Ground game pushes Rainbow Warriors past Nevada

13

Nevada
NEV

3-6, 0-3

34

Winner

Hawaii
HAA

3-5, 1-2

13

34

Winner

Score per quarter

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	F
NEV Nevada	0	0	7	6	13
HAA Hawaii	14	3	7	10	34

Game overview: Football | 26.10.2024

HONOLULU A ground wave led by a quarterbackBrayden Schager led the University of Hawaii football team to a 34-13 Homecoming victory over Nevada on Saturday at the Clarence TC Ching Complex.

Schager rushed for a career-high 120 yards and four touchdowns, tying the program record for rushing scores by a quarterback, and the Rainbow Warriors (3-5, 1-2 Mountain West) earned their first conference win of the season as they recorded a three-way win. losing streak of the game.

The UH offense racked up 242 rushing yards, breaking the 200-yard mark for the first time since Nov. 12, 2022 against Utah State, and finished with 395 yards of total offense.

UH entered the game this season with three total rushing touchdowns and averaged 83.9 rushing yards per game. Schager scored on a quarterback sneak to punctuate UH's first two possessions and the Warriors had 94 rushing yards by the end of the first quarter and 132 at halftime.

Schager added TD runs from 3 and 6 yards out in the second half and broke loose for a career-long 46-yard sprint in the fourth quarter, becoming the first UH quarterback to rush for more than 100 yards since Chevan Cordeiro's 116 meters. performance against Fresno State in 2020. Schager's final rushing total was the highest for a Warrior quarterback since Cole McDonald ran 140 against New Mexico on Oct. 26, 2019.

Run back Landon Sims led the ground attack with a 20-yard burst on his first carry of the game and also set a career-high with 82 yards on just nine attempts.

The UH defense stopped Nevada (3-6, 0-3) three times on downs and came away with a fumble and an interception in the fourth quarter. Emerson waves filled the stat sheet with a sack, an interception and a pass breakup while posting five tackles. Cornerback Cam Stone had five solo tackles, broke up a pass and forced a fumble Like it recovered in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Logan Taylor finished with a team-high eight tackles, including five solo.

Schager tied the UH record for QB rushing touchdowns first set by Ivin Jasper in 1993 and tied by Glenn Freitas in consecutive weeks in 1995 (Sept. 23 vs. UTEP and Sept. 30 vs. UNLV) during UH's era of triple options. Schager also became the first UH player to rush for four touchdowns since running back Alex Green's four-TD performance at Utah State on Oct. 23, 2010. In his more usual role, Schager completed 14 of 25 passes for 153 yards.

The Warriors received the opening kickoff and leaned on the ground game to engineer a nine-play 75-yard scoring drive. Sims, who set his previous career high of 65 yards in last year's meeting with Nevada, broke through the middle for a 20-yard run and later rumbled 19 yards to the Nevada 1. After a penalty, Sims again put the Warriors in the five and Schager's quarterback sneak gave UH its first rushing touchdown since the fourth quarter win over Northern Iowa on Sept. 21.

The UH defense came up with its first fourth-down stop when Emerson sacked Chubba Purdy at the UH 33. The offense was capitalized with a nine-play drive, extended by two third-down conversions, including a 17-yard completion to Jonah Panoke. Schager punched in his second touchdown and UH took a 14-0 lead with 29 seconds left in the first quarter.

Another stop on fourth down in UH ​​territory gave the Warriors possession with 1:20 left in the first half. Nick Cenacle 30-yard catch-and-run set up an eight-play drive to the Nevada 10 and Kansei Matsuzawa A 27-yard field goal sent UH the Warriors into halftime with a 17-0 lead.

Nevada broke the shutout 31 seconds into the second half with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to Marcus Bellon. The teams traded punts before UH put together a 13-play march that ended with Schager's 3-yard run on a quarterback draw.

UH stopped the Wolf Pack on third downs for the third time and took possession at the Nevada 28, and Schager tied the quarterback rushing record with a 6-yard dash to the end zone. His 46-yard run set up a 30-yard field goal by Matsuzawa to cap the scoring.

The Warriors hit the road to face Fresno State on November 2 at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California.

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