With a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback, the Hawaii football team pulled off a true stunner in its last scheduled visit to Fresno, Calif., on Saturday.

The Rainbow Warriors’ improbable 21-20 victory at Valley Children’s Stadium instantly became the signature win of Timmy Chang’s three-year tenure as UH head coach.

Mirroring his performance in his first career start against then-No. 18 Fresno State at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex in 2021, Brayden Schager threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to key the comeback along with some huge plays by the UH defense.

UH (4-5, 2-2 Mountain West) kept its bowl game hopes alive with three conference games to play. FSU (5-4, 3-2) was denied a chance to become bowl eligible.

UH improved to 2-14 in road games in the Chang era. Chang, in his record-setting time as UH quarterback, led the Warriors to a notable 31-21 win at FSU in 2002, a game that is part of the lengthy rivalry lore between the programs.

In a postgame phone interview with Spectrum News, linebacker Jalen Smith said Chang called a team meeting early in the week and played clips of UH success in past visits to Fresno.

"He let us know we had to come out here and repeat history," said Smith, a native of nearby Bakersfield, Calif., in the Central Valley.

Those chances appeared slim as Fresno State, far from sharp but opportunistic on UH mistakes, took a 20-7 lead into the final period. Even after UH got to within one score, hopes were dire after the Bulldogs’ Phoenix Jackson forced what appeared to be the game’s decisive turnover on a Nick Cenacle fumble with under two minutes left.

UH forced a quick stop, with Smith landing a critical third-down sack of FSU quarterback Mikey Keene, and the Rainbow Warriors got the ball back at the FSU 48 with 1:30 to go. They had to burn all three of their timeouts to stop the Bulldogs from running out the clock.

"Man, I don't get that sack if everybody on the field doesn't do their job," Smith said. "Me and Jamih (linebacker Otis) talked about it before we went out there. If they slide to me, he's got the 1-on-1. If they slide to him, I've got the 1-on-1. There's not many people who can block me, Jamih or the rest of our D-line 1-on-1, so one of us had to go make that play."

The Rainbow Warriors advanced into the red zone with effective out routes and from there, had seven throws at the end zone — UH was aided by a pass interference call on FSU on a Schager attempt to Tylan Hines.

Finally, Schager connected with a wide-open Cenacle from 3 yards to tie the game at 20 with 15 seconds left. Kansei Matsuzawa, the self-taught first-year FBS kicker, was true on his go-ahead extra-point attempt.

It first appeared the game was over when Matagi Thompson blew up Fresno State's ensuing hook-and-ladder play at midfield, but Thompson was called for targeting on the play and ejected. Fresno had one more untimed down. Jake Boust caught a 10-yard pass from Keene, but after two laterals, Malachi Finau forced FSU's Mac Dalena out at the UH 40.

"You don't stop playing until there's zero on the clock," Smith said. "We're going to fight until there's absolutely no chance left."

Cenacle had a career night with 12 catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter. Pofele Ashlock had a 5-yard TD grab from Schager on UH's first drive of the game, an effective 75-yard push down the field that the Rainbow Warriors were unable to replicate until the fourth.

Schager was 29-for-53 for 244 yards, three touchdowns, but had a pick-six interception to FSU's Jackson that was taken back 89 yards for the Bulldogs' last score with 3:58 left in the third quarter.

UH's first touchdown drive of the fourth was aided by a targeting call on former UH defensive back Cam Lockridge, who leveled Ashlock helmet to helmet in FSU territory. Lockridge was ejected and Ashlock, who took a hit to the head three weeks ago against Boise State and missed a game, was removed from the game to be examined.

Cornerback Cam Stone’s blocked extra-point attempt by Fresno State in the first half loomed large in the end.

"Every play on the field matters," Smith said. "There's a lot of plays that go unseen because it's not a big play, an explosive play. Little plays like that are going to add up to the end of the game. ... Cam blocking that PAT, us knowing ball, we knew that was huge."

Defensive lineman Elijah Robinson had two sacks among his three tackles for loss.

The long-running series is in question beyond the 2025 season because Fresno State has committed to joining the Pac-12 Conference in 2026, while UH pledged to become a full member of the MWC that same year.

UH faces UNLV (6-2, 2-1) at the Ching Complex on Saturday.

Note: A previous version of the story displayed an incorrect record for Hawaii.

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