SoFi Hawaii Bowl live blog: Hawaii vs. BYU
Cole McDonald throws four scoring passes and rushes for another touchdown, and Khoury Bethley made a game-saving interception to boost Hawaii to a 38-34 victory over BYU in the SoFi Hawaii Bowl.
The Warriors finish the season 10-5.
>> PHOTO GALLERY: HAWAII VS. BYU
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Cole McDonald fires a 24-yard scoring pass to Nick Mardner to give the Warriors a 38-34 lead with 1:17 to play.
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After Jake Oldroyd connects on a 20-yard field goal to give BYU its first lead, at 34-31, the Warriors march down the field. But Ryan Meskell is wide right on a 40-yard, field-goal attempt.
BYU lead, 34-31, with 12:19 to play.
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Big momentum change: BYU’s Zach Wilson goes left on a keeper, goes airborne, is hit by Donovan Dalton and then Eugene Ford knocks the ball free into the end zone. Pumba Williams recovers in the end zone for a touchback.
It’s still 31-all in the second half.
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BYU ties it at 31-all on quarterback Zach Wilson’s 2-yard keeper with 11:58 left in the third quarter.
The drive was set up on Aleva Hifo’s 52-yard punt return to the UH 6.
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The Cougars close to 31-24 on Jake Oldroyd’s 37-yard field with 18 seconds left.
That came after Cole McDonald’s 11-yard scoring pass to Jason-Matthew Sharsh.
Hawaii leads 31-24 at the intermission.
(For amusement purposes only, the over/under is 63 points.
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On the double reverse, Micah Simon goes around left end for an 11-yard TD as BYU closes to 24-21 with 3:16 to play in the first half
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Ryan Meskell hits a 46-yard field goal after it was ruled that Cole McDonald did not have the ball wrested away on a sack.
UH now leads 24-14 with 5:50 to play in the first half.
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Zach Wilson — BYU’s version — scores on a 1-yard keeper to close BYU to 21-14 with 9:42 to play in the first half.
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The longest yard.
Cole McDonald, taking the snap from under center, goes over the top for a 1-yard TD as the Warriors go up 21-7 with 13:33 left in the first half.
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Running back Lapini Katoa goes a yard for a touchdown to close BYU to 14-7 with 54 seconds left in the first quarter.
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Quarterback Cole McDonald and wideout Jared Smart collaborate on another scoring pass, this one covering 40 yards.
McDonald is nine of 10 for 124 yards.
UH lead 14-0 with 4:55 left in the first quarter.
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Out of the empty set, Cole McDonald fires a pass over two BYU defenders to Jared Smart for a 7-yard scoring pass with 7:32 to play in the first quarter.
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It appears cornerback Rojesterman Farris II won’t be playing today.
It could be the battles of Zach Wilsons — UH cornerback Zach Wilson vs. BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.
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It’s a bright and sunny (and apparently redundantly balmy) day as UH and BYU meet for the 33rd time (but first in a bowl game).
It will be a quarterback’s dual between Cole McDonald (and Chevan Cordeiro) and BYU’s Zach Wilson. In last year’s bowl game, Wilson, a one-time UH recruit, was 18 of 18. His first collegiate start was against … yep, UH.
There are all sorts of ties. Kickoff is under 30 minutes.
Why does UH get the edge in Defense in today’s Game Day analysis in the paper ?
Cheeehooo -Cole looking sharp!!
Dey u go – Cole looking Nani!!! 14-0 Bows!
Man the stadium is so empty the band is echoing big time.
Cole is playing like he wants to play on Sundays !
The deep ball finally connecting
Defense is starting to struggle though after a strong start
Offense sputtering. Put in Chevan.
Got to figure some things out. Unbelievable potential here.
Rolo is getting impatient- sitting a guy that just threw for 300 yards n 3 TDS in a half is a tad puzzling.
Flat. What happened at the half? Our special team is not special on punt coverage.
cole is making some horrible reads
Same Ol Samje Ol. UH gets out adjusted again. Its all on the coaching. UH looks flat coming into THE 2ND HALF. PLAYING LIKE AT BOISE. SHAPE UP
!
why do we keep running the ball with no success??
