Box Score

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Warrior football team made it worth the vacation day for the 37,900 who came out to Aloha Stadium to witness a 38-34 come-from-behind victory over 18th-ranked Fresno State Friday night.

Fresno State (6-2, 2-2 WAC), which lost its second straight game, controlled the game for three quarters and threatened to put the game away in the fourth when a bad snap caused a fumble to give the Warriors the ball on their own 4-yard line.

And that's when the Warrior offense awoke. Hawai'i quarterback Nick Rolovich, who completed 15-of-33 passes for an uncharacteristic 160 yards through three quarters, orchestrated a 8-play, 96-yard drive capped by a 11-yard touchdown pass to Ashley Lelie to put the Warriors up, 31-27 with 5:50 left to play.

But the Bulldogs still had some bite left. Fresno State quarterback David Carr marched the Bulldogs 80 yards on 5 plays and 55 seconds later, Fresno State was back in the lead, 34-31 with 4:55 left in the game.

Two possessions later, a raucous crowd went crazy when safety Nate Jackson sacked Carr to force the ball loose and defensive end Laanui Correa recovered it at the Fresno State 34-yard line.

The Warriors found themselves trailing by three points and faced third-and-goal from the Fresno State 14-yard line with 13 ticks left on the clock. And that's when Rolovich threw a soft fade into the right corner of the endzone that Lelie, who finished with nine catches for 122 yards, came down with it to put the Warriors up for good and seal their fourth straight victory.

Hawai'i finished with 380 yards of total offense to Fresno State's 468. The Warrior defense held the Bulldog rushing attack to 68 yards, more than 80 yards below its average. Linebackers Chris Brown and Pisa Tinoisamoa led the Warrior defense with nine tackles each.

Next week the Warriors meet San Jose State in a WAC game Saturday, Nov. 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.