MĀNOA — The Mānoa mist never let up at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on Saturday. Neither did the University of Hawai‘i football team, which routed Mountain West Conference leader San Diego State 38-6 on Saturday night.
San Diego State, which had defeated the Rainbow Warriors five consecutive times heading into Saturday, fell to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in Mountain West Conference play, while Hawai‘i improved to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in Mountain West games, reinserting itself in the conference title race.
Hawai‘i head coach Timmy Chang viewed the heavy Mānoa rain, which was unrelenting for 60 minutes, as a gift.
"Especially in our culture, giving back to the land, we haven't had rain like this in a while," Chang said following the game. "So, those are good things, and then you just gotta handle football. Football's one of those sports that doesn't stop for anything. You gotta handle anything that's going your way and guys just handled their business."
After falling on the road at San Jose State last week, the Rainbow Warriors turned in their most complete performance of the season, outclassing the Aztecs in all three phases.
"I'm really proud of you guys. I'm proud of the coaches," Chang said. "Some of these guys have been here four years, some three, some two. ... They work and they continue to build. This is all them. They're the ones that are going out there, putting their bodies on the line, and then doing it for each other, doing it for the school, and more importantly, doing it for the state."
Despite the final score, the game got off to a ominous start for Hawai‘i. Quarterback Micah Alejado was intercepted in the team's first offensive possession at the UH 25, allowing the Aztecs to capitalize with a 42-yard Gabriel Plascencia field goal with 10:47 left in the first quarter for the game's first score.
The Rainbow Warriors got on the board with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Micah Alejado to Jackson Harris with 6:37 remaining in the first quarter, giving the 'Bows a 7-3 lead, and the first of three scores between the duo in the first half alone.
Alejado and Harris' second touchdown was from 34 yards with 2:14 left in the first quarter, giving the Rainbow Warriors a 14-3 lead. The score marked the third straight game that Harris had multiple touchdown receptions.
After a 43-yard Plascencia field goal that began the second quarter, Alejado and Harris connected yet again, their third touchdown of the first half, from 35 yards.
Hawai‘i led 24-6 at halftime, but the rout was truly on when Cam Barfield returned the second half's opening kickoff for a touchdown.
The 'Bows extended their lead to 38-6 with 2:07 left in the third quarter when UH nickelback Elijah Palmer returned an interception for a 53-yard touchdown, marking the first time since a Nov. 12, 2012 game against UNLV that the Rainbow Warriors had touchdowns on defense and special teams.
For good measure, the Rainbow Warriors forced one final turnover with 39 seconds remaining, a fumble recovered by Nazaiah Caravallo.
Alejado, who completed 22 of his 34 passes for 256 yards, three interceptions and a touchdown, was relieved by Dermaricus Davis midway through the fourth quarter.
Hawai‘i kicker Kansei Matsuzawa made his lone field goal attempt of the day from 22 yards out in the second quarter. He also made all five extra point attempts, upping his 2025 totals to 22-for-22 on field goals and 33-for-33 on extra points.
Harris finished with 130 yards on seven receptions, marking the first time since Greg Salas in 2010 that a former UH receiver has surpassed 100 receiving yards in five straight games. As a redshirt freshman at Stanford in 2024, Harris had three receptions and 19 receiving yards total.
"It was a tough situation at my old school, but I just bet on myself and got another opportunity to play and it paid off," Harris said.
In all, the Rainbow Warriors gained 386 yards on the Aztecs and far surpassed the 10 points per game SDSU entered Saturday with.
“All the talk about San Diego State having the number one defense, I hope they watched this game,” said Hawai‘i safety Peter Manuma, who had a team-high seven tackles for the Rainbow Warriors.
Hawai‘i will have its final bye week of the season before taking on UNLV at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 21. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. HST.
Saturday's win also clinched the Rainbow Warriors their first winning season since 2020, another milestone in a turnaround season for the 'Bows.
"I've been here since Timmy's first year. We were just talking about how we came a long way," said Manuma, a senior. "It's just not built overnight. This is something that we built over the years. Our thing is we just got to stay disciplined and be ready for every game, not just games that we need or we want to win, it's every game we need to win. It's just us coming out prepared and knowing that it's college football, anything can happen on any given night.
"I strongly believe this staff is not done. Even after this year, they're not done. So, just be ready."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
