The University of Hawaii football team can spend the next eight months thinking about one of its worst performances of the season on a Saturday night when many of the 27,837 gathered at Aloha Stadium expected their best.

Louisiana Tech had a lot to do with it on both sides of the ball en route to a 31-14 drubbing of the Rainbow Warriors in the S0Fi Hawaii Bowl. Quarterback J’Mar Smith threw for 285 yards and one touchdown and rushed for another to lead an offensive attack that generated 453 yards. Louisiana Tech finished the year with an 8-5 mark. Hawaii fell to 8-6. The Rainbow Warriors managed only 226 yards. UH quarterbacks Cole McDonald and Chevan Cordeiro were sacked a Hawaii Bowl-record nine times.

They combined to complete only 17 of 34 passes for 168 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Bulldogs sophomore defensive end Willie Baker led the way with four sacks. Fellow end Jaylon Ferguson added 2.5 to set the NCAA record with 46 career sacks. He was an unstoppable force upfront and was named the team’s MVP of the game. The secondary was equally effective against an overmatched receiver corps for UH. The Warriors were without top wideout John Ursua, who decided to sit this one out with a sore hamstring. It’s likely he will forgo his senior season for the NFL Draft.

Not that he would have made the difference in this game.

After getting outscored 21-0 in the third quarter, Hawaii found itself in a hole it couldn’t escape. Louisiana Tech was up 24-7 and just trying to run the clock whenever it could. With 13 minutes left in the game, Hawaii got the ball back at its own 25 and in need of some points.

The Warriors converted their first third down of the game in 11 tries, but later in the drive McDonald was picked off by Amik Robertson, who took the ball back into UH territory. It was his second pick of the game and the stadium continued to empty with 11 minutes remaining.

Hawaii put a little thrill into those still left in the stadium with a blocked punt. UH took over at the Louisiana Tech 38 with McDonald under center. A pass interference in the end zone on the first play after the block gave UH the ball at the 23. Four snaps later, UH converted a big fourth down to make it first-and-goal from the 7. Three plays later, McDonald threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Armstrong-Brown. Ryan Meskell made the point after to cut the lead to 24-14 with 6:14 left in the game.

But Louisiana Tech put it out of reach with a 39-yard touchdown run by Kam McKnight to make it 31-17 with 3:45 left. Hale accounted for the final point in the three-hour, 39-minute game.

Trailing 7-3 to start the second half, Louisiana Tech got the ball first to start the third quarter. After Hawaii held on a third-and-short, the Bulldogs decided to go for it. Not only were the Bulldogs in an illegal formation, they lost 5 yards on the play as UH took over at the Louisiana Tech 30.

But the Bulldogs picked off Cordeiro, who telegraphed the pass the entire way, setting up the Bulldogs at their own 49 just four minutes into the second half. Whatever momentum UH gained on snuffing the fake punt earlier in the quarter was lost. Louisiana Tech quickly moved into scoring position and scored on a 5-yard touchdown run by Israel Tucker. Bailey Hale hit the PAT to give the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead with 10:27 left in the third period.

With the offense continuing to sputter, Louisiana Tech stuck a dagger in UH’s throat on a seven-play, 92-yard scoring drive, punctuated by a 58-yard screen pass Jaquis Dancy took to the house. Hale added the extra point to make it 17-7 Louisiana Tech with 4:44 left in the third quarter. Facing a third-and-9 deep in their own end, the Bulldogs converted on a 25-yard keeper by quarterback J’Mar Smith to keep the scoring drive alive.

Meanwhile, the Louisiana Tech defense, led by Ferguson, could do no wrong. Ferguson inspired the offense with his play as the Bulldogs kept piling up the yards in the second half against a dog-tired UH defense.

The Bulldogs extended the lead to 24-7 with a quick four-play, 65-yard drive that ended on a 4-yard touchdown run by Smith. Hale made the PAT as Louisiana Tech led 24-7 with 55 seconds left in the third. At this point, many in the largest crowd of the year had seen enough and headed toward the exits.

McDonald came back in as Rolovich kept playing musical chairs at quarterback, trying to find a spark as the fourth quarter began with UH down by 17. But a pick on a long pass play ended that drive just 10 seconds into the closing quarter.

Both teams struggled to move the ball in the early going, with Louisiana Tech taking a 3-0 lead on a 24-yard field goal by Hale with 1:08 left in the opening period. Under the direction of McDonald, the UH offense couldn’t find its footing, forcing Rolovich to bring in Cordeiro.

The freshman quarterback needed one series to get settled, then took Hawaii on a nice scoring drive of 71 yards that was set up on a strip fumble that was recovered by Hawaii. Cordeiro executed several nice pass plays in the seven-snap drive, including a 6-yarder to Cedric Byrd on a fourth-and-5 play. He followed that up with a 24-yard scoring strike to receiver Jason-Matthew Sharsh to give UH its first lead of the night. Meskell knocked through the extra point to make it 7-3 Hawaii with 8:20 left in the second quarter.

Hawaii forced two more turnovers before the half ended but did nothing with either one. The Bulldogs forced a three-and-out on the first mistake and then costly penalties killed any chance Hawaii had on the second drive, despite going as deep as the Louisiana Tech 39 with less than two minutes to go before intermission. The Warriors led 7-3 at the half.

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