SAN JOSE, Calif. » A year ago, San Jose State traveled to Honolulu and the Warriors hammered the Spartans by 34 points.

"Like I told the guys, if you could have told me last year after playing Hawaii, that we could beat Hawaii playing ugly, I would have told you that you were crazy," Spartans coach Mike MacIntyre said.

San Jose State turned the ball over six times on Friday night, failed to take full advantage of six Warriors turnovers and somehow, some way, pulled out a 28-27 victory.

The winning touchdown came on a 37-yard pass from Matt Faulkner to Chandler Jones with 36 seconds left. Jones took a pass over the middle and broke several tackles en route to the end zone for his third touchdown of the night. The others came on a 20-yard run and a 23-yard fumble return on a Spartans kickoff.

"It was a crossing route," MacIntyre said of the game winner. "Matt just stepped up in there and threw it and Chandler ran through three of them and scored. And he would not be denied."

How the Spartans got to that point is kind of amazing. San Jose State took a 20-7 lead into the locker room at halftime, but couldn’t have been satisfied. That’s because the Spartans forced five Hawaii turnovers in the first half and turned them into just 10 points. A fumble by Bryant Moniz at the Warriors 8 led to a missed field goal. A 70-yard interception return for a touchdown by Peyton Thompson was called back due to a personal foul on Bene Benwikere and San Jose State went three and out.

San Jose State turned over the ball on its first five possessions of the second half. Moniz gave one of them back on his own interception, but the Warriors turned three of them into touchdowns for a 27-20 lead.

However, on that final touchdown, Travis Johnson snuck in to block Kenton Chun’s conversion. Duke Ihenacho picked up the ball and returned it for two points for San Jose, leaving the score 27-22. Ihenacho pulled his hamstring on the play but still ran the ball back 80 yards.

"The old ‘mo’ turned hard," MacIntyre said. "And we turned it back."

Hawaii, which has had trouble with its kicking game all season, was burned again later by Johnson. Tyler Hadden lined up for a 42-yard field-goal attempt. Different kicker, same result. Johnson got his arm on the ball and the Warriors were denied.

"The first time, I was in the B gap running and I just went as hard as I could and it just opened up," Johnson said. "I just got through and put up my hand. The second time, I was in the A gap with a little more larger men in the middle. I did the same thing, just hit it as hard as I could and I got through and got another one."

With 3 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the game, the Spartans couldn’t take advantage of the block. On the second play, Brandon Rutley caught a pass from Faulkner for 25 yards before fumbling. Clearly, the final mistake that would bury San Jose State.

Not on your life. The Spartans held, then drove 87 yards on six plays in 48 seconds to get the game winner. As MacIntyre said, it was ugly. But oh, so beautiful to San Jose State.