock caught eight passes for 77 yards out of 17 targets by Schager.

Marquez Cooper, the FBS active career leading in rushing yards, ran for 109 yards — his 20th career century game — and two touchdowns to anchor the Aztecs.

“He’s resilient, he’s a warrior, he’s got the heart of a freakin’ champion,” Lewis said.

UH succeeded in stopping SDSU as it tried to run out the clock, but had very little with which to work. It had burned a timeout earlier in the half, used its last two timeouts on Cooper carries and dropped Cooper for a loss on third down. The Aztecs ran the clock down to 16 seconds and called timeout.

Tylan Hines fair caught it at the UH 23 with 10 seconds left.

Schager threw incomplete deep once, then was sacked on UH’s final play as he scanned downfield.

SDSU freshman quarterback Danny O’Neil was 24-for-33 for 224 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He has yet to be intercepted in 113 throws to start his college career.

UH trailed 20-10 late in the third quarter but Schager threw consecutive touchdowns to Ashlock (6 yards) and Nick Cenacle (23 yards) and UH claimed its first lead of the game, 24-20, with 9:39 to play.

SDSU came back with an eight-play, 87-yard drive capped with a 2-yard Marquez plunge for the go-ahead score.

Aztecs defensive end Trey White sacked Schager three times and had four total tackles for loss.

Hines caught a 23-yard TD pass from Schager with 1:53 left in the first half to tie the game at 10.

But SDSU, aided by a questionable spot by the officials, came back with a nine-play, 75-yard drive over 1:47 to score a 16-yard touchdown by Louis Brown IV on a throw by O’Neil with six seconds left in the half.

UH employed the retro run-and-shoot shovel pass to running backs in some timely situations. Schager found Landon Sims with one for a first down over midfield in the fourth to set up the game’s decisive sequence.

White sacked Schager at midfield. Schager went incomplete over the middle to Ashlock and UH elected to go for it on a hurried fourth and 18 with 3:10 left. Schager got rid of it to a leaping Ashlock for 19 yards for a huge play at the SDSU 39.

White dropped Schager again for his third sack of the game, setting up third and 19 at the two-minute mark. UH gained 15 on a catch by Ashlock but the fateful fourth-down play came up short.

Defensive end Elijah Robinson led the UH defense with 11 tackles, including 10 solo and three for loss. Jackie Johnson III and Malachi Finau notched sacks of O’Neil.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.