Brigham Young quarterback Riley Nelson spun to the Aloha Stadium turf, Warriors draped all over him. Before he went down, however, he got enough daylight to blindly fling the football downfield.

The prayer pass was answered by BYU receiver Cody Hoffman, who hauled in the 21-yard spin-cycle toss near the left sideline. It was the first of several back-breaking plays allowed in the third quarter by the Hawaii defense in a season-ending 41-20 loss on Saturday.

UH defensive coordinator Dave Aranda offered up a rueful grin when asked about Nelson’s drive-extending play — BYU faced third and 8 — that happened with 11:30 left in the third quarter. The Cougars’ go-ahead score came soon after.

"It’s frustrating," Aranda said. "I think our season has been like that. I’m proud of our guys how they fought. I thought they really competed. I thought we were in position to make plays, and we made some tonight. But in the third quarter there, maybe we didn’t make some of the plays that we had to make."

The quarter was capped off by an incredible one-handed snare by Hoffman, who sprinted past the UH secondary and completed the 38-yard bomb from Nelson.

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall called it "one of the greatest plays I’ve ever seen."

By the end of the disastrous period rife with BYU highlights on ESPN, the Cougars led 38-13.

"We had a few busts, starting in the second half," senior linebacker Corey Paredes said. "That kind of stuff is kind of like a snowball effect when that kind of bad stuff happens. It kind of keeps going. But the really great teams stop it in its tracks and put their foot down."

The teams’ talent disparity was evident as UH could not do so.

Sophomore safety John Hardy-Tuliau was leap-frogged by a BYU ballcarrier on one play, but still made a game-high 10 tackles and broke up two passes.

"It’s kind of demoralizing, a little bit," Hardy-Tuliau said. "But we fought through all year on defense. Anything that happens, we overcome adversity, and that’s what we did."

UH bid farewell to seven defensive starters. Also playing his last game was backup lineman Liko Satele, who notched two of his team’s three sacks of Nelson in the first half. UH couldn’t get to the Cougars’ signal-caller after the break, as Nelson finished 25-for-37 with 363 yards. Hoffman caught seven passes for 123 yards.

"That’s what we’ve been doing this whole year, is trying to bounce back. That pretty much sums up the season," Satele said.

Satele, up to his eyes in lei, emphasized the 26 other seniors he’s departing with.

"We came in as strangers, we’re leaving as brothers."

The next generation of UH defenders could have a leader-in-the-making in Hardy-Tuliau, who is considered one of the brightest spots returning on defense.

"Next for us is we’ve got to learn from our mistakes this season and come back stronger next year, and play more team defense," the safety said.

Senior linebacker Aaron Brown forced a fumble at midfield at the end of the third quarter, but that, like everything else in the period, went the visitors’ way.

BYU recovered, and UH never did.