The University of Hawaii football team went a long way to suffer yet another heartbreak.

This time, San Diego State used a rejuvenated running attack to seize a 28-21 overtime victory before 23,229 at Aloha Stadium.

The Aztecs (6-4, 5-1 in the Mountain West) celebrated becoming bowl eligible in a raucous locker room.

The winless Rainbow Warriors, dressed in retro uniforms, looked good but felt bad after suffering their 10th loss.

"It would have been nice to come out with a win," UH quarterback Sean Schroeder said. "It sounds like a broken record, but we’re going to break through one of these days."

Such dreams were rudely disturbed when the Aztecs rallied to tie it at 21 with 2:34 remaining in regulation, then won it on Adam Muema’s 2-yard run in overtime.

At the start of extra play, the Warriors won the toss, electing to allow the Aztecs the first possession. In overtime, each team gets a possession starting 25 yards from the goal line.

SDSU offensive coordinator Bob Toledo has a playlist on a legal-sized sheet scribbled in black and red ink. He chose only one play.

"Just a pitch-stretch play," Toledo said. "It’s the old USC pitch play."

The Aztecs’ version of "student-body right" was designed with the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Muema in mind.

"He’s our horse," Toledo said. "We were going to let him carry the football down there."

Muema gained 11 and 12 yards on the first two carries, then easily sprinted around right end for the final 2 yards, giving the Aztecs their first lead of the game.

"I was confident," said Muema, who finished with 163 yards on 24 carries. "I was ready to put it in."

The Warriors’ turn had drastic results.

Joey Iosefa, who rushed for 150 yards, was stopped for no gain on his school-record 37th carry.

"We tried to keep doing what we do," said Iosefa, who could not find a crease. "It was a little bit of this and a little bit of that."

UH coach Norm Chow said: "The whole key in overtime is to run the football. That’s what (the Aztecs) did. They ran three times and got a touchdown. We ran our first play and got stuffed. We had to make something else happen."

On second down, Schroeder was sacked for a 10-yard loss.

On third down, Schroeder lofted a pass that barely eluded wideout Billy Ray Stutzmann on a post pattern.

On fourth down, Schroeder was grabbed by two defenders. Schroeder pirouetted and managed to toss a pass that tight end Clark Evans could not secure.

"It’s a tough one," Schroeder said. "There’s no other word to describe it. It’s tough."

It appeared the Warriors were poised to end the drought. Their 7-0 lead was set up when Scott Harding’s rugby-styled punt struck an Aztec and was recovered by UH at the SDSU 23. Two plays later, Iosefa scored from 5 yards.

The Aztecs tied it at 7 when the UH defense froze after end Tavita Woodard jumped offsides. Quinn Kaehler threw to Colin Lockett, who scooted for a 56-yard touchdown.

On the ensuing possession, the Warriors regained the lead. After a brief rest, Iosefa ran onto the field, a usual indicator he would get the ball. Instead. Schroeder faked a handoff to Iosefa, then threw to Harold Moleni, who coasted into the end zone to complete the 31-yard play.

In the fourth quarter, with the score tied at 14, Iosefa was used as a different type of decoy. Iosefa aligned as a fullback, on the left of Schroeder, with Steven Lakalaka at tailback. Iosefa made a chip block, then ran upfield to catch a middle screen from Schroeder. Iosefa easily scored on the 8-yard play with 9:42 to play.

The Warriors then put their trust in the defense, which would finish with four turnovers. In the first half, the Warriors contained the Aztecs’ thunder-and-lightning duo of running backs Muema and Donnel Pumphrey. The Aztecs failed to convert their first five third-down plays. In the first half, they had 15 (non-sack) rushes for 50 yards.

"They really gave us problems in the first half with all the pressure they were giving us," Toledo said. "We came up with little adjustments at halftime, and we came out in the second half and performed a little better."

The Aztecs went back to the basics of the West Coast offense, adding two blockers to the mix. With UH’s No. 1 defensive ends — Tavita Woodard and Beau Yap — on the sideline with injuries, the Aztecs began to attack the perimeter.

"We tried to wear then down a little bit with our running game," Toledo said.

The Aztecs rushed 22 times for 169 yards in the second half.

On third-and-7 from the UH 43, Kaehler, a walk-on, and Ezell Ruffin teamed on a 31-yard play. Two plays later, fullback Chad Young took a handoff, ran right, then ran over two Warriors, en route to the tying 14-yard touchdown with 2:34 to go.

"They did a good job of knocking us off the ball at the end," said UH defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer, who was in the coaches’ booth for the first time this season. "We tried to get off blocks, but we got hung up at the end. We can’t do that."

UH safety John Hardy-Tuliau said: "They had a lot of success running. They finished. We didn’t finish."

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Read Stephen Tsai’s Warrior Beat at staradvertiser.com/warriorbeat.