For the University of Hawaii football team, beauty was win deep.

“It’s like the ugly duckling,” UH coach Nick Rolovich said of Saturday night’s 41-36 victory over Tennessee Martin. “Even his mom loved him. We love this win. But it was ugly as heck.”

In the Rainbow Warriors’ home opener after consecutive losses on two continents, they were intercepted three times, missed several tackles and blew coverages, and relinquished a 79-yard punt return for a touchdown that gave the Skyhawks the lead, 36-35, with 9:02 to play.

But in the Halawa drizzle, quarterback Ikaika Woolsey refused to let this one slip away against an FCS opponent that was without its injured No. 1 quarterback and fielded a roster with 22 fewer scholarships. Woolsey gathered the offensive players and implored: “We’ve got to make plays. … We have to stick together and play for each other.”

Woolsey extended the drive when he darted 14 yards on a third-and-7 scramble. Two plays later, from the UH 37, Woolsey fired a pass over the outstretched arms of wideout Ammon Barker. In the ensuing huddle, there was not a doubting stare.

“My teammates kept me in the game,” Woolsey said. “They believed in me.”

Woolsey then took the shotgun snap, shuffled in the pocket — “one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi …” — then lofted a long pass. Right wideout Marcus Kemp tracked the football, secured the catch and then absorbed a hit from defensive back Joe Este. Kemp landed atop Este, rolled without his knees touching Aloha Stadium’s new synthetic turf, and stretched the football across the goal line for a 41-36 lead with 6:43 to play. Woolsey’s ensuing 2-point pass was deflected.

“He caught me,” Kemp said of Este, “but I was lucky I was able to stretch on top of him and get the ball out. I’m glad the refs saw that.”

Kemp’s three catches resulted in three touchdowns.

“Got the hat trick,” Kemp said. “It was really exciting. I haven’t scored three touchdowns since the first game of my senior year (in high school). I’m grateful for the guy behind me” — he pointed at Woolsey — “for throwing it to me. I believe in Ikaika.”

The Skyhawks, who squandered a third-quarter lead against Cincinnati a week ago, were not done. They converted two fourth-down passes to advance to the UH 39.

In the first half, UH defensive end Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea whiffed on a tackle that turned into quarterback Troy Cook’s 17-yard scramble. “I knew I was going to be late,” Kema-Kaleiwahea said, “so I tried to get a PBU (pass breakup) or strip sack.”

On the Skyhawks’ final drive, Kema-Kaleiwahea had a clear shot at Cook. This time, he said, “I was going in for the win.”

Cook was sacked for a 12-yard loss.

On the next play, Trayvon Henderson raced untouched on a safety blitz to flatten Cook.

“I was going full speed,” Henderson said. “I wanted to make the tackle.”

Under heavy pressure that could not be alleviated by a holding infraction, Cook threw incomplete on third down. On fourth down, Cook was intercepted by cornerback Jalen Rogers with 1:03 to play.

The Warriors then ran out the clock for Rolovich’s first head coaching victory. Rolovich, a former UH quarterback and offensive coordinator, was hired in November.

“I’m happy for those boys,” Rolovich said. “They stuck together. It wasn’t pretty. I had a hunch that we would have taken a win however it happened. I had a hunch this thing might go down to a last-possession game. I called overtime. That (outcome) might have done more for our football team than a blowout would have.”

The Skyhawks set the tempo with a power running game (214 rushing yards) and layered passing attack that controlled possession for 34 minutes, 17 seconds. Cook, who played his first two college seasons at Florida State, started in place of injured Gunnar Holcombe.

The Warriors were able to counter with their own running attack. Diocemy Saint Juste scored on a 24-yard run in which he broke a tackle, stiff-armed a defender and dived into the end zone.

“You use all your fundamentals, everything you were taught all through the years, and just get into the end zone,” said Saint Juste, who finished with 92 yards on 16 carries.

Steven Lakalaka contributed 71 rushing yards, including a 15-yard touchdown. In the second half, with the Warriors leading 28-24, they faced a fourth-and-1 from their 29. Rolovich kept the offense on the field.

“I had to show our boys I believed in them,” Rolovich said. “I don’t know, maybe I was stupid.”

Lakalaka got the handoff and gained 13 yards.

“I feel when they give me the ball, they trust me,” Lakalaka said. “I wanted the ball. The O-line set the blocks up so I could make that cutback and run as much as I could.”

