Hawaii’s leading receiver, junior John Ursua, did not play in Saturday’s SoFi Hawaii Bowl with a hamstring injury.

The announcement was made right before kickoff.

Ursua finished his junior season with 1,343 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. The first-team All-Mountain West selection was named to the Associated Press and USA Today midseason All-America second teams and was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award given to the nation’s top receiver.

Ursua still has a year of eligibility remaining but could declare for the NFL Draft and forego his senior season.

He ranks seventh in career touchdown catches (24) at UH and ninth in career receptions (189) and receiving yards (2,662).

QB battle heads into the offseason

Two Hawaii quarterbacks, sophomore Cole McDonald and freshman Chevan Cordeiro, played extensively against Louisiana Tech and neither stood out.

That makes the offseason an intriguing one for the most important position in the run-and-shoot offense.

McDonald got the start and was 10-for-20 for 85 yards with a touchdown and two picks, while Cordeiro, who gave Hawaii a 7-3 lead with a 24-yard TD pass to Jason-Matthew Sharsh in the second quarter, finished 7-for-14 for 83 yards and an interception.

Cordeiro came off the bench to throw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes in a win over UNLV that clinched Hawaii’s bowl eligibility, but didn’t play in the road win at San Diego State to end the regular season.

Saturday was his fourth appearance this season, keeping him eligible for a redshirt year.

McDonald started the season hot with 24 touchdown passes in his first six games but closed the year with seven TDs and seven interceptions over his final five games.

Warriors lose composure in second quarter

Any chance of Hawaii extending its 7-3 lead before halftime was taken away by four 15-yard penalties in four plays.

UH forced its third turnover of the half on a fumble recovered by Kana’i Picanco and had the ball on the Bulldogs’ 40 with 1:37 on the clock.

Junior J.R. Hensley was whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but UH managed a first down two plays later on a Louisiana Tech face-mask penalty.

The yardage came right back when freshman Solo Vaipulu was whistled for taking off his helmet while on the field following the flag on the Bulldogs’ Jaylon Ferguson.

Vaipulu was then called for a personal foul on the next play and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by another UH player resulted in the ball moving back to the UH 31 for a first-and-40 snap.

UH had seven penalties for 85 yards in the first half and 12 flags total for 140 yards.