Washington State rolls past mistake-prone Hawaii, 42-10
JAMES SNOOK / IMAGN IMAGES
Hawaii running back Cam Barfield looked for yardage by while breaking away from Washington State defensive back Adrian Wilson in the first half at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash., today.
PULLMAN, WASH. >> Washington State took advantage of Hawaii mistakes to roll to a 42-10 homecoming victory today at Gesa Field.
The Rainbow Warriors lost two fumbles, were intercepted and missed a make-able field-goal attempt — all of which the Cougars parlayed into touchdowns.
WSU quarterback John Mateer was 23-for-27 for 295 yards. He accounted for the Cougars’ first five touchdowns, throwing three scoring passes and rushing for two more on option keepers.
The outcome dropped the Warriors to 2-5 overall. They are 1-14 on the road during Timmy Chang’s three-year tenure as head coach.
The Cougars won for the sixth time in seven games to meet the bowl-eligibility minimum.
The Warriors cut their deficit to 21-10 on a 17-yard scoring pass from Brayden Schager to Tylan Hines on a post pattern to open the second half.
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But the Cougars answered with a methodical 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Mateer covered the final 8 yards with an option keeper to make it 28-10 with 4:14 left in the third quarter.
With a new-look sliding pocket, the Warriors were able to give time to Schager to lead early drives. But all of the Warriors’ best work resulted in only a field goal in the first half.
>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. Washington State
The Warriors advanced into the red zone on their first two possessions. But after Schager absorbed a third-down sack, the Warriors settled for Kansei Matsuzawa’s 25-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead. It was their first opening-quarter lead in four weeks.
On their second possession, the Warriors faced a third-and-6 from the WSU 11. But Schager’s pass was tipped and sailed past Hines in the end zone. This time, Matsuzawa’s field-goal attempt, from 28 yards, was wide left.
The next two UH drives ended in turnovers. WSU nickelback Kapena Gushiken, a Kamehameha-Maui graduate, recovered the football on Nick Cenacle’s catch-and-fumble. The Cougars drove 44 yards, with Mateer’s 24-yard scoring pass to Cooper Mathers extending the lead to 14-3 with 8:26 left in the first half.
On UH’s ensuing drive, Buddah Al-Uqdah intercepted Schager at midfield. That led to Kris Hutson’s 9-yard scoring run on a jet sweep to widen the Cougars’ lead to 21-3 with 3:58 to play in the half.
