The one who got away helped lead the way in Wyoming’s 27-20 victory over Hawaii in Saturday night’s football game at the Ching Complex.

Da’Qualen “DQ” James, a one-time UH commit, accounted for 179 of Wyoming’s 365 rushing yards to help the Cowboys reclaim the Paniolo Trophy and ensure the Rainbow Warriors a sub-.500 regular season. The Warriors fell to 2-7 overall and 1-3 in the Mountain West with four games remaining.

“We keep saying, ‘Let’s go win next week,’ but we’re running out of ‘next weeks,’” UH quarterback Brayden Schager said. “We have to stay together and move on. But it’s hard when you’re running out of ‘next weeks.’”

The Warriors scored the game’s first 10 points but failed to maximize opportunities and were inconsistent in the middle quarters. Safety Peter Manuma came up with two interceptions, but the Warriors parlayed them into only three total points.

In the fourth quarter, the Cowboys scored on two diverse runs — backup running back Dawaiian McNeely’s 61-yarder and quarterback Andrew Peasley’s 4-yard scoot — to break a 13-all tie.

Schager’s 20-yard scoring strike to Zion Bowens on a skinny post and Matthew Shipley’s point-after kick narrowed the UH deficit to 27-20 with 1:40 to play. Kyler Halvorsen’s ensuing onside kick ricocheted off Wyoming’s Wyatt Wieland toward UH’s Hugh Nelson II. But the Cowboys ended up with the football with 1:38 to play, triggering the countdown to bringing the Paniolo Trophy back to Laramie.

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“We knew we had our work cut out for us,” UH coach Timmy Chang said. “And (we) needed to play a really good, complete game in all three phases. The fourth quarter, gotta make a play somewhere, and get a stop. Make a play on offense, special teams. But I think that’s the difference in the game. And even in the other three quarters, we had chances to make plays somewhere. We’re going to watch the films and see where we’re deficient at.”

The game matched the Cowboys’ ground-and-pound offense (60.7% of their plays are rushes) against a Warriors defense that allowed an average of 137.7 rushing yards in the previous three games. But Peasley’s dual skills in passing and scrambling opened the way for running backs James, McNeely and Joseph Braasch. Titus Swen, who was named the Mountain West’s Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 160 yards and three touchdowns last week, gained only 14 yards on five carries.

Down 10-0, the Cowboys turned to James for a boost. James, who is 5 feet 7 and 172 pounds, initially committed to UH in 2020. But after a glitch in finalizing the agreement, James decided to sign with the Cowboys. Behind an imposing offensive line that created zone-clearing openings, James used jump cuts and speed (10.8 seconds over 100 meters) to jet his way to 179 yards on 14 carries. His 74-yard dash set up John Hoyland’s 34-yard field goal to tie it at 10-10 with 1:54 left before the intermission.

The Warriors, who have lost all nine coin tosses this season, then faced opening the second half on defense again. The Cowboys drove 54 yards to set up Hoyland’s second field goal, this time from 38 yards, for a 13-10 lead.

The Warriors then drove to the Wyoming 2. But Dedrick Parson was stopped for a yard loss on third down, and the Warriors sent in the field-goal unit. Shipley’s 20-yarder was true to tie it at 13 with 5:21 to play.

But then McNeely, the fourth-string back, scored on the 61-yard run and Peasley went left when the blockers flowed to the right for the insurance touchdown. Peasley was 7-for-15 for 76 yards, but he ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns on 11 non-sack scrambles and keepers. Peasley has provided leadership since joining Wyoming in an unintentional quarterback exchange with Utah State. Peasley and Levi Williams switched teams following the 2021 season.

While it was easy-Peasley for Wyoming, the Warriors were inconsistent offensively. The Cowboys play essentially a full-court press in which their front four helped amass a league-leading 25 sacks entering Saturday’s game. Middle linebacker Easton Gibbs and shut-down cornerback Cam Stone, who tracked Bowens most of the night, clutter the second and third tiers. Bowens had four catches on 12 targets.

“They lead the conference in sacks for a reason,” Schager said. “They’re good up (front). They have a good interior, and good ’backers, and cornerbacks who are good on the outside. They’re a good team, a good defense. You can’t take credit away from them. But there are things we could have done better.”

Tylan Hines, who had two touches a week ago, led the Warriors with 103 rushing yards. After going 3-for-10 in the second quarter, during which the Warriors amassed 44 yards on 17 plays, Schager finished 23-for-45 for 205 yards and two touchdowns. A deflection that led to an interception was waived off when a defender hit Schager after he released the pass. A heavy downpour appeared to affect Schager’s second-quarter throws.

“It was raining pretty hard, but there’s no point in making excuses,” Schager said. “You can’t make excuses. There are throws I could have made, and plays we could have made as an offense to win tonight, to do better. There will always be plays like that. We have to study, get in the film room. We’re a young team. We have to get in the film room and get better.”