RENO, Nev. » Hawaii’s special teams acquitted themselves well Saturday at Nevada. That is, until they were the guilty party when the Wolf Pack scored the game’s final touchdown, the one that secured their 42-28 win at Mackay Stadium.

Nevada lined up for a 33-yard field-goal try, leading 35-28 with less than 5 minutes in the game. But holder Mason Magleby threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kolby Arendse.

UH’s John Hardy-Tuliau and Aaron Brown were in the Nevada backfield quickly and diagnosed the fake, but came up just a bit short of making a play.

"Someone leaned out, but we almost got to the ball," Hardy-Tuliau said. "That was a big play for them."

Hawaii still had some time, but a 14-point deficit was especially daunting with starting quarterback Bryant Moniz knocked out of the game with a broken leg.

To that point, the Warriors special teams had played perhaps their best game of the season.

UH had consistently good field position due to Mike Edwards’ kickoff returns, Kenton Chun and Tyler Hadden both made all of their field goals and extra points and punter Alex Dunnachie averaged 46.6 yards per kick.

But the biggest play in the kicking game for Hawaii was Hardy-Tuliau’s block of a Nevada punt that ended with him in the end zone with the ball and a Hawaii touchdown.

Shane Austin’s 2-point-conversion pass to Billy Ray Stutzmann then tied the game at 14-all with 1:27 left in the first half.

"Siasau (Matagiese) and T.J. (Taimatuia) hit the shield and I got in there and got a hand on the ball," Hardy-Tuliau said. "Then it was scoop and score and praise."

Kawika Ornellas recovered a fumble on the second-half kickoff caused by Kamalani Alo, giving UH a golden opportunity to tie the game — especially when the Warriors got the ball to the Nevada 1.

But the Wolf Pack’s Duke Williams recovered Joey Iosefa’s fumble in the end zone. Nevada then went on a long touchdown drive to make its lead 28-14.

"We kind of knew what they were going to do on their return, so that helped, and Kama made a great play," Ornellas said. "I thought we were going to punch it in for sure. But hey, things happen."