3 and 7 and a run play? They haven’t been able to run the ball all game. Woof
We need a real OC. Smith needs to go. 3rd and 7 and you call a draw?!
Enough of Miles Reed already. I have seen enough. Mc Dunno needs a kick in his you know what.
Suspect play calling. What’s with 3 consecutive running plays netting 5 yards?
Kick Brian Smith and maybe HC too. Elementary play calling
Thought the Warriors would play with intensity at the start of the 3rd 6th, but it seems they just don’t have it. Hope the offense can give the D a break and kick start the adrenaline.
Dang phone. Go Bows
Against BYU D, the Warriors could use a big tight end ,but unfortunately the Warriors havent recruited a true tight end in years.
Armless mannequin tracking technique at its finest… 🤦🏽♂️
Get a tight end. Use him on special teams like Keene until you need him. Goal line, third down, vs physical secondary. Need one for real. So limited without one. Could go over the middle a lot easier.
A 3 men rush against a 5 men Warrio line and they sack the QB. BAD technique in blocking. WHOA, warrior coaches are not in game or getting frustrated. Truly look forward to this years recruits to be starting the 2020 aeazon. Speed kills and athletic superiority wins. Now I’ll just wait to the first game . Incoming got a speed rb, a long fg kicker, a speed and big wr, and a dt.
Hate to give up on this gamecause they should
have won or running up the score, but they just dont have it today.
GO FOR THE GAME, THE TIE, AND OT.
UH special teams is beyond awful
How da crow taste? You wen broil or pulehu dat bugga??!!!!
Lol
What a game!!
Yup, cheer your team to the end. Cry, cry, cry….then wuh, huh? We win! We win! That’s my team! Lol
We get’em Boo!
Go Warriors!
Wow, what a great finish… these Warriors play with some huge hearts of loins tonight! Rolo and this coaching staff is bringing back Hawaii Football… Awesome job beating BYU and Hawaii Bowl victory on National TV!
Go Warriors!
How can I post a photo of BYU’s touchdown that was called a fumble
Fun game! Merry Christmas Tsaikos!
Very Merry Christmas indeed!
On national tv with NO other sports playing today. Great game and exposure. Why are some of you saying fire the coach? That’s just dumb.
I was hoping Mardner could show everybody (especially here) that he could do it. Still young, got good (unreal actually) measurables and on the eye test he can do everything (even separate), you can see it. Except maybe catch consistently. He just has to put in some good work summer time then unreal. Maybe NFL caliber couple of years. Awesome
“Hearts of Loins”. I think Jenna Jameson was In that one.
Mainlanders…. Hawaiian airlines is having a 24 hour sale on flights… 538 round trip! Check it out
Too many overly emotional people , who show they are only fairweather fans by talking about removing Rolo.
What a merry Christmas for us true fans of Warrior Nation
35.
She lives here.
Bethley needed to show everybody he could do it just like Mardner needed to. Going to work nice with Ortiz and Dalton. Ford looked more comfortable at CB than at nickel. He could work at press coverage summer time and bring a different dimension to the entire coverage mix, especially when they get their JC CB in February. LB position will be deep. And we will see much more pass rush next year, especially off the edges. Thomas looked good last three games. Pritchard looked good as of late (as opposed to early vs Pac 12’s) too. Kaneshiro will get bigger and reach a next level guarantee. And the Taala/Laulu combo will be unreal. Batoon phase II. Be ready.
Cole is King of the night on SportsCenter.
HuWzzah, ‘Bows!
‘Attaway to shut down the doubters.
Great win for the Warriors ! Kind of sucks for Roe since he was ineligible for the bowl game.
Let’s reel in those recruits !!!
Wow !!! What a way to end the game. What away to end the season. It’s been great. MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone !!!!!
Congratulations to the Warriors. The pork belly wrap was good. Unfortunately this restaurant was Korean and TV was korean program, so missed the finale.
Congrats to the team and coaches. Rolo is the the first to beat BYU as a player AND coach!
