The one who got away helped San Jose State come away with a 20-16 victory over Hawaii at the Ching Complex.

A crowd of 12,358 saw former UH quarterback Luke Weaver throw two scoring passes and set up a key field goal as the Spartans claimed the Dick Tomey Legacy Trophy.

The Rainbow Warriors, who were shut out in the first half, cut their deficit to a single point twice in the second half with a chance to take the lead. But Caleb Womack intercepted UH’s Micah Alejado at the 38 with 6:46 to play. Weaver then directed a 12-play drive, capped by Trajan Sinatra’s 30-yard field goal, to extend the Spartans’ lead to 20-16 with 1:15 to go.

Without a timeout, the Warriors tried to assemble a scoring drive. Advancing to the SJSU 37, Alejado spiked the ball to stop the clock with three seconds remaining. But Alejado’s Hail Mary was batted away in the end zone by a cluster of Spartans.

The Warriors fell to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the Mountain West. The Spartans are 3-2 and 1-0.

Weaver, who transferred to San Jose State in January, was 2-0 in two starts as a UH quarterback last season. He also threw the Warriors’ winning touchdown pass in the 2025 Hawaii Bowl. But seeking an opportunity for more starts, he entered the transfer portal. He found a home with the Spartans under head coach Ken Niumatalolo and offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann. Both are former UH players and coaches.

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Weaver was 19-for-28 for 246 yards. Under his guidance, the Spartans did not turn over the ball, and they redeemed four red-zone trips with two touchdowns and two field goals. The Warriors managed a field goal in two red-zone visits.

“We’ve got to figure out the issues in the red zone,” Alejado said. “We get to the red zone pretty easily. We have a hard time down there. We have to figure out what’s going on, and watch the film.”

Weaver also rebounded from the previous game, a loss to Fresno State during which he was intercepted four times and endured five sacks.

“It was good to see him bounce back and not be gun shy,” Stutzmann said of Weaver. “In that stretch — when they went field goal, field goal, touchdown — they closed the gap and we were reeling a little bit. Against Fresno, he pressed a little bit. This game, he didn’t press. He was what we saw out of the first three games with him. He helped us win the game.”

Weaver said: “It was a great team win. The defense played super well. The O-line did a great job protecting guys. The guys did a good job making plays. We took care of the ball, which was a huge emphasis for us. It was a good one to build on moving forward.

The Warriors committed 12 penalties for 85 yards. They were called for five holding penalties in the first half.

“It’s part of the journey,” Chang said. “The discipline and detail things, we’ve got to clean those up. We’ve got to keep the faith.”

Shut out in the first half, Warriors opened with two long drives after the intermission, resulting in Sean Olvera-Harle field goals of 44 and 24 yards.

Later, wideout Devin Alves caught a 23-yard pass from Alejado, then used his 21.6 mph speed to sprint into the end zone to complete the 58-yard touchdown. Chang opted for the point-after kick, which Olvera-Harle converted to close the Warriors to 14-13 with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter. Chang cited the analytics and the remaining time for going with the sure point of a kick.

The Spartans and Warriors then traded field goals, with Olvera-Harle’s second 44-yarder cutting deficit to 17-16 with 11:52 remaining.

Weaver threw touchdown passes of 10 and 12 yards to stake the Spartans to a 14-0 lead at the intermission.

It was another unproductive first half for the Warriors. They failed to score a first-half touchdown for the third time this season. The Warriors are averaging 6.4 points in the first half.

The Warriors contributed to their early deficit. After the defense forced a punt, Alejado overthrew wideout Nick Delgadillo and was intercepted by Jayden Robertson at the 41. Robertson’s 21-yard return gave SJSU the ball at the UH 20. Three plays later, Weaver lobbed a pass to Campbell High graduate Kamaehu Kopa-Kaawalauole, who out-jumped safety Matagi Thompson and raced into the end zone to complete the 10-yard play.

Later, the Warriors were stopped short of the line to gain at their 36. They opted to punt. The Spartans then drove 73 yards for a 14-0 lead, the final 12 yards coming on Weaver’s pass to Carson Clark with 6:08 to play.

The Warriors’ ensuing drive accentuated their woes. Two gains were nullified because of holding penalties, pulling the Warriors’ out of field-goal range.

The Warriors also have had misfortune the past week. Wideout Audric Harris was not available because of a knee contusion. Safety Joenel Figueroa suffered a fractured ankle in Wednesday’s practice. And on Saturday, Carson Brown made a 32-yard, catch-and-dash but then was tackled hard and fell on his left shoulder. He headed to the training room and returned with his arm in a sling.