HONOLULU — San Jose State opened Mountain West Conference play with a satisfying 20-16 victory over Hawaii on Saturday night, the Spartans’ sixth straight win over the Rainbow Warriors.
“It wasn’t always pretty, but … we found a way on the road, our first conference game on the road,” head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “Just a huge win for us.”
Spartans quarterback Luke Weaver, facing his former team, had a bounce-back game after throwing four interceptions in his last game against Fresno State two weeks ago. The Manteca native completed 19 of 28 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
The Spartans (3-2, 1-0 Mountain West) did what they failed to do in their first four games, getting off to a fast start and scoring first. They flipped the script early in the second quarter for a 7-0 lead when Weaver hit tight end Kamaehu Kopa-Kaawalauole, a Honolulu native, on a 10-yard score for his first touchdown of the season.
The San Jose State defense, sparked by a pair of sacks from Jeremiah Tuiileila, came up with big stops against Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado, who was intercepted by Jayden Robertson and Caleb Womack. Alejado, a sophomore from Las Vegas, did throw for 341 yards and a touchdown after passing for 367 yards against SJSU in last year’s 45-38 Spartans win.
“You just gotta make sure that we’re not giving too many explosives,” Womack said. “There was a few more than we liked. We gonna get that cleaned up for sure.”
San Jose State made it 14-0 with 6:08 to play in the second quarter when Weaver hit true freshman receiver Carson Clark for a 12-yard touchdown. Clark led Spartans receivers with five catches and 74 yards.
“Just a couple of looks that we’ve seen, just we knew the guys were playing a little bit lower, so we knew we could take the shots over the top,” Clark said.
Hawaii (1-4, 0-3 MW) did manage to make it a game in the second half after being shut out in the first half.
The Rainbow Warriors opened the second half with back-to-back field goals. Then, after penalties and a blocked field goal by San Jose State defensive back Kodi Decambra, Hawaii set up its first touchdown drive of the game. Alejado hit receiver Devin Alves for a 58-yard score with 3:20 to play in the third quarter.
“I thought our guys did a really good job with the momentum swings, and our guys just kept swinging, even though there were some peaks and valleys, and our guys just continued to keep going,” Niumatalolo said.
Despite a 41-yard field-goal miss by Spartans kicker Trajan Sinatra, who made a 24-yarder to end the third quarter, Hawaii remained within a point at 17-16.
The San Jose State defense then came up with a big stop when Alejado looked downfield but threw his second interception of the game into the hands of Womack. It was the second interception this season for the senior cornerback from Santa Cruz.
San Jose State extended its lead to 20-16 with 1:15 left in regulation with a 30-yard field goal by Sinatra.
Hawaii had one final chance to complete the comeback, but with 3 seconds remaining from the 37-yard line, Alejado’s pass to the end zone was deflected away, sealing the Spartans’ victory.
The Spartans will return home next week when they face Wyoming at 6 p.m. for their first conference home game this season at CEFCU Stadium