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- Hawaii defeated Utah State 44-26, outscoring them 17-0 in the fourth.
- USU's coach praised Hawaii's critical plays, admitting his team lacked execution.
- Hawaii's Micah Alejado excelled with 413 yards, 3 TDs, and a rushing score.
It was a fourth quarter to remember for the hosts and one to forget for the visitors in their longest road trip of the 2025 college football season.
Hawaii outscored Utah State 17-0 during those final 15 minutes of action to turn a nailbiter into a comfortable 44-26 victory in a Mountain West game that concluded Sunday morning Mountain Standard Time at Clarence T.C. Ching Complex.
The Warriors were dominant on both sides of the ball during the fourth quarter as not only did they score 17 points, but forced two turnovers, plus another turnover on downs. Hawaii (5-2, 2-1 MW) snapped an eight-game losing streak to USU, in the process, plus moved to within one win of bowl eligibility.
"First of all, congratulations to Timmy and the University of Hawaii," USU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I thought they played well, they played physical, they played hard. They made the majority of the critical plays at the critical time throughout the course of the night.
"The margins are thin in conference games, they're thin on the road and you have to execute and you have to execute well from beginning to end. And you have to do it in context, whether it's a two-minute drive, whether you're trying to come from behind, whether you're protecting a lead, whether it's fourth down, whether it's third down, and so we're currently not. And I haven't prepared the team well enough to consistently make the critical play from beginning to end. And to Hawaii's credit, they made most of those critical plays from beginning to end, and that ended up being the difference."
The Aggies (3-3, 1-1) had no answer for Micah Alejado, Hawaii's gunslinger of a quarterback, who competed 34 of 54 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns, plus showcased his speed on a 15-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. The Warriors were even able to get their ground attack on track late in the game as running back Landon Sims rushed for almost all of his 82 yards in the final quarter and slammed the door with a 4-yard TD run in which he broke multiple tackles with 3:41 remaining in the contest.
It was equally as frustrating of a second half for the Aggies on offense as they were shut out after finding paydirt 59 seconds into the third quarter. The Warriors were unsuccessful on an onside kick to begin the quarter, and the Aggies quickly took advantage of the resulting good field position. USU only needed three plays to dent the scoreboard as Bryson Barnes, who was banged up late in the second quarter, found tight end Broc Lane for a 32-yard scoring strike. The PAT was blocked, but USU still held a 26-24 lead.
The Warriors retook the lead for good, though, with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter, courtesy of a 46-yard field goal by Kansei Matsuzawa, Mr. Automatic, who has connected on 20 straight FGs dating back to last season.
The hosts then proceeded to score on its next three possessions to take control of the game. The Aggies were unable to slow down Hawaii's bevy of talented receivers, which burned USU's defensive backs on several occasions, but also made some difficult catches, including one of the one-handed variety by talented veteran Pofele Ashlock. Ashlock accounted for 113 yards and a trio of TDs on eight receptions, while Jackson Harris also eclipsed the century mark with 117 yards on seven catches.
"As we continued to press as the game got tighter, as the stakes became even higher in those moments, their players were making the plays, whether it was one-handed (catches), two-handed (catches), falling forward for a first down," Mendenhall said. "And our assignments either weren't as precise, weren't as sharp and didn't execute well enough to then be able to withstand that. And that comes through coaching, right. That's my job. It comes through preparation and, again, almost all of these games are determined by a handful, that's three to five plays. This one I would probably add two to three more."
