TEMPE, Ariz. -- The seeds of competence were there. The University of Hawai‘i football team traveled to Tempe, took an early lead for the first time in nearly a month and slowly unraveled on the way to a 30-12 loss to Arizona State on Saturday night.
Sophomore quarterback Micah Alejado had an up-and-down evening for the Rainbow Warriors, completing 25 of 49 passes for 252 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His receivers dropped a handful of passes throughout a rainy night in the desert.
Redshirt freshman receiver Kai Kai Carvalho led Hawai‘i (1-5) with seven receptions for 86 yards. Fellow redshirt freshman Titan Lacaden added seven catches for 43 yards.
Devin Alves continued his breakout season with another deep catch, gaining 47 of his 60 receiving yards on the game’s first play. That helped set up Sean Olvera-Harle’s 44-yard field goal, giving the visitors a 3-0 advantage less than 90 seconds into the game. It marked the Rainbow Warriors’ first lead since Sept. 12 against New Mexico State.
Arizona State (3-2) answered on its opening drive, using an 18-yard touchdown reception by Reed Harris to cap a 10-play, 79-yard march and take a 7-3 lead midway through the first quarter.
Defensive back Makana Meyer, thrust into a starting role with safety Matagi Thompson sidelined by an injury, gave the visitors a spark with a partial punt block. The play set up Hawai‘i at the Arizona State 27-yard line as the opening quarter wound down, but the Rainbow Warriors’ red zone woes resurfaced after they advanced to the 2.
A false start on first-and-goal was followed by a sack of Alejado and a delay-of-game penalty, leaving Hawai‘i facing second-and-goal from the 21. An incomplete pass and another sack pushed the Rainbow Warriors back to the 33 on fourth down.
Olvera-Harle came out for a 51-yard field goal attempt after the series of downs had begun at the 2-yard line. His kick sailed wide right, leaving Hawai‘i with no points off the blocked punt.
Arizona State quickly capitalized with a scoring drive, extending its lead to 14-3 with just under 10 minutes left in the first half. True freshman running back Cardae Mack finished the possession with his first career touchdown run, scoring from a yard out.
Hawai‘i drove downfield for a 30-yard field goal by Olvera-Harle, but Arizona State answered with a field goal of its own. Carson Smith connected from a season-long 47 yards to send the Sun Devils into halftime with a 17-6 lead.
The Hawai‘i defense kept the Rainbow Warriors within reach for much of the third quarter, forcing two punts and allowing no points following Alejado’s interception. The offense, however, failed to score in the quarter, and Mack finally broke through with a 67-yard touchdown run that extended Arizona State’s lead to 24-6 with just under a minute remaining.
Alejado connected with Audric Harris for a 32-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, giving the Rainbow Warriors a brief spark. The defense got Hawai‘i the ball back with more than 10 minutes remaining, but a drive to the edge of the red zone ended with a turnover on downs two minutes later.
The Sun Devils put the game away on their next possession, draining the clock to the two-minute timeout before Reed Harris caught his second touchdown pass of the night to complete the scoring.
Arizona State finished with 420 yards of offense, including 231 on the ground. Mack celebrated his birthday with a career-high 154 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
Quarterback Cutter Boley completed 68% of his passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns while adding 40 rushing yards. Reed Harris caught eight of his nine targets for 91 yards and both of Boley’s touchdown passes, continuing a standout season that has earned him a spot on the Biletnikoff Award watch list.
Hawai‘i will try to bounce back next weekend as a difficult stretch continues with Mountain West leader New Mexico visiting the islands. Arizona State travels to Texas Tech in search of consecutive wins for the first time this season.