LIHU‘E — All was right once again in Honolulu — at least for this week — as the Warriors offense was back in full force Saturday, getting out to a huge early lead and snapping the team’s six-game losing streak
LIHU‘E — All was right once again in Honolulu — at least for this week — as the Warriors offense was back in full force Saturday, getting out to a huge early lead and snapping the team’s six-game losing streak on this Homecoming weekend.
Bryant Moniz threw four touchdowns and Leon Wright-Jackson ran for a career-best 167 yards and three scores to help Hawai‘i come away with a 49-36 victory over Utah State.
Greg Salas had 10 catches for 187 yards and two TDs for the Warriors (3-6, 1-5 Western Athletic Conference), who were in the midst of their longest losing streak since going 0-12 in 1998.
Alex Green added 110 yards rushing on 10 carries, giving pass-heavy Hawai‘i its first pair of 100-yard rushers since Johnny Macon (141) and Brett Washington (106) in 1995.
The loss was the 12th straight on the road for the Aggies (2-7, 1-4), who had no answer for Hawai‘i’s air-and-ground attack.
The 49-point, 697-yard outburst was the best this year for Hawai‘i.
Moniz was 21 of 37 for 337 yards, earning his first victory in four starts.
The night started off shaky for UH, when Utah State was able to capitalize on an early Moniz interception. Robert Turbin’s seven-yard touchdown run put the Aggies up 7-0 at the 12:57 mark of the opening period.
Unfazed, the Warriors offense went right back to work and Moniz connected with Jon Medeiros on a 57-yard touchdown pass to even things up just a few minutes later.
From there, the Hawai‘i attack was like a runaway train, plowing through and over the Utah State defense. Moniz would throw two more scoring strikes before the half, along with two rushing touchdowns by Wright-Jackson to give the Warriors a 35-7 lead at the break.
The half’s final score was a 10-yard reception by Salas. The standout receiver had not been finding the end zone much during the team’s losing streak. After starting the season with four scores in the first three games, he had just one touchdown in the past five.
Saturday’s yardage pushed Salas well over the 1,000-yard mark for the season as he now sits with 1,164 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
Utah State attempted to mount a comeback in the early stages of the third quarter, when Turbin found paydirt again, this time from three yards out. The Aggies’ defense stiffened and got the ball back into its offense’s hands, where quarterback Diondre Borel hit Jeremy Mitchell for a 16-yard score.
All of a sudden, the lead was just 35-21 with more than 21 minutes still to play.
The Warriors did not go into prevent mode and continued to attack all parts of the Aggies defense. Wright-Jackson found the end zone for the third time on the day with a five-yard run late in the third quarter.
Wright-Jackson’s 167 rush yards were the most by a Warrior since Calvin Melvin ran for 172 against BYU on Sept. 11, 1993.
Utah State scored quickly to bring the game back to a two-possession difference, but Moniz’s fourth touchdown of the night went to Salas and created enough distance for UH to preserve the margin.
The Warriors will play their final home conference game on Saturday when New Mexico State comes to Aloha Stadium for the 5:05 p.m. kickoff.
The Associated Press and the University of Hawai‘i contributed to this report.
