Hawaii retires Colt Brennan’s No. 15 at halftime, then beats New Mexico State in front of home crowd
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii running back Dedrick Parson carried the ball in the first quarter against New Mexico State.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
A Hawaii player coughed up the ball against New Mexico State’s Chris Ojoh.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii’s Dedrick Parson weaved his way through the New Mexico State defense.
Hawaii’s Khoury Bethley and Darius Muasau had long interception returns for touchdowns and Calvin Turner broke a tie with a 75-yard scoring run late in the third quarter to help the Rainbow Warriors hold off New Mexico State 48-34 tonight at Clarence T.C. Ching Complex.
The Rainbow Warriors (4-4) honored 2007 Heisman Trophy finalist Colt Brennan at halftime and retired his No. 15 jersey in a ceremony on the field before a crowd of 1,000 — the first for a UH home game since 2019.
The home team is greeted with some cheers. #HawaiiFB. pic.twitter.com/PKMjS2NFal
— Billy Hull (@billyhull) October 24, 2021
Brennan would have appreciated the big plays in the second half, although they weren’t the long throws UH fans were accustomed to watching in 2007.
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The Aggies (1-7) erased a 24-3 second-quarter deficit and tied it at 27-all on Juwan Price’s 46-yard touchdown run with 1:30 left in the third quarter.
Turner took the very next play from scrimmage to the end zone for a 75-yard TD.
>> PHOTOS: Hawaii beats New Mexico State
NMSU quarterback Jonah Johnson was driving with his team down seven in the fourth quarter when he was hit by Justus Tavai to force a pass attempt that floated in the air and was caught by Muasau, who returned it 75 yards for a score and a 41-27 advantage.
Hawaii freshman quarterback Brayden Schager was an efficient 25-for-29 passing for 219 yards. His longest completion was 49 yards to Nick Mardner on third-and-11 to set up senior Dedrick Parson’s 3-yard TD run to make it 48-34 with 4:16 remaining.
Parson stepped in for an injured Dae Dae Hunter at running back and stepped up with 25 carries for 161 yards and three touchdowns, his first 100-yard game with the Rainbow Warriors.
Hawaii, which beat the Aggies 41-21 in Las Cruces, N.M., in September, is 10-0 all-time against New Mexico State.
The Rainbow Warriors are 1-2 in Mountain West Conference play and return to action a week from today at Utah State.
