HONOLULU – Close, but not quite enough. The University of Hawai’i (1-1) fought hard, but ultimately came up short against UCLA (1-0) at a sold-out T.C. Ching Complex on a blazing Saturday afternoon, 16-13. The Rainbow Warriors led by double-digits at the halftime break but mustered only three points after the break as an ankle injury slowed starting QB Brayden Schager.
Hawai’i’s senior gunslinger finished the day completing 25-of-42 passes for 227 yards, tossing two interceptions to just one touchdown while fighting an ankle injury for much of the contest. Schager was sacked five times and faced heavy pressure throughout the 2nd half as UCLA creeped back into the game.
The loss, broadcasted on CBS, dropped Hawai’i to 0-8-1 all-time when playing on national network television. The three-point margin is the closest in the five games played between the Rainbow Warriors and Bruins. It was a tighter contest than the last game in Honolulu between the programs, a 32-7 victory by UCLA back in January of 1939.
After the UH defense forced a punt on the game’s opening drive, Hawai’i’s offense looked like it would suffer a similar fate to their UCLA counterparts before punter Lucas Borrow took a fake punt 19 yards for a fresh set of downs and gave the team some new life. Hawai’i parlayed the momentum into points a few plays later as Schager connected with Pofele Ashlock for a 19-yard touchdown with 7:43 left in the 1st quarter, the first of the year and 10th career score for the sophomore wideout.
UCLA tried to respond on the following drive down the field, momentarily seeing a goal-to-go chance with a targeting penalty against Peter Manuma under review. After a second look waved off the flag and kept Manuma in the game, Hawai’i’s Jalen Smith halted the Bruins’ turf march with an interception of Ethan Garbers in the end zone with 3:17 remaining in the opening frame.
The interception resulted in a drive into UCLA territory for UH but nothing more as the Bruins forced a turnover on downs at the 39-yard line to keep the deficit at seven. Again, the Hawai’i defense held strong and forced UCLA to settle for a 52-yard field goal try that sailed wide and kept the Bruins scoreless.
Hawai’i once again would drive into Bruins’ territory, but again came up empty as Schager was intercepted after a pass behind Ashlock glanced off the wide receiver’s hand and was hauled in by D.J. Justice inside the Bruins’ 10-yard line with 30 seconds before half. Again, the defense had the answer for Hawai’i as Ezra Evaimalo got home and hit Garbers in the end zone and Logan Taylor intercepted the UCLA QB’s last-effort pass attempt to set Hawai’i up for a 28-yard field goal for a 10-0 halftime lead.
Things quickly changed following the midway point as Hawai’i went three-and-out to open the 3rd quarter and watched UCLA march down the field and cut the lead to three after Garbers connected on a 39-yard touchdown pass to Notre Dame transfer Rico Flores Jr. (3 rec, 102 yards) with 8:41 left in the quarter. UH got three points back on the next possession as kicker Kansei Matsuzawa drilled his second career field goal attempt from 28 yards out to make it 13-7 with four minutes remaining before the fourth.
While it looked like UCLA would finally break the Hawai’i defense on back-to-back possessions, the Rainbow Warriors unit recovered inside its own 20 to hold UCLA to a 22-yard field goal and maintain the lead with 54 seconds left in the quarter. The Bruins’ defense finally produced a difference-making turnover 20 seconds later as Ramon Henderson picked off Schager, who tried to throw as he was being hit, to set up UCLA with 1st-and-10 inside Hawai’i territory and a chance to tie or take the lead.
Again, Hawai’i’s defense would not break as the Rainbow Warriors limited UCLA to another field goal try from 37 yards out that knotted the action at 13-all with 14 minutes left to play. Hawai’i struggled to get going once again, stalling out near midfield on the next drive before punting it away. While the defense was able to force one more punt, UCLA finally took a three-point advantage with just under a minute to play as Mateen Bhaghani drilled the go-ahead kick from 32 yards out. Hampered by injuries to both Schager and the offensive line late, UCLA’s pass rush got home to close the game out and complete the 10-point road comeback over Hawai’i.
Garbers ended the game completing 19-of-38 passes for 272 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in the win for UCLA. The senior tightened up his play in the 2nd half after two turnovers in the opening 30 minutes, completing 13-of-19 passes for 203 yards after halftime. Pofele Ashlock led Hawai’i again in the receiving game, hauling in nine catches across a whopping 19 targets for 112 yards and the lone offensive touchdown for UH. Wide receiver Nick Cenacle followed behind with five receptions for 35 yards and Tylan Hines saw more action in the offense this week with four catches for 29 yards.
Lucas Borrow finished as Hawai’i’s top rusher with his 19-yard scramble on a fake punt while Christian Vaughn got his first action for the Rainbow Warriors and tallied 17 yards on five carries. Hawai’i’s defense was led by safety Peter Manuma, who racked up eight tackles (7 solo) and broke up a pass in the loss. In all, the UH defensive backfield racked up seven passes broken up throughout the day.
Flags weighed down the Rainbow Warriors throughout the day as 10 penalties cost them 97 yards in the contest. After getting banged up against the Bruins, Hawai’i enters the first of three bye weeks this season before returning to action on September 14 for the first road game of the year – a visit to Texas for a date with Sam Houston State.