Rolovich maintained his faith in Woolsey, who struggled with his accuracy. He was lifted in the second quarter after being hit hard. But Woolsey started the second half. Even though two of his interceptions were parlayed into touchdown drives, Woolsey made key plays down the stretch.

“Ikaika had a tough day,” Rolovich said of Woolsey, who was 9-for-18 for 213 yards. “He made some plays.”

Woolsey said: “Obviously, I did not play well tonight, turning the ball over and making those dumb decisions. I’m proud of the way the boys stood together, and how we finished. They definitely saved me a tremendous number of times. A win’s a win. It was an ugly win, but we’ll take it.”

FIRST QUARTER

UT MARTIN

>> Mitch Mersman 27 field goal.

>> Drive: 10 plays, 64 yards, 5:27 elapsed time. Time: 9:33. Score: UT Martin 3, Hawaii 0

HAWAII

>> Marcus Kemp 7 pass from Ikaika Woolsey. Rigo Sanchez kick.

>> Drive: 11 plays, 81 yards, 5:29 elapsed time. Time: 3:59. Score: Hawaii 7, UT Martin 3

UT MARTIN

>> Kyle Kerrick 12 pass from Troy Cook. Mersman kick.

>> Drive: 3 plays, 46 yards, 1:07 elapsed time. Time: 0:18. Score: UT Martin 10, Hawaii 7

SECOND QUARTER

UT MARTIN

>> CJ McElrath 16 pass from Cook. Mersman kick.

>> Drive: 8 plays, 85 yards, 3:50 elapsed time. Time: 9:45. Score: UT Martin 17, Hawaii 7

HAWAII

>> Steven Lakalaka 15 run. Sanchez kick.

>> Drive: 2 plays, 19 yards, 0:38 elapsed time. Time: 6:57. Score: UT Martin 17, Hawaii 14

THIRD QUARTER

UT MARTIN

>> Jaimiee Bowe 26 run. Mersman kick.

>> Drive: 7 plays, 47 yards, 3:11 elapsed time. Time: 10:14. Score: UT Martin 24, Hawaii 14

HAWAII

>> Diocemy Saint Juste 24 run. Sanchez kick.

>> Drive: 2 plays, 25 yards, 0:47 elapsed time. Time: 7:43. Score: UT Martin 24, Hawaii 21

HAWAII

>> Marcus Kemp 33 pass from Woolsey. Sanchez kick.

>> Drive: 3 plays, 49 yards, 1:14 elapsed time. Time: 3:24. Score: Hawaii 28, UT Martin 24

FOURTH QUARTER

HAWAII

>> Metuisela ‘Unga, 36 pass from Woolsey. Sanchez kick.

>> Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 3:41 elapsed time. Time: 11:42. Score: Hawaii 35, UT Martin 24

UT MARTIN

>> Ben Axline 65 pass from Cook. Cook pass failed.

>> Drive: 1 plays, 65 yards, 1:07 elapsed time. Time: 11:32. Score: Hawaii 35, UT Martin 30

UT MARTIN

>> Londell Lee 79 punt return. Cook pass failed.

>> Time: 9:02. Score: UT Martin 36, Hawaii 35

HAWAII

>> Kemp 63 pass from Woolsey. Woolsey pass failed.

>> Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards, 2:13 elapsed time. Time: 6:43 Score: Hawaii 41, UT Martin 36

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–UTM, Jaimiee Bowe 18-113, Ladevin Fair 12-81, Caylon Weathers 1-9, Troy Cook 7-8, Najee Ray 5-3. UH, Diocemy Saint Juste 16-92, Steven Lakalaka 11-71, Ikaika Woolsey 4-17, Paul Harris 2-4, Dru Brown 1-minus 5, team 3-minus 4.

PASSING–UTM, Cook 12-26-2–204. UH, Woolsey, 9-18-3–205, Brown 1-2-0–minus 2.

RECEIVING–UTM, Ben Axline 3-104, Fair 2-41, Weathers 2-22, Greg McKillion 2-8, CJ McElrath 1-16, Kyle Kerrick 1-12, Londell Lee 1-1. UH, Marcus Kemp 3-103, Saint Juste 3-13, Ammon Barker 1-37, Metuisela ‘Unga 1-36, Makoa Camanse-Stevens 1-10, Dylan Collie 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.