HONOLULU — A ground surge led by quarterback Brayden Schager powered the University of Hawai'i football team to a 34-13 Homecoming victory over Nevada on Saturday at the Clarence T.C. Ching Complex.
 
Schager ran for a career-high 120 yards and four touchdowns — tying the program record for rushing scores by a quarterback — and the Rainbow Warriors (3-5, 1-2 Mountain West) earned their first conference win of the season while snapping a three-game losing streak.
 
The UH offense churned out 242 rushing yards, breaking the 200-yard mark for the first time since Nov. 12, 2022 against Utah State, and finished with 395 yards of total offense. 
 
UH entered the game with a total of three rushing touchdowns this season and had averaged 83.9 rushing yards per game. Schager scored on a quarterback sneak to punctuate UH's first two possessions and the Warriors had 94 rushing yards by the end of the first quarter and 132 at halftime.
 
Schager added TD runs from 3 and 6-yards out in the second half and broke loose for a career-long 46-yard sprint in the fourth quarter to become the first UH quarterback to rush for more than 100 yards since Chevan Cordeiro's 116-yard performance against Fresno State in 2020. Schager's final rushing total was the most for a Warrior quarterback since Cole McDonald ran for 140 against New Mexico on Oct 26, 2019.
 
Running back Landon Sims sparked the ground attack with a 20-yard burst on his first carry of the game and also set a career-high with 82 yards on just nine attempts.
 
The UH defense stopped Nevada (3-6, 0-3) on downs three times and came up with a fumble and an interception in the fourth quarter. Nalu Emerson filled the stat sheet with a sack, an interception and a pass break-up while posting five tackles. Cornerback Cam Stone had five solo tackles, broke up a pass and forced a fumble that Meki Pei recovered in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Logan Taylor finished with a team-high eight tackles, including five solo.
 
Schager matched the UH record for QB rushing touchdowns first set by Ivin Jasper in 1993 and tied by Glenn Freitas in consecutive weeks in 1995 (Sept. 23 vs. UTEP and Sept. 30 against UNLV) during UH's triple-option era. Schager also became the first UH player to rush for four touchdowns since running back Alex Green's four-TD performance at Utah State on Oct. 23, 2010. In his more customary role, Schager completed 14-of-25 passes for 153 yards.
 
The Warriors received the opening kickoff and leaned on the ground game to grind out a nine-play 75-yard scoring drive. Sims, who set his previous career high of 65 yards in last year's meeting with Nevada, broke through the middle for a 20-yard run and later rumbled 19 yards to the Nevada 1. After a penalty, Sims again set the Warriors up inside the five and Schager's quarterback sneak gave UH its first rushing touchdown since the fourth quarter of the win over Northern Iowa on Sept. 21.
 
The UH defense came up with its first fourth-down stop when Emerson sacked Chubba Purdy at the UH 33. The offense capitalized with a nine-play drive extended by two third-down conversions, including a 17-yard completion to Jonah Panoke. Schager pounded in his second touchdown and UH took a 14-0 lead with 29 seconds left in the first quarter.
 
Another stop on fourth down in UH territory gave the Warriors possession with 1:20 left in the first half. Nick Cenacle's 30-yard catch-and-run ignited an eight-play drive to the Nevada 10 and Kansei Matsuzawa's 27-yard field goal sent UH the Warriors into halftime with a 17-0 lead.
 
Nevada broke up the shutout 31 seconds into the second half with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to Marcus Bellon. The teams traded punts before UH put together a 13-play march that ended with Schager's 3-yard run on a quarterback draw.
 
UH stopped the Wolf Pack on downs for the third time, taking possession at the Nevada 28, and Schager tied the quarterback rushing record with a 6-yard dash to the end zone. His 46-yard run set up a Matsuzawa's 30-yard field goal to close out the scoring.
 
The Warriors head on the road to face Fresno State on Nov. 2 at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, Calif.