Starve a comeback, feed the receivers.

The University of Hawaii football team found the right remedy to fight off New Mexico for a 39-33 victory on Saturday at Aloha Stadium.

“It was ugly,” UH head coach Todd Graham said of the Rainbow Warriors’ home opener. “We didn’t play well in certain areas. And we played good in other areas. … We have not played well yet as a team, and we’re sitting here 2-1. And we move on, and get better from it.”

The Warriors spiraled into a 20-7 hole in the second quarter against an opponent with an eclectic offense, a confounding 3-3-5 defense, and a junior kicker whose first field goal — ever in a game — came last week.

But it was quarterback Chevan Cordeiro’s deep passes and the Warriors’ dig-deep defense that ignited the comeback.

Cordeiro did not throw a scoring pass in the first nine quarters this season. But boosted by Graham’s don’t-do-too-much lecture, Cordeiro did too much: 33 of 43 for 410 yards and four touchdowns. Cordeiro and wideout Zion Bowens combined on scoring plays of 42 and 40 yards. Nick Mardner caught six passes for 147 yards and a touchdown. Calvin Turner had a YouTube-worthy touchdown in which he eluded two would-be tacklers and juked two defenders into colliding.

With a full menu of plays, Mardner noted, “everybody is eating.”

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“I got help from my O-line,” said Cordeiro, who was effective in the pocket or on rollouts. “They protected me good.”

Of his receivers, Cordeiro said, “I just wanted to give them a chance. I believed in them.”

Mardner’s touchdown closed UH to 20-14 with 3:55 left in the first half. The Warriors got the ball back, then drove to the UNM 23. Cordeiro then rolled to his right and tried to force a needle a pass to wideout Rico Bussey in the right corner of the end zone. But cornerback Jerrick Reed II slipped in front of Bussey for his second interception of the game with three seconds left.

Graham admittedly was “not very nice” to Cordeiro as they headed into the intermission. “It was the first time I got to him pretty hard.”

Cordeiro responded with a surgeon-precise second half. In a 70-second span, Cordeiro unleashed two long scoring passes to Bowens to put the Warriors ahead, 28-20, with 11:55 left in the third quarter. Bowens was behind the secondary on both throws.

“They always tell me, don’t overthrow them,” Cordeiro said of requests from Bowens and Mardner. “They were so wide open. I wanted to give them a chance, and make ‘em run, and score a touchdown.”

Bowens said on each play, the Lobos were defending the deep post. Bowens took the direct path.

“I was dang near untouched on both of them,” Bowens said. “When I’m that open, honestly, I have to focus on the ball and catch it and look it all way the way in. I’m used to a lot of contact, especially in practice. When it’s that easy in a game, you have to make the play.”

But the Lobos proved to be resilient, retaking the lead, at 30-28, thanks to two unheralded players. Nate Jones, who was added to the active roster this past week, scored on a 26-yard run to close the Lobos to 28-27 with 9:33 left in the third quarter. Jones was among several Lobos who had missed the previous week’s opener.

Then with 13:31 to play, George Steinkamp kicked the third of his four field goals to put the Lobos ahead, 30-28. Steinkamp did not play football in high school or the first three years of college. But he tried out for the Lobos this past spring. His first field goal — ever — came last week.

Turner’s 64-yard scoring play gave the Warriors a 36-30 lead they would not relinquish. Matthew Shipley added a 41-yard field goal.

The Lobos’ last opportunity came after Steinkamp converted a 42-yard field goal with 1:21 to play to make it 39-33.

But receiver Jonah Panoke recovered the ensuing on-side kick to set up the Warriors’ victory formation.

“It was a very jubilant locker room,” said Graham, who gave the postgame honors to linebacker Quentin Frazier. After each victory, a Warrior is selected to hammer a rock with an opposing team’s name on it.

Graham said Frazier suffered a sprained ankle during Wednesday’s practice. Frazier was in a medical boot on Thursday. But Frazier made a key interception on Saturday.

UH also received defensive boosts from linebacker Darius Muasau, who led the Warriors with 10 tackles. Muasau has 35 stops this season. Safety Donovan Dalton, who is starting in place of injured co-captain Eugene Ford, delivered a thudding open-field tackle. And 290-pound defensive end Justus Tavai made two big plays in the red zone. He made a solo stop and then soared for a near interception.

“We went over our mistakes and executed in the second half,” Tavai said.