TEMPE, Ariz. – The University of Hawai'i football team dropped its third straight game, falling 30-12 Saturday night in a nonconference contest at Arizona State.
The Rainbow Warriors (1-5) struggled to contain the Sun Devils' ground attack, yielding 231 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. UH generated 316 yards of total offense and matched Arizona State with 21 first downs, but converted only 1-of-2 red-zone trips and finished 2-of-3 on field goal attempts. Arizona State (3-2) totaled 420 yards of total offense, averaging 6.9 yards per play.
UH quarterback
Micah Alejado completed 25-of-49 passes for 252 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
Kainoa "Kaikai" Carvalho paced the Warriors' receiving corps with seven catches for a career-high 86 yards, while
Titan Lacaden also hauled in a career-best seven receptions for 43 yards. Receiver
Audric Harris added two catches for 41 yards, highlighted by a fourth-quarter score. Defensively,
Makana Meyer led Hawaiʻi with nine tackles and a blocked punt in his first career start, while
Kona Moore recorded eight stops.
Punter
Gehrig Heil turned in a monster day, averaging 51.4 yards over five punts, booting two kicks over 60 yards while pinning four of his five attempts inside the 20-yard line.
The Sun Devils were powered on the ground by Cardae Mack, who rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, averaging 11.8 yards per attempt. Arizona State quarterback Cutter Boley completed 21 of 31 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Boley's primary target was Reed Harris, who caught eight passes for 91 yards and two scores, while Omarion Miller added six receptions for 78 yards.
Hawaiʻi struck first on its opening possession when Alejado connected with
Devin Alves on a 47-yard pass, setting up a 44-yard field goal by
Sean Olvera-Harle. Arizona State responded promptly with a 10-play, 79-yard drive capped by an 18-yard touchdown strike from Boley to Reed Harris. Late in the first quarter, Meyer blocked an ASU punt to give the Warriors possession at the Sun Devils' 27-yard line. However, back-to-back sacks stalled the drive early in the second quarter, leading to a missed 51-yard field goal.
Arizona State capitalized on the missed kick with a 67-yard drive finished by a 1-yard touchdown run from Mack to make it 14-3. Hawaiʻi answered with an 11-play, 80-yard march, settling for a 30-yard field goal by Olvera-Harle to trim the deficit to 14-6 with 1:22 remaining in the half. The Sun Devils added a field goal with 15 seconds left to take a 17-6 halftime lead.
After a weather delay resulted in an hour-long halftime, both defenses traded stops through most of the third quarter, Mack broke free for a 67-yard touchdown sprint on a 96-yard ASU drive with 51 seconds left in the period, extending the Sun Devils' advantage to 24-6.
The Rainbow Warriors pushed back early in the fourth quarter, putting together a 9-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Alejado connecting with Harris for a 32-yard touchdown pass with 12:35 remaining. A failed two-point conversion pass kept the score at 24-12.
Hawaiʻi looked to continue the rally on its next drive, advancing to the Arizona State 21-yard line before turning the ball over on downs with 7:53 remaining.
The Sun Devils then put the game away with a 9-play, 79-yard march taking nearly six minutes off the clock, punctuated by Boley hitting Reed Harris for a 9-yard touchdown pass with 1:55 left to seal the 30-12 final.
The Warriors return home to host their annual Homecoming Game on Saturday vs. New Mexico at 4:30 p.m. at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
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