RENO, NEV. » In a crushing 1-2 knockout, the Hawaii football team lost starting quarterback Bryant Moniz for the rest of the season and then absorbed a 42-28 defeat to Nevada on Saturday night at Mackay Stadium.

The outcome ended the Warriors’ quest to repeat as Western Athletic Conference champions. Sitting at .500, the Warriors (5-5, 3-3 WAC) could find themselves on the outside looking in. They need to win two of their next three games to clinch a winning regular season and earn an accompanying berth in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

But they will have to do it without their co-captain, Moniz, who suffered a broken right tibia during a first-quarter sack. Moniz was scrambling when, surrounded by three Wolf Pack players, he collapsed in a heap. It appeared to be a non-contact injury. While the cause was not determined, the impact proved to be emotionally jolting.

"It was tough," UH middle linebacker Corey Paredes said. "He’s our leader."

UH head coach Greg McMackin described Moniz’s injury as "devastating. It hurt us for a little bit because everyone was sort of frozen."

McMackin added: "It’s pretty tough when you lose your leader right off the bat. It shocked a lot of guys to see him with a broken leg, and know he’s done."

Moniz is a fifth-year senior who joined the Warriors as a non-scholarship player in January 2008. McMackin said Moniz will undergo surgery "right away."

The Warriors are scheduled to leave Reno early this morning.

Shane Austin, also a fifth-year senior who was a walk-on initially, replaced Moniz, completing 17 of 38 passes for 246 yards and his first touchdown of the season — a 21-yard strike to Miah Ostrowski with 11:01 to play.

That play closed the Warriors to 35-28, but in the night’s theme, it proved to be a tease.

Each time the Warriors made a move, the Wolf Pack answered.

"It was frustrating," Austin said.

Trailing 14-6, the Warriors tied it when John Hardy-Tuliau blocked Jake Hurst’s punt, then recovered the football in the end zone. After a timeout, Austin threw to slotback Billy Ray Stutzmann on an out pattern for the 2-point conversion.

Then the Wolf Pack drove 64 yards in six plays to regain the lead, with the final 8 yards coming on a pass from Cody Fajardo to Rishard Matthews.

Nevada’s Kendall Brock fumbled away the opening kickoff of the second half, giving the Warriors possession at the Pack 19. But four plays later, on a first and goal from the 1, Joey Iosefa took a handoff from Austin and then fumbled in the end zone. The Pack recovered.

"I have no idea what happened," Austin said. "I thought we scored. I thought we had it, and then I saw the ball sitting there (in the end zone). I don’t know how that happened. It was things like that. If we score, we have a chance to win the ballgame."

Instead, the Pack drove 78 yards for a touchdown, with the 14-point swing boosting its lead to 28-14. Even that scoring play could have been avoided, except Fajardo slipped defensive tackle Siasau Matagiese’s grasp en route to a 25-yard dash.

Later, Nevada receiver Shane Anderson scored on a 5-yard pass after eluding UH linebacker Art Laurel at the 2.

Leading 35-28 in the fourth quarter, Nevada was stopped at the UH 15. With Nevada’s top two kickers injured, Hurst was summoned for a 35-yard attempt, from the right hashmark.

Mason Magleby, the backup holder, caught the long snap, then threw to tight end Kolby Arendse for a 15-yard touchdown pass to move the Pack out of reach.

The Warriors’ final two possessions ended with interceptions.

"We didn’t make enough plays when we had the chances," offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich said. "We definitely had our opportunities."

Meanwhile, the Pack converted key third-down plays, and Fajardo managed to scramble away from would-be tacklers. Fajardo, a second-year freshman, has started every game in the Pack’s five-game winning streak. The Pack have won 16 in a row at Mackay.

"We were ready to go, but Nevada came out on top," Paredes said.