Freshman Darius Muasau helps the Hawaii defense make a stand

Hawaii’s defense made like true freshman Darius Muasau and filled the gap on Saturday night.

Muasau, a Mililani High alumnus pressed into service for an injury-battered linebacker unit, held his own and was emblematic of the Rainbow Warriors holding firm in a 31-28 comeback win over Oregon State at Aloha Stadium.

The Beavers of the Pac-12 were shut out in the second half after leading the entire first behind a strong ground game.

With the game tied 28-all with under six minutes to play, Muasau made consecutive solo tackles on OSU running back Jermar Jefferson, including one for a loss of 4 that set up a fourth-and-6 situation for the Beavers in their own territory.

OSU faked the punt, passed it high, and UH took over on downs in excellent position to make the go-ahead field goal with 2:17 left.

>> Click here to see photos of the game between Hawaii and Oregon State.

“Amazing. Darius Muasau, a true freshman, is out there playing in critical situations in the game, and holding his own,” marveled UH defensive coordinator Corey Batoon. “The future’s very bright for him. He’s a kid who every day comes to work, ‘What can I learn, what can you teach me?’ So those are the guys that it’s a real pleasure to work with. But it’s a fun group to work with.”

UH true freshmen are not allowed to speak to the media, so senior linebacker Kana‘i Picanco was more than happy to speak for him.

“Darius, he got his shot today, and he played good,” Picanco said. “He’s young, but he’s developing. He’s going to be a name to watch out for in the future.”

In the present, how the UH defense — which was without injured linebackers Penei Pavihi (out for the year) and Jeremiah Pritchard (week to week) — would fare against the Beavers’ capable stable of backs was one of the game’s biggest questions.

It didn’t look good in the early going.

The Beavers gained 177 yards on the ground in the first half — led by Jefferson’s 104 — but just 86 the rest of the way.

“Really, we just locked in. They kind of surprised us with the ground game, but we made some adjustments and came out ready to play,” said cornerback Cortez Davis, who had seven tackles, including one for loss, and a pass breakup.

Jefferson finished with 31 carries for 1 83 yards, the third-best total of his career, but the Beavers were otherwise negated, leading to two desperate fourth-quarter, fourth-down attempts by the visitors.

UH held OSU to just 1-for-9 on third-down conversions in the second half after the Beavers went 4-for-6 before halftime.

“We just settled down a little more in our gaps. And we finished tackles, that was the biggest thing,” Batoon said. “First half, I thought we were in position to close out some of those runs, and just didn’t do a good enough job of getting the guy to the round. We probably settled down and did a better job with our angles, and just really played a lot more physical in the second half.”

When OSU tried to lateral the ball a couple of times on the final play of the game starting from its 37, UH stayed disciplined and forced it down at the Rainbow Warriors’ 45.

“(They were) just trying to hook and ladder kind of thing, trying to keep the ball alive,” Batoon said. “We worked that situation. We worked the Hail Mary, and that’s what we were preparing for. But basically, end of the game situation, you gotta be able to keep the ball inbounds, keep everything inside and in front of you, get the guy down and close it out.”