In 30 minutes of determination and fury, the Hawaii football team surged to a 20-17 victory over New Mexico State at the Ching Complex.
What remained of a crowd of 8,382 were drenched from the Manoa rain but whose enthusiasm was not doused as Matthew Shipley’s field-goal attempt from 24 yards was true as time expired.
“They had a lot of confidence in me,” Shipley said of the UH coaches. “It was a routine kick. It was a pretty close kick. It felt good they were confident in me, and I was confident in me, too.”
In the aftermath of the game winner, quarterback Brayden Schager, who grew up near Dallas, had no doubts.
“It’s because he’s from Texas,” Schager said, smiling
Shipley mused: “Texas guys get it done, they say.”
But the Rainbow Warriors’ final nonconference game of the regular season turned because of a recalibrated defense that held the Aggies to three second-half possessions, Schager’s bounce-back leadership, and some momentum-shifting plays.
“At the end of the day, it was about our guys staying together,” UH defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said. “It was about them getting back to fundamentals. It was about us doing what we needed to do.”
The Aggies, who overpowered the Rainbow Warriors last year to end a 10-game losing streak in the series, were dominant in the first half. With quarterback Diego Pavia at the controls of an innovative offense — empty sets, four wides, and a wishbone backfield — the Aggies raced to a 17-3 lead at the intermission. In the first half, they amassed 257 yards, held possession for 18 minutes, 33 seconds, and juked the Warriors into numerous missed tackles.
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The Warriors’ lone defensive highlight in the first half was when 5-foot-11, 330-pound Daniel “Sauce” Williams tugged and tugged and ripped the football from running back Star Thomas. Williams ran 41 yards the other way before being tackled.
“We practice strip drills, pursuit angles to force the ball back in,” Williams said. “I was so happy. (Isaiah Tufaga) did his job beautifully to hold (Thomas) up so I could get my hand in there and rip it out. … I was running and looking at the quarterback. He wasn’t really trying to tackle me. I looked at the JumboTron and somebody was running behind me. He’s about 180 pounds. I wasn’t going to outrun him. I tried to take the quarterback out. I tried to truck him, and I did.”
In the first half, Pavia kept the Warriors guessing as he took off on draws or scrambles. He finished with 99 rushing yards on 10 non-sack carries.
“It was pretty simple,” Yoro said of the second-half adjustment. “It was about us getting back to fundamentals, especially when it came to tackling. (The Aggies) made a few adjustments in some of the things they did in the first half that they didn’t show on film (from the previous four games). I thought they did a really good job building on their three-back package. It was something we thought we dialed in, and they put some wrinkles on it that created some issues.”
In the second half, the Warriors essentially went with a two-man tail on Pavia. Weak-side linebacker Jalen Smith, who filled in for injured Nalu Emerson, and middle linebacker Tufaga tracked Pavia depending on which side he ran.
The Aggies’ three second-half drives ended on a missed field goal and two punts. The Aggies were 0-for-3 on third down after the intermission.
The Warriors were able to solve the Aggies’ three-safety zone on the drive to open the second half. The Warriors usually counter a deep umbrella by loading the running game, a strategy enhanced with the return of tight end Greyson Morgan, who missed the previous two games with an injury. In the second half, the Warriors went back to a double-slot attack, with Pofele Ashlock and Koali Nishigaya finding creases inside the deep coverages.
“They were throwing some crazy coverages back there, which is what they do defensively,” Schager said. “We were able to go out there and make plays do what we needed to do.”
Schager’s 4-yard scoring run closed UH to 17-10. The Warriors missed a chance to tie after driving to the NMSU 8. On a keeper, Schager lost control of the ball while trying to move it from his left to right hand.
Earlier in the week, UH coach Timmy Chang challenged Schager to become more of a vocal leader. Chang said Schager accepted that responsibility during practices.
“He’s learning every day,” Chang said. “That’s what’s important. He continues to get better. That’s huge.”
Schager said: “We had some downs in this game, and you’ve got to go out and be a leader. He challenged me to do that, and I thought I did a good job keeping the guys together in the second half.”
Thanks to left tackle Josh Atkins’ scooping Schager’s fumble and running 15 yards to keep a possession alive, the Warriors went on to tie it at 17 when Schager hit Nishigaya for a 3-yard scoring pass with 7:19 to play.
“I was super happy for Koali,” Schager said. “He’s like having another coach out there. He’s super smart. He knows the reads out there.”
After UH regained possession with 3 minutes to play, Schager had little doubt how the final drive would end. The Warriors worked the ball to the 7, drained the clock to 2 seconds, and summoned Shipley.
“I don’t have to tell (Shipley) anything,” holder Ben Falck said. “He’s pretty locked in. He doesn’t have any nerves. I put the ball down, he’s going to make it. He made it.”
