Struck by "lightning," Hawaii was jolted into collective shock — and despair — in a 35-31 football loss to Utah State on Saturday night.

An Aloha Stadium crowd of 26,205 watched the Warriors squander a 28-7 halftime lead and, in all likelihood, a chance at repeating as Western Athletic Conference champions.

On a played called "lightning," Robert Turbin scored on a 1-yard run with 14 seconds left to complete the worst Warriors collapse in Greg McMackin’s four seasons as UH head coach.

"It was a tough loss," said McMackin, whose Warriors fell to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the WAC heading into Saturday’s nationally televised road game against first-place Nevada.

In each of their games this season, the Aggies (3-5, 1-2 WAC) had fourth-quarter leads.

This time, the Aggies had to scrape back without their starting quarterback, Chuckie Keeton, and against a Bryant Moniz-led UH offense that was having its way in a 28-0 second quarter.

"We believed and we believed and we believed," said Utah State quarterback Adam Kennedy, who entered on the final play of the second quarter. "And we did it for Chuckie."

Keeton was flattened on a scramble in which he and UH cornerback Tank Hopkins collided. After being examined on the field, Keeton was fastened to a spine board, and then taken by ambulance to The Queen’s Medical Center for examinations. A Utah State spokesman said Keeton was being evaluated for a neck injury, but did not suffer any loss of movement in his arms and legs.

"We talked about him in the locker room (at halftime)," Kennedy said. "We rallied around him. We love Chuckie. I’m really close to him. We spend hours together watching film."

Meanwhile, in the UH locker room, McMackin implored his players to "come out and dominate" in the second half.

"We went into the half feeling good about ourselves," said Moniz, who threw two scoring passes and rushed for two touchdowns in the second quarter. "Maybe we felt too good about ourselves. We have to come out in the second half and put away teams."

The mood — and momentum — began to shift when Turbin found an opening on a power play up the middle. His 48-yard scoring run closed the Aggies to 28-14.

The Warriors answered with Tyler Hadden’s 24-yard field goal. Hadden handled all of the kicking duties because Kenton Chun, who kicked the winning field goal for UH a week earlier, was not available to play because of tendinitis in his left (non-kicking) knee.

But that was all of the points the Warriors could muster in the second half.

"It felt like we were out of sync," receiver Billy Ray Stutzmann said.

The Warriors were, in fact, out of order — forced to scramble after losing several key players to injuries.

In the first half, left tackle Clayton Laurel aggravated an arm injury and did not play after that. Right wideout Royce Pollard, the Warriors’ best deep threat, suffered injuries to his left knee and left ankle. He said he will undergo an MRI today.

Right slotback Justin Clapp moved to right wideout as Pollard’s replacement, then exited after suffering at least one cracked rib. The Warriors played most of the second half with Stutzmann, the starting left slotback, at right wideout.

"It’s tough," Moniz said of the injuries, "but we have to do the job. That’s why we’re on the team. Coach said it’s an elite bunch. When your name is called, you have to play. You have to make plays."

Instead, it was the Aggies, behind Kennedy, who made all of the right moves.

The Aggies’ second fake punt was converted into a tipped completion to keep alive a drive. The Aggies then scored when Chuck Jacobs pulled in a pass between UH cornerback Mike Edwards and strong safety Richard Torres.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors faced a fourth and 3 at the Utah State 31. Moniz scrambled to his right and appeared to stretch for the first down. But the officials ruled he was a yard short.

"I thought I had it from the initial spot, but when the chains came out, I didn’t have it," Moniz said. "It’s a game of inches."

That sentiment was repeated on the ensuing Utah State play when Stanley Morrison caught a pass just beyond the grasps of Edwards and Torres. Morrison then completed the 71-yard scoring play.

"You lose some, you win some," Edwards said.

Torres said: "We were in position to make plays. It’s a game of inches. It’s the difference between winning and losing."

After the teams traded punts, the Aggies got the ball back with 4:56 to play, trailing 31-28.

The drive was extended when Hopkins bumped Utah State’s Matt Austin on a third-and-14 pass that landed out of bounds.

"He put his hands on me the whole game," Hopkins said. "The one time I put my hands on him, they call it. It is what it is."

The Aggies then drove inside the UH 1.

Turbin, whose childhood hero was The Hulk, was asked to be an action hero.

"No doubt," Kennedy said. "The man’s huge. You have to give it to him. He deserves that touchdown."

Turbin said: "Coach called for lightning, and that was that. We got in."

UH defensive tackle Vaughn Meatoga said the Warriors welcomed that final challenge.

"You live for stuff like that," Meatoga said. "If you stop them, you’re on a high. They made one more play than we did."