Box Score

(HONOLULU)-Justin Ayat kicked the winning field goal as time expired to help the University of Hawai'i Warrior football team win a 52-51 thriller against Miami (Ohio) Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

Hawai'i quarterback Nick Rolovich passed for a career-high 500 yards and school-record seven touchdowns to improve his record to 6-1 as a starter.

Hawai'i (7-3) trailed by as much as 14 in the first half but stayed close enough to steal it in the second. Miami quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tossed a scoring pass to Jason Branch and tailback Steve Little rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns while the RedHawks consumed 19:51 of the first half clock and gained 317 yards of total offense to take a 28-21 lead going into the locker room.

In the third quarter, after Miami (7-4) took a 10-point lead on a 42-yard field goal, the Warriors put together their best drive of the game (12 plays, 74 yards in 3:10). Rolovich picked away at the RedHawk defense hitting three different receivers and on the 12th play Craig Stutzmann for a 3-yard touchdown that left the Warriors trailing by three, 31-28.

The Miami offense charged right back. Roethlisberger marched the RedHawks 65 yards down the field in 10 plays and tossed a 5-yard strike to Branch to take a 38-28 lead. One play later, Rolovich hit Lelie for a 60-yard touchdown and the Warriors trailed by three again.

The Warriors took the lead for the first time in the game when Rolovich found Harris in the endzone to put the Warriors up, 42-38, with less than nine minutes left in the game.

On its next possession, Miami gambled on 4th-and-12 and won. Reothlisberger threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Chauncey Henry that helped the RedHawks reclaim the led, 45-42 with 5:27 left to play.

The Warriors took over on their own 28-yard line and Rolovich went to work. The junior from Novato, Calif., completed 4-of-5 pass attempts, the last to Colbert, who finished the game with 10 catches form 151 yards, for a touchdown to put the Warriors back in the lead at 49-45.

But Roethlisberger and the RedHawks weren't finished yet. It took 2:31 for the Miami offense to get in the endzone for the seventh time, when the freshman quarterback dashed in from 9-yards out. UH's Sean Butts blocked the extra point to prevent the RedHawks from taking a 3-point lead. Suddenly, Miami looked like it would prevail with a 51-49 lead.

Then UH receiver Chad Owens returned the ensuing kickoff to the Warrior 42-yard line. Rolovich, with 1:08 left to play, completed two passes and running back Thero Mirchell rushed for 17 yards to set up Ayat's game winner from 24 yards out.

The teams combined for 1,161 yards of total offense and Miami, which controlled the ball for 40:40, had 35 first downs, more than any opponent in UH history.

The Warriors host former Western Athletic Conference foe Air Force, Saturday, Nov. 24. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.