Hawaii Football: Warriors hang on by 1 yard to knock off Arizona
Arizona’s Khalil Tate ran free on the last play for 30 yards, but was stopped at the Hawaii 1-yard line by Kalen Hicks and Manly Williams as time ran out and the Warriors won one of the most exciting games in UH football history 45-38.
Hawaii got more late-game magic from backup quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, and the Warriors held off a late Arizona rally to win their season-opener as 11-point underdogs.
>> HAWAII VS. ARIZONA PHOTO GALLERY
Enjoy.#HawaiiFB stops Khalil Tate at the ONE as time expires.
Ballgame. UH 45, Arizona 38.
First Rainbows win over the Wildcats in six tries all-time. pic.twitter.com/wOSU1TfLy0
— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) August 25, 2019
Cedric Byrd caught four touchdown passes, including one from Cordeiro in the fourth quarter to put UH up 45-35. Cordeiro had also directed a drive that ended with Ryan Meskell’s 34-yard field goal with 10:39 left put UH back in front 38-35. Byrd finished with 14 receptions for 224 yards.
Cedric Byrd with his FOURTH receiving touchdown tonight, this one from Chevan Cordeiro.#HawaiiFB 45, Arizona 35, 5 minutes remaining. pic.twitter.com/WgWXMKfgBf
— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) August 25, 2019
Lucas Havrisik kicked a 53-yard field goal with 3:53 left to close Arizona’s deficit to 45-38.
Hawaii’s next drive stalled, and then punted for the first time in the game. Arizona took over at its own 16, and got 83 of the 84 yards it needed before time expired.
Here’s #HawaiiFB DB Ikem Okeke (4Q interception) on stopping Arizona the last two times the Wildcats got into the red zone. pic.twitter.com/dXXJ9tGiFI
— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) August 25, 2019
Arizona had tied the game at 35 on a 21-yard TD pass from Tate — the fourth Arizona touchdown to come off of a UH turnover.
Hawaii starting quarterback Cole McDonald completed 29 of 41 passes with four touchdowns, but was also intercepted four times including two in the third quarter that led to Arizona touchdowns after UH led 28-21 at halftime.
As a true freshman last year, Cordeiro led Hawaii to a win against Wyoming when McDonald was injured, and also led UH in a late-game relief effort that beat UNLV and got UH into the Hawaii Bowl.
Chevan should be the starter..
Chevan should be starter he is clutch..
I know this comment section is heavily filtered for any negativity, but i’m disappointed in Cole’s decision making tonight. I thought that on several of his interceptions he was being greedy and there were open receivers, usually in the flats.
That said, i’m extremely proud of this team and this coaching staff for pulling out this win. It wasn’t pretty but they showed a ton of heart.
Arizona’s football program has an annual budget of around $90M. Last I checked, our budget for the entire athletic department is usually around $35-$40M. They recruit at much higher level than we do, in part because they have much nicer facilities.
Tonight was about heart, and our Warriors showed an abundance of that.
Clean up those turnovers and we are looking at a very special offense. The o-line played lights out all night. props to the big boys o-line.
Imagine the results with half the turnovers! UH would put up 60 points tonight…
Congrats to the players, Coach Rolovich and staff. It was a very exciting game.
PLEASE…no let down when Oregon State comes to town.
CLEARLY, ARIZONA WAS OUT-CLASSED. IF THEY HAD WON, -THAT- WOULD HAVE BEEN THE UP-SET. THEY WERE LUCKY TO HANG AROUND FOR MOST OF THE GAME.