Heartbreaking finish for Hawaii in loss at San Diego State

SAN DIEGO >> It took 59 minutes, 53 seconds for the University of Hawaii football team’s heart to break.

Jack Browning’s 26-yard field goal with seven seconds left lifted San Diego State to Saturday’s 16-14 victory before 33,073 at Snapdragon Stadium.

“They’re all hard when you lose,” said coach Timmy Chang, whose Rainbow Warriors fell to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the Mountain West. “And they’re supposed to feel that way. And that’s the message to the boys. I would have a problem if they lost and didn’t feel that type of way.”

The Warriors took their only lead, 14-13, when Dedrick Parson scored on a pinball run and Matthew Shipley converted the point-after kick with 1:19 to play.

But then the Aztecs, led by a quarterback who was a safety a week earlier, drove to the UH 9 to set up Browning’s third field goal of the game.

“The kids played their tails off, like they’ve been doing all year,” UH defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said. “At the end of the day, there are no moral victories. This is FBS Division I football. I told the unit, we let this one slip. We’ve got to be able to close out a game. When the offense puts us ahead with (1:19) left, we’ve got to finish. We failed today. But like we’ve been all year, we’ll be back Monday ready to roll. … We’re going to make sure the next time we’re in this situation, we’ll take care of business.”

Despite the outcome, the Warriors produced their best defensive effort of the season. They entered allowing a league-worst 45.4 points and 260.8 rushing yards per game. But the Warriors held the Aztecs, one of the Mountain West’s traditionally prolific rushing attacks, to 95 yards on 35 carries, an average of 2.7 yards per pop.

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The Warriors did it with alterations to their usual 4-2-5 look. With Mataio Soli, who started the first five games, petitioning for a medical retirement, Andrew Choi was elevated to starting defensive end. Noah Kema was added as a fifth down linemen to help bracket the Aztecs’ perimeter runs.

But the Warriors also had to adjust to the Aztecs’ reconstructed offense. Following last week’s loss to Boise State, Jeff Horton was promoted to replace Jeff Hecklinski as offensive coordinator. Ryan Lindley, the Aztecs’ career passing leader, was hired as quarterbacks coach. Last week, quarterback Braxton Burmeister, a transfer from Virginia Tech, exited early. Burmeister entered the concussion protocol, although he participated in non-contact workouts on Monday and Tuesday.

But Burmeister was not in uniform on Saturday night, prompting the Aztecs to turn to Jalen Mayden, who had not thrown a pass in a game since Sept. 1, 2018. Mayden transferred from Mississippi State, then was moved in the spring to safety. This week, he moved back to offense. Mayden was 24-for-36 for 322 yards and a touchdown. Mayden completed his six passes during the winning drive.

“We changed up a lot of our defense to counter what they had,” UH safety Meki Pei said. “It worked. But there were a few plays we missed, a few missed assignments.”

It was a coverage lapse that allowed SDSU running back Jordan Byrd to curl into the right flat alone to secure Mayden’s pass that would become a 15-yard touchdown and 10-0 lead early in the third quarter.

The Warriors closed to 10-7 when wideout Zion Bowens and quarterback Brayden Schager collaborated on a 66-yard touchdown. Three weeks ago, the Warriors added run-and-shoot concepts to their offensive playbook. The switch play — in which a receiver picks a route based on the free safety’s positioning — is one of the run-and-shoot staples. Bowens, who was cleared after missing four games because of a leg injury, noticed the safety shading toward the outside. Bowens used a double move before accelerating on a post route.

“I hoped Brayden would throw me a good ball, and he did,” Bowens said.

Browning’s 30-yard field goal extended the Aztecs’ lead to 13-7 with 11:16 to play.

But with a chance to seal the outcome, Browning was wide right from 31 yards with 4:57 left.

On the UH sideline, Schager called an impromptu gathering. “I huddled them all up, and I said, ‘Let’s go win it right here,’” Schager recalled. “The O-line was putting us on their back. They were opening holes. We hit a few passes to take a load off of them. And then Dedrick made an amazing run.”

On second-and-7 from the SDSU 22, Parson took a handoff, went up the middle, escaped a would-be tackler, and broke to the left en route to the end zone.

“I needed (the touchdown) bad,” Parson said. “I knew my team needed me. My teammates picked me as a captain for a reason. I had to come through.”

But after the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, the Aztecs drove to the UH 8. This time, Browning connected for the game-winner. Browning appeared to miss his first attempt at the go-ahead score as well, but Hawaii had called timeout before the snap.

“The kids fought,” Chang said. “That’s the one thing about these kids. That was Hawaii football. That was solid, physical, hard-nosed defense. And on offense, we’ve got to be more efficient.”

Chang said the new-look offense showed promise despite drops and missed reads.

“That’s part of the growth,” Chang said. “That’s part of the learning curve. When we start to dial in, when we get really good at pitching and catching out there, it’s going to start to be fun. Right now, you are where you are. You’re 1-5. We’ll go back to the drawing board and get better.”