House of thrills, home of champions

After Saturday’s 14-11 victory over San Diego State, five of Hawaii’s seven home games this year have been decided by three points or fewer.

UH won four of them, and since two were against Mountain West opponents, the Warriors finish the conference season at 5-3 and champions of the conference’s West Division instead of in the middle of the pack. Of course, the 41-38 loss to Fresno State could’ve easily gone the other way, too.

The excitement started even before the conference games, with one-score victories over Pac-12 teams Arizona (45-38) and Oregon State (31-28).

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

Closing in on 50 years old, Aloha Stadium is far from a perfect place to watch a game. But anyone claiming not to be entertained by the frantic finishes this season needs to have his or her pulse checked.

And now — as unlikely as it may have seemed after that Fresno loss that put UH at 2-3 in the conference — the Warriors are division champions and headed to the title game for the entire Mountain West Conference for the first time.

Controlling the clock, solid defense

UH’s quick-strike run-and-shoot offense took not just a page, but an entire chapter out of Aztecs coach Rocky Long’s playbook. Not literally, as the Warriors’ pass-to-rush production ratio still leaned to the aerial game with 215 of the 347 yards of total offense coming via the pass. But Hawaii controlled time of possession by nearly eight minutes. SDSU came into the game averaging 10 more minutes per game than its opponents.

The fact that Hawaii started most of its drives deep on its own side of the field was a factor in that, but its offense still needed to produce first downs to keep the chains moving and the Aztecs offense off the field. And San Diego State’s ability to do just that is a big reason why it came into the game with an 8-2 record — coupled of course with a stingy defense.

Both defenses played bend-but-don’t-break, and the Rainbow Warriors did it just enough better than the Aztecs. Hawaii made it six quarters in a row without allowing a touchdown by its opponent, and nearly five quarters without allowing any points at all.

One stat that usually means something and did in this game is third- and fourth-down conversions. Hawaii was 9-for-13 and San Diego State was 6-for-14 on third downs.

QB shuffle continues

Cole McDonald started and completed nine passes in a row after his first throw of the game was incomplete. But after one long, strong successful drive, the UH offense did not produce the rest of the first half.

Last week McDonald relieved Chevan Cordeiro in a similar situation, and quarterbacked UH to the 21-7 win at UNLV. This time it was Cordeiro’s turn to return the favor.

Cordeiro entered in the third quarter, and after a shaky first play that was nearly a safety he led a 95-yard, clock-eating and defense morale-killing drive. He became the leading rusher of the game at that point, with four carries for 53 yards. Cordeiro correctly sensed the San Diego State pressure, finding cracks in the Aztecs’ 3-3 front. He took off at the right second, turning sacks into chunk gains.

He did it three times in a row, for gains of 14, 13 and 14 yards, putting the ball at the SDSU 11. Three plays later, Fred Holly III carried as UH converted on a third down for the fourth time on the drive — and Holly got the 11 additional yards for the touchdown, too.

Only one of those third downs was a short-yardage situation. That kind of thing is frustrating and demoralizing for a defense — and something the Aztecs did to their opponents most of the season.

Hawaii won a championship game Saturday, and did so playing straight up against its opponent’s strengths.