Aztecs Top Hawai'i, 27-24

SAN DIEGO -- Marquez Cooper ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and true freshman quarterback Danny O’Neil threw for 224 yards and a score to lead San Diego State to a 27-24 win over Hawai’i on Saturday night in the Mountain West opener for both teams.

The Aztecs (2-3, 1-0 MW) only trailed for 2 minutes, 34 seconds (2:34) of the game, but had to rally in the fourth quarter to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Rainbow Warriors (2-3, 0-1 MW) took their only lead of the game early in the fourth when Brayden Schager connected on a 23-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cenacle to make it a 24-20 contest with 9:39 left.  Schager’s third touchdown strike of the game wrapped up a 14-play, 89-yard drive that used up 5:48 of clock.

SDSU, however, answered with an 8-play, 87-yard drive of its own, culminating with a 2-yard touchdown run by Cooper with 7:05 remaining. O’Neil found Nate Bennett on a 48-yard pass deep down the left side to get San Diego State into UH territory. The Aztecs later used a 17-yard rush by Cooper and a 14-yard pass from O’Neil to Jordan Napier on a third-and-4 situation from the 16 to set up Cooper’s second TD run of the game.

Hawai’i got into SDSU territory, converting a third-and-5 and later an improbable fourth-and-18. After Trey White’s third sack of the game, the Rainbow Warriors were facing a third-and-17 from the San Diego State 46 but Schager found Pofele Ashlock for a 15-yard gain. On fourth-and-2, Schager threw a quick screen to Ashlock, but the ball was deflected to Cenacle, who was then stopped by Krishna Clay short of the first-down marker.

The Aztecs ran Cooper three consecutive plays before punting deep into UH territory. After an incomplete deep pass with 10 seconds left, Marlem Louis sacked Schager to end the game to seal the SDSU victory.

After the teams exchanged field goals in the first quarter, Cooper put San Diego State up, 10-3, on a 9-yard touchdown with 4:49 left in the first half.

Hawai’i answered with 23-yard touchdown pass from Schager to Tylan Hines following a 6-play, 77-yard drive.

The Aztecs responded with an almost flawless 2-minute drill, going 75 yards on nine plays in 1:47, culminating with a 16-yard pass from O’Neil to Louis Brown IV with just six seconds remaining in the half. SDSU converted a fourth-and-4 on the drive and later took advantage of a defensive holding call on a third-and-9 situation, setting up the TD strike to Brown IV and entering halftime with a 17-10 lead.

After forcing a three-and-out to start the third quarter, San Diego State started in Rainbow Warrior territory when Napier returned a punt 12 yards to the UH 44. The Aztecs got into the red zone but had to settle for a 43-yard field goal by Gabe Plascencia after O’Neill was sacked on third-and-9 from on the 19-yard line.

Hawai’i cut into SDSU’s 20-10 lead with a 12-play, 75-yard drive, ending with a 6-yard pass from Schager to Ashlock late in the third quarter, setting up San Diego State’s heroics in the fourth.

O’Neil completed 24 of 33 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown, extending his streak of 113 attempts without an interception to start his collegiate career. He completed his first 10 passes of the game.

Cooper recorded his second straight 100-yard rushing game with 109 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. The active FBS rushing leader now has three 100-yard games this season and 20 for his career.

Napier (41 yards) and Brown (40) had five catches apiece, while Bennett added four receptions for a team-high 74 yards.

White finished with three sacks and four tackles for loss for a second straight game for the Aztecs, who won their conference opener for the ninth time in the last 12 years and improved to 10-2 in their last 12 MW home openers.

It was the fourth consecutive one-score game between SDSU and Hawai’i with San Diego State winning all four by a combined 19 points.