University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics

Post-game Notes
Utah State at Hawai‘i
Oct. 11, 2025
Clarence T.C. Ching Complex  –  Honolulu

GAME CAPTAINS

• Peter Manuma, Zhen Sotelo, Jalen Smith, Landon Sims, Billy Gowers

 
SERIES INFORMATION

• Hawaii ended an eight-game series skid against Utah State.
• UH’s last win over the Aggies was in 2010 in Logan and its last win in Honolulu came the year prior in 2009.
• The win marked UH’s first in eight games as Mountain West rivals. 
• Utah State still leads the all-time series 13-7, including a 6-5 advantage in Honolulu.
• Seventeen of the 20 all-time meetings have been decided by double-digits.
• After two decades as fellow members of the Western Athletic Conference and Mountain West, the game marked the final meeting as conference opponents.

UH IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST

• UH is 36-70 (.340) all-time in the MW, including 21-34 (.381) at home.
• Timmy Chang is 10-16 in MW games with a 7-7 mark at home.

TEAM STREAKS/TRENDS 

• UH has won five of its last six home games at Ching Complex dating back to last year.
• Hawai‘i has had at least one player with 5+ receptions in 23 consecutive games, dating back to November 2023, tied for the longest FBS streak in the country with Utah State.

 
INDIVIDUAL STREAKS/TRENDS 

• After hitting a trio of field goals, Kansei Matsuzawa improved to a perfect 19-of-19 on the season. 
• Dating back to last season, Matsuzawa has made 20 straight field goals, tying the school record for consecutive field goals made with former UH All-American Jason Elam who achieved the feat within the 1989 season.
• Matsuzawa co-leads nation with eight field goals of 40 or more yards (Ethan Sanchez, Houston).
• Matsuzawa has nailed multiple field goals in all seven games this season.
• Pofele Ashlock has caught a pass in all 31 games he has played in.
• Ashlock has had multiple receptions in 22 straight games, tied for the seventh-longest active streak in the country.
• Ashlock registered his 25th game with four or more catches which is tied for the most by an FBS player since 2023 (Lewis Bond, Boston College).
• Karsyn Pupunu, Jalen Smith and Jamih Otis each played in their 32nd straight game, tied for the longest streak on the team. 

INDIVIDUAL CHARTS 

• Kansei Matsuzawa moved into eighth on the UH all-time field goals made list with 31.
• His 19 field goals this year is tied for the third most in a single-season and is just two off the record of 21 held by Richard Spelman (21).
• With three touchdown catches Pofele Ashlock moved past JoJo Ward (20) and Walter Murray (20) and into the UH top 10 with 21 career TD catches.
• With eight receptions, Ashlock now has 190 for his career, surpassing John Ursua (189) for No. 9 on the UH chart.

TEAM NOTES

• At 5-2, UH is off to its best start through seven games since the 2018 squad that began the year 6-1.
• After not scoring 40 or more points in the first 43 games of the Timmy Chang era, Hawai‘i has scored 44 points in each of the last two games. 
• UH’s 546 yards of offense was the most this season, eclipsing the 535 yards in UH’s win at Air Force. It was also the second highest total ever under Timmy Chang. 
• UH had two receivers go over 100 yards receiving (Jackson Harris - 117; Pofele Ashlock - 113) for the first time since the 2023 season (Steven McBride - 157; Nick Cenacle - 100 vs. San Diego State).
• UH won the turnover battle for the second straight game, forcing two Aggie turnovers (one interception, one fumble), while committing just one turnover on offense.
• UH has at least one takeaway in six of seven games this season. This marked the first game this season though that they had multiple takeaways.
• After entering the game with no rushing touchdowns through its first five games of the season, UH has scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in each of the last two games.
• A season-high 11 different players had at least one catch in the game, eclipsing the 10 receivers in UH’s last game at Air Force. 
• UH improved to 19-13 (.593) all-time record at Ching, including 4-1 this season. 
• Under head coach Timmy Chang, UH improved to 15-11 (.577) at home.
• After hosting five games in the first 49 days of the season, UH won’t play again at Ching Complex for another 28 days when it hosts San Diego State on Nov. 8.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Micah Alejado had his second-straight 400 yard passing game with 413 yards, completing  34-of-54 passes for three touchdowns. 
• Alejado is the first quarterback to have back-to-back 400-yard passing games since Cole McDonald in the first two weeks of the 2018 season (at Colorado State, vs. Navy). 
• Alejado now has three 400-yard passing performances in his first six starts. 
• Alejado has thrown for 870 passing yards in the last two games, the most by an FBS quarterback in a two-game stretch this season.
• Alejado is also one of two FBS quarterbacks to throw for 400-plus yards in back-to-back games (Sawyer Robertson, Baylor).
• Alejado also recorded his first career rushing touchdown on a 15-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.
• Pofele Ashlock caught a career-high three touchdowns – all of them in the first half.
• The last time a UH player had three touchdown catches in one half was JoJo Ward vs. Oregon State on Sept. 7, 2019. 
• The last time a UH player had three touchdown receptions in a game was Cedric Byrd II at Nevada on Sept. 28, 2019.
• Ashlock scored multiple touchdowns for the second time this season and for the fifth time in his career. 
• Ashlock finished with a team-high eight catches for 113 yards for his first 100-yard game this season and the fifth of his career.  
• Jackson Harris recorded his second straight 100-yard game with a team-best 114 yards on seven catches.
• Landon Sims tied his career-best with 82 rushing yards on 10 carries. It was powered by a career-long 43 yard run in the fourth quarter which was the longest rush of the season for the Rainbow Warriors.
• Nick Cenacle returned to action for the first time since the second game of the season and registered a 26-yard catch on UH’s first play from scrimmage. Cenacle finished with six catches for 57 yards.
• Jamih Otis was in on both of UH’s takeaways, forcing a fumble, while also recording his first career interception in the fourth quarter. He also added five tackles.
• De’Jon Benton returned to the lineup after missing his first game of the year at Air Force and registered a sack on UH’s second defensive play of the game.
• Carsen Stocklinski and Aiden McComber each recorded their first career sacks as Rainbow Warriors. 
• Lester Lagafuaina blocked Utah State's first PAT attempt of the second half. It was UH’s first PAT block since Cam Stone at Fresno State on Nov. 2, 2024.
• Cam Barfield made his first career start at running back and finished with two carries for three yards and three catches for 17 yards.