If you didn’t see this one coming, then you haven’t been following the University of Hawaii football program long enough.

The Rainbow Warriors having never won in Provo, Utah, in nine previous meetings begs the question: Why today?

Why, indeed.

Playing every bit the part of the team predicted to finish at the bottom of the barrel, the Warriors were outplayed by the host Brigham Young University Cougars, who secured a 49-23 nonconference win today before a jubilant homecoming crowd at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

The win gave BYU a record of 4-3. Hawaii dropped to 6-2 for the season and still one win shy of being bowl eligible. The Rainbow Warriors will begin that pursuit once again on Oct. 20 at home against the University of Nevada as they return to Mountain West Conference play.

They will be glad BYU freshman quarterback Zach Wilson will not be among them. All the 19-year-old did in his first start on national TV was complete 16 of 24 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns. Yeah, he had a pick, but he managed the game very well thanks to a rushing attack that finally lived up to its preseason billing.

Four running backs scored touchdowns for the Cougars, who finished with 280 yards on the ground. Matt Hadley led the way with 91 yards on nine carries and one score. Lopini Katoa finished with 83 yards on 16 attempts.

Up 18 as the fourth quarter began, BYU was looking to end it on a drive that started in the third. The Cougars began the final quarter 51 yards from pay dirt and with Wilson in control. A tiring UH defense didn’t know if Wilson would throw or just hand off to a back protected by the prototype large offensive line, grinding its way down the field.

Facing a big third down, Wilson converted with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Aleva Hifo and Skyler Southam made the PAT to make it 42-17 with 10:50 left in the game. The 12-play, 75-yard drive used almost eight minutes of clock and showed the vulnerability of UH’s undersized defensive line.

Meanwhile, the BYU defensive front manhandled the Warriors O-line to the tune of four sacks and numerous hurries of UH starting quarterback Cole McDonald. He completed 22 of 38 for 248 yards and two scores. The last one was a beautiful 17-yarder to John Ursua, who made an amazing catch on fourth down to cut the lead to 42-23 with 7:08 left. The try for 2 failed. Ursua caught nine passes for 89 yards and the one score. He now has 13 scores for the season and continues to lead the nation in that category.

BYU added one more score on a 26-yard touchdown pass to Gunner Romney. Southam hit his final PAT to make it 49-23 with 3:45 left in the game. Wilson threw it on a fourth-and-6 call in a game already out of reach.

Down 25 points to start the second half, UH did what coach Nick Rolovich wanted — force a three-and-out by the prolific BYU offense. That task completed , the Warriors began their first drive of the second half at their own 48, eventually scoring on a 1-yard run by Dayton Furuta. The drive was extended by McDonald on a 4-yard keeper on fourth down as the Warriors needed nine plays to move 52 yards for the score. Ryan Meskell added the PAT to cut BYU’s lead to 28-10 with 10:25 left in the third period.

The defense forced another three-and-out on the next BYU series, but Hawaii’s Justice Augafa muffed the punt and the Cougars recovered at the UH 35. This time, they needed only five plays to cover that short distance as Riley Burt took it in from 3 yards out to put away the game. Southam added the extra point to make it 35-10 with 6:39 remaining in the third quarter.

Playing against a soft BYU defense designed not to give it all up on one play, McDonald put together a nice nine-play, 69-yard drive that culminated with a 20-yard screen pass to a wide-open Furuta, who rumbled in for the score. Meskell knocked through the extra point to make it 35-17 with 2:57 left in the quarter.

Already down 14-0 after the opening 15 minutes, it was just more of the same for Hawaii after BYU forced another three-and-out on UH’s next drive as the quarter ended. Hawaii’s first play of the second period was a punt as the Cougars began their third drive of the game at their own 35.

Once again, the run was the order of the day. And why not? The Cougars managed 100 yards on the ground in the first quarter alone. But Wilson got a little greedy on a third-and-7 and the pass was picked off by Rojesterman Farris II, his first of the season.

From their own 37, the Warriors moved into Cougars territory for the first time all day, setting up a second-and-6 from the 46. McDonald had an apparent touchdown go south when wideout Cedric Byrd had the football bounce off his face mask — the ball picked off and then dropped. No matter. Byrd dropped another pass on fourth-and-6, giving BYU the ball at its own 46 to begin drive No. 4.

BYU wasted little time getting back into UH territory via the ground and then the pass as Wilson shook off the pick with a first-and-10 from the UH 21. From there, the Cougars only needed one snap, as Hadley took it around the right side untouched against an overmatched UH defense that had no idea what was coming next. Southam added the PAT to make it 21-0 with 7:24 left in the first half.

Hawaii took over at its own 21 in need of a spark, and found it on a big pass from McDonald to Byrd to set up a first-and-10 at the BYU 27. The play went for 42 yards, the longest of the half for UH. Two plays later, UH had a first down at the 15. But three incomplete passes led to a 33-yard field goal by Meskell to make it 21-3 with 4:24 remaining in the quarter.

The Hawaii defense forced a three-and-out to give the offense a shot at first-half redemption. With 3:15 left, the Warriors began at their own 25 with McDonald still struggling to get something going. And thanks to a major error in judgment by the sophomore quarterback on a third-and-10, BYU had an easy pick that Austin Lee returned 36 yards to the UH 13. Wilson needed only one snap to make UH pay with a 13-yard scoring pass to Dallin Holker. Southam added the PAT to extend BYU’s lead to 28-3 with 1:35 left in the half.

The beginning of the end started early in the first quarter. After forcing a Hawaii punt near midfield to open the game, BYU took over at its own 13 and marched steadily down the field with a good mixture of run and pass under the guidance of Wilson. During the 12-play drive, he completed five of six passes for 48 yards, setting up a fourth-and-1 from the Hawaii 12.

Katoa took it in from there on the next snap to give the Cougars the boost on offense missing the past couple of games. Southam added the PAT to make it 7-0 with 7:48 left in the opening period. But BYU was just getting started. After forcing a three-and-out on defense, the Cougars took over at their own 44 in search of more offense.

Wilson helped them find it with another nasty page from the playbook that put Hawaii on its heels quickly as the Cougars managed a first-and-10 from the UH 19. But a holding penalty by BYU put the Cougars behind the sticks, facing an eventual third-and-15 that Wilson converted into a 23-yard touchdown run off the quarterback draw as the freshman faked UH safety Ikem Okeke right out of his pants en route to the easy score. Southam added the PAT to give BYU a comfortable 14-0 lead with 1:02 left in the opening quarter. BYU needed only seven plays to put Hawaii into a deep hole it never escaped.

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