No. 24 San Diego State moved into a tie for first place in the Mountain West Conference’s West Division Saturday night, holding off Hawaii’s last drive to earn a 17-10 win in Honolulu.
The Aztecs (8-1, 4-1) gained just 227 total yards and were penalized nine times for 90 yards, but leaned on their defense and special teams to get the win. The Rainbow Warriors (4-6, 1-4) managed only 260 total yards and were held to 85 yards on the ground.
Hawaii reached the San Diego State 18-yard line on its last drive, but Chevan Cordeiro’s 5-yard pass to Dedrick Parson on third down ended inbounds. With no timeouts to stop the clock, the Rainbow Warriors weren’t able to snap the ball for fourth down before time expired.
Cordeiro completed 19 of 34 passes for 175 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Aztecs quarterback Lucas Johnson stuck mostly to short passes, hitting 12 of 16 attempts for 99 yards.
San Diego State’s only points in the second half were Matt Araiza’s 39-yard field goal with 7:41 left in the game. Hawaii got a 22-yarder from Matthew Shipley with three minutes remaining.
San Diego State initiated scoring with 6:27 left in the first quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by Greg Bell, who gained 77 yards on 24 carries. The eight-play drive covered only 47 yards after a short Hawaii punt following a 3-and-out.
The Rainbow Warriors equalized just over four minutes later. On the first play after Johnson was strip-sacked, with Isaiah Tufaga recovering at the Aztecs’ 19, Cordeiro found Calvin Turner running free over the middle for the score.
San Diego State took the lead for good with 9:43 remaining in the first half. Araiza came on for an apparent 30-yard field goal, but holder Jack Browning instead took the snap and blew through a huge hole on the left side of the formation for a 13-yard touchdown.
The perfectly-executed fake field goal capped one of the Aztecs’ best drives of the year, a 15-play, 82-yarder that lasted 7:33.
–Field Level Media
