Donnel Pumphrey turned back the clock in the first quarter against Hawaii.

The San Diego State running back not only suited up and played against the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium, but he invoked memories of another great Aztecs running back, Marshall Faulk.

The 5-foot-9, 180-pound junior showed no ill effects from a foot injury that knocked him out of last weekend’s win over Fresno State, scoring two touchdowns in the first six minutes as part of a 148-yard, three-TD effort to spur a 28-14 win over Hawaii at Aloha Stadium.

Pumphrey sat out San Diego State’s first two practices of the week but said he knew well before then he’d be ready.

"I knew Sunday … it was just a little tweak," Pumphrey said. "Honestly, we just got through the week and I was able to take a couple of reps."

Hawaii’s defense was anything but ready in the first minutes of the game as Pumphrey went 67 yards in his first four carries, with a 34-yard touchdown run the opening score.

A Hawaii turnover gave San Diego State the ball right back and Pumphrey scored again on an 8-yard run for a 14-0 lead at the 9:10 mark.

His first six carries all went for at least 8 yards and he went more than 100 rushing yards by the 10-minute mark of the second quarter.

"He got us off on the right foot, obviously, and that was the difference in the game, because the rest of the game was even," San Diego State coach Rocky Long said. "On Thursday, (Pumphrey) practiced quite a bit and we asked the doctors and the trainers if they had any concerns with him playing and they didn’t. We didn’t know how exactly he was going to play, but he played really well so he must have been feeling just fine."

More than 20 years ago, Faulk made a name for himself against Hawaii, rushing for 300 yards in a single game against the Rainbows and averaging more than 220 yards in his three games played against UH.

Pumphrey seemed headed for those kinds of numbers after the opening 12 minutes when Hawaii decided to load the box with seven and eight defensive players.

Quarterback Maxwell Smith took advantage to hit Eric Judge with a 58-yard touchdown pass late in the first half to build a 14-point lead.

Smith was an efficient 11-for-15 and averaged more than 18 yards a completion to keep the Aztecs in front until the end, when Pumphrey and Chase Price put the game away churning up yardage in the fourth quarter.

San Diego State finished with 218 rushing yards on 57 carries and held the ball for more than 36 minutes.

"They started stacking the box more and were stopping the run for a little bit, but our offensive line played physical all game," Pumphrey said. "We were able to fire right back at them and kept running the ball well."

SDSU followed the blueprint of the other Division I teams to play Hawaii this season.

Hawaii’s past three opponents have all dominated the time of possession, averaging 37:53 a game.