Bliss! What a supercharged effort by the Warriors! They scored when they had to, played great defense when they needed to and in my opinion looked good doing it. They deserve all the love and appreciation they can get – EVERY one of them!
Mahalo for showing the fans a great season, Warriors!!! Next season start tomorrow.
GO WARRIORS!!!
Aloha All!
I jus wen say bye to sum dude in wun red suit wit one beeg bag ovah his shouldah…
Hmmm…
😯
heheheh
Mele Kalikimaka Ka Kou!
Wow!
Eh…Now das why you go to No-Aloha and watch ’em live…
See you all on 9/5.
BEAT DA BRUINS!
Congrats to the players and coaches on coming back and beating a physically talented BYU team! Real chicken skin moment overcoming adversity and critics in the local community to be successful! These young men will all go on to fine careers in the workforce with what has been instilled in them! Mahalo to all!
Need to build on this success and give the program the necessary tools to be competitive, instead of the standard “You did well with what we give you. Why do you need this or that!”
Warriors did well in 2019 — congrats!!!!
yes, they won 10 games — yes they won the Pacific Division — yes, they won the Sofi Hawaii Bowl
however, and some or many on this blog will disagree with me when I say : UH offense has NO, absolutely NO play that will attack the edges effectively; why call ‘up-da-middle’ plays when the DL controls it?; surely, UH coaching staff has a better mind to be mired in some very questionable play calling the entire season and stretching back over Rolo’s coaching UH tenure
for whatever reason, UH special teams on punts and kick-off fell apart yesterday –there was a clear block in the back as #15 began to run and the official standing there just happened to “blink” as did an official when BYU R/guard grabbed UH DL and threw him to the ground — so many ‘blinks’ to help BYU
reminds me, painfully, of the Sugar Bowl where the line judge failed to call the Georgia DE off-side — Georgia did not need their help — just made them look biased on national TV!!!!!
and yet, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all where ever U B
Jay Wilkerson. 6’0 WR out of Texas signs with Hawaii on Christmas Day. Mele Kelikimaka Warrior Fans. Held offers from Rutgers, Oklahoma State, Illinois, SMU, and Kansas amongst others. 🙌🙌🙌
Hawaii Bowl photo gallery on Na Koa website:
https://www.nakoa.org/portfolio/photos-from-the-warriors-win-in-the-hawaii-bowl/
#51 says it well. Congrats for the win but always inconsistent 2nd half play. Again, cannot adjust to the adjustments. Barely made it the the second level and to stay there UH has got to be more consistent and improve play calling-(not very innovative). New RB should be an improvement and hope he can catch the ball that should open up more options to our R & S Offense. To summarize: UH was actually kinda lucky they won and Warriors finally got the advantage in TO’s. Perhaps UH might even do a hybrid R & S Offense with a quicker decision making QB (Mc Dunno holds the ball too long many times).
Mahalo Warriors for the 2019 season.
There were some games I thought .. nah we not going win …but the Warriors walked away with the win. There were some I thought … yeah, we should win this one … but the Warriors made too many mistakes and lost.
This did nothing to the spirit of the team. After each loss, they came back and played harder.
10 – 5 with a bowl game win.
Great season and more to come next year! Can’t wait to see the 2020 version of the Warriors!
McDonald throws for a career-high 493 yards and accounts for five touchdowns, including the game-winner that was preceded by a 38-yarder on third-and-1, and someone has the audacity to say he’s not good enough for Hawaii? Geezus ….
Mr. Matlin: Please fix the 2021 schedule and find a decent opponent for Hawaii so they don’t have to play New Mexico State TWICE!! Come on! Utah, WSU, Cal, Colorado, ASU, Texas Tech, among others. This is too “Herman Frazierish” for my comfort!
I taped the second half and watched it again. Looked like the BYU coach disagreed with the targeting and ejection of his player. I would expect an attitude of concern rather than what was shown by him. How does BYU recruit the players they have? They no longer have the prestige they once did.
Relatives and friends tell me that people in Utah are still as a loss that and confused that BYU lost to UH. I remember ESPN’s Travor Matich calling UH a “nice little team” there. Eating crow must taste good.