SAN DIEGO » To exit Qualcomm Stadium, the University of Hawaii football team had to walk through a dim tunnel-like corridor to the parking lot.

The path was symbolic of this season’s journey. If there is a proverbial light at the end of this tunnel, it was not visible on Saturday night in a 20-10 loss to San Diego State.

It was the Rainbow Warriors’ 16th consecutive road defeat, a school record dating to Oct. 29, 2011. The Warriors’ fingerprints were all over this one.

In the postgame gloom, UH coach Norm Chow referenced Kansas State’s coach.

"My buddy Bill Snyder said accurately one time: ‘Teams lose football games, they don’t win ‘em,’" Chow said. "We lost the football game tonight. The numerous mistakes we made, I can’t believe we make ’em in the sixth, whatever game it is in the season. We’re going to keep fighting, keep working, and we’re going to get this thing straight."

The Warriors overcame injuries but not self-inflicted mistakes to fall to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference.

The Aztecs improved to 4-3 and 3-1 in vaulting into first place in the West Division.

The Warriors missed a field goal from chip-shot range; dropped several passes; committed seven penalties, including a holding call that voided Keelan Ewaliko’s 100-yard kickoff return at the start of the second half; and couldn’t make stops in the fourth quarter.

Through the first three quarters, the Aztecs amassed 146 rushing yards. In the fourth quarter, the Aztecs ran for 137 yards.

"That can’t happen," UH defensive coordinator Kevin Clune said. "We have to be better in the fourth quarter."

SDSU running back Donnel Pumphrey gained 118 of his 182 yards in the fourth quarter. Pumphrey, who scored on a 10-yard run to punctuate the Aztecs’ opening drive, was instrumental in setting up Donald Hageman’s 23-yard field goal with 6:33 left to end the suspense. In that fourth-quarter drive, Pumphrey ran to his right, eluded a would-be tackler, used his right hand to keep his left knee from grazing the grass, and then sprinted 47 yards to move the Aztecs into field-goal range.

"Honestly, I just run," said Pumphrey, who is 5 feet 9 and 170 pounds. "Obviously, I don’t have the size, but I do have heart."

He said he relied on leg drills to maintain his balance on that long run.

"It was a technique I worked on," Pumphrey said.

Chase Price rushed for 41 yards. Marcus Stamps gained 38 yards in two third-and-short situations.

The Warriors struggled to find an offensive rhythm. In the first half, they went to a deliberate pace. Quarterback Ikaika Woolsey took snaps from under center, and tried to milk the play clock. The Warriors attempted only one pass in the first quarter. In the first six games, the Warriors ran a play every 21.2 seconds. In the first half against SDSU, they ran a play every 27.3 seconds.

But the Warriors had difficulty cobbling together key plays. They averaged 3.6 yards per rush. Woolsey was intercepted twice on deep balls in which defenders out-jumped receivers.

On the first interception, Woolsey admitted, he probably should have thrown to a check-down receiver.

"I have to be smarter with the ball," Woolsey said. "I can’t be turning the ball over."

Woolsey suffered an injury to his tailbone in the previous week’s game against Wyoming. He did not practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, and was used lightly in Thursday’s workout. But he took the majority of reps in Friday’s 40-minute practice at San Diego Mesa College.

On Saturday morning, Woolsey assured Chow he was fit to play.

Although Woolsey only had one designed run, he said he restricted his scrambling to manage the offense.

"I could have gotten out of the pocket to make some plays, but I wanted to stay in there and deliver the ball to my athletes on the outside."

For the Warriors, though, the only touchdown came on Woolsey’s Hail Mary pass to Marcus Kemp near the end of the second quarter. Kemp, UH wideout Quinton Pedroza and three defensive backs soared, with the ball ricocheting off Na’im McGee’s shoulder. It fell to Kemp, who caught it with his back to the turf.

"It finally came my way," said Kemp, who was unsuccessful in grabbing two such throws last season. "(When) the ball’s in your hands … it’s surreal. You look at the ball. Did this really happen?"

But the Warriors could not conjure enough fortunate plays. The defense did not create any turnovers.

"We did not set up the offense for a score like we have in our other games," Clune said. "And those small things make the score 20-10 when we could have done more things on defense to make it a lot better for us."

TEAM STATISTICS

DEFENSIVE STATISTICS

HAWAII

SAN DIEGO STATE

TACKLES FOR LOSS-YARDS — Hawaii, Marcus Malepeai 2-9, Benetton Fonua 2-7. San Diego St., Alex Barrett 1-5, Calvin Munson 1-1.
SACKS-YARDS — Hawaii, Marcus Malepeai 1-8. San Diego St., Alex Barrett 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS — Hawaii, none. San Diego St., Damontae Kazee 1-0, Malik Smith 1-(minus 5).
KICKS BLOCKED — Hawaii, none. San Diego St., none.
QUARTERBACK HURRIES — Hawaii, none. San Diego St., none.

FIRST PERIOD

SAN DIEGO STATE
» Score: Donnel Pumphrey 10-yard run. Donny Hageman kick.
» Drive: 10 plays, 86 yards, 5:16 elapsed time. Time: 9:44. Score: SDSU 7, Hawaii 0.

SAN DIEGO STATE
» Score: Hageman 36-yard field goal.
» Drive: 10 plays, 28 yards, 4:12 elapsed time. Time: 3:08. Score: SDSU 10, Hawaii 0.

SECOND PERIOD

HAWAII
» Score: Marcus Kemp 39-yard pass from Ikaika Woolsey. Tyler Hadden kick.
» Drive: 8 plays, 66 yards, 1:00 elapsed time. Time: 0:05. Score: SDSU 10, Hawaii 7.

THIRD PERIOD

SAN DIEGO STATE
» Score: Lloyd Mills 26-yard pass from Quinn Kaehler. Hageman kick.
» Drive: 9 plays, 92 yards, 4:56 elapsed time. Time: 6:33. Score: SDSU 17, Hawaii 7.

HAWAII
» Score: Hadden 25-yard field goal.
» Drive: 16 plays, 70 yards, 5:18 elapsed time. Time: 0:14. Score: SDSU 17, Hawaii 10.

FOURTH PERIOD

SAN DIEGO STATE
» Score: Hageman 23-yard field goal.
» Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards, 3:11 elapsed time. Time: 6:33. Score: SDSU 20, Hawaii 10.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

HAWAII

SAN DIEGO STATE