Hawaii proves too much for Utah State, deals Aggies first MWC loss

Utah State’s hope of giving Bronco Mendenhall a dream season in his return to the state hit a speed bump Saturday night in Honolulu.

After dropping two tough “money” games at Texas A&M and Vanderbilt earlier this season, the former BYU, Virginia and New Mexico coach learned how difficult it can be to win after a long road trip to the Hawaiian islands.

Hawaii’s Micah Alejado threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score Saturday night to help Hawaii beat the Aggies 44-26 in a Mountain West Conference game that started at 10 p.m. MDT.

“There is a small margin in conference, especially on the road,” said Mendenhall postgame, now 3-3 in his inaugural season with the Aggies. “We had our chances. Hawaii just made more of the critical plays at the critical times, especially down the stretch.”

The game was close until the fourth quarter. Alejado, a redshirt freshman, completed 34 of 54 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns — all to Pofele Ashlock — and scored on a 15-yard run that gave Hawaii a 34-26 lead with 11:55 to play.

Utah State, which dropped to 1-1 in league play, never responded. In the fourth quarter, the Aggies got the ball five times and the results were: punt, punt, turnover-on-downs, fumble and interception.

The Aggies also couldn’t handle Hawaii’s offensive playmakers. Ashlock finished with eight receptions for 113 yards and touchdowns of 18, seven and 31 yards. Jackson Harris had 117 yards receiving on seven catches and Landon Sims had 10 carries for 82 yards and a TD.

The Rainbow Warriors and Aggies traded defensive stops to begin a back-and-forth first half. Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa connected on a 31-yard field goal to open the scoring, but it was quickly matched by Utah State on Tanner Rinker’s 20-yard field goal.

Two plays later, Alejado finished a four-play scoring drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Ashlock. Utah State responded when Miles Davis scored on a short run to tie the game.

Davis’ score came on a short field after a failed UH fake punt. Hawaii responded with a long drive that ended with another Alejado-to-Ashlock scoring pass.

After a Utah State field goal late in the half, the Rainbow Warriors put together one more scoring drive with a minute left to play. The formula was the same. Alejado completed passes of 17 and 15 yards to Harris that set up a 31-yard scoring pass to Ashlock.

“That was a tough one,” Mendenhall said. “We hadn’t prepared for that, and they threw it right over our heads.”

Utah State quarterback Bryson Barnes threw a 32-yard touchdown to Broc Lane that gave Utah State a 26-24 lead 59 seconds into the second half before the Rainbow Warriors scored the final 20 points and celebrated their first win over USU in the last nine tries.

Barnes completed 14 of 26 passes for 175 yards for the Aggies. He left the game briefly in the second quarter and was replaced by Jacob Conover, who guided a USU drive that ended with a 40-yard field goal by Rinker.

Davis led USU’s rushing attack with 102 yards on 15 carries. Braden Pagen had three catches for 84 yards, Brady Lloyd five receptions for 68 yards, and Lane four for 48. Lane and Javen Jacobs had TD catches.

Lane’s touchdown reception from Barnes on USU’s first drive of the third quarter was the Aggies’ last score. Hawaii, meanwhile, was just getting going.

“It’s kind of where we are,” Mendenhall said. “We are executing well for part of it, but not consistently. They (the Rainbows) throw and catch the ball well. (When) our coverage got tighter, they continued to make plays.”

Hawaii improved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in MWC play under coach Timmy Chang, a former UH player. With USU scheduled to move to the Pac-12 next year, this could be the last matchup between the schools for awhile.

The Aggies return home to take on San Jose State next Friday night at Maverik Stadium.