HONOLULU — It was the all-too-familiar theme of too little, too late for Hawaii once again.
HONOLULU — It was the all-too-familiar theme of too little, too late for Hawaii once again.
For the second consecutive week, Hawaii staged a furious second-half rally, but ultimately came up short in a 38-30 loss to Oregon State Saturday night.
The Rainbow Warriors (0-2) fell behind 38-7 by the 10:56 mark in the third quarter, but shut out the Beavers (2-0) the rest of the way.
“It seems like it’s just a broken record,” Hawaii coach Norm Chow said. “We played really hard and I’m really proud of our effort, but we just can’t make the mistakes that we do . We just have to keep fighting.”
Hawaii scored the game’s final 23 points.
“We always get great effort from our players and I love them for that,” Chow said. “They just need to play smarter, but that comes with maturity. When you play a good team like Oregon State you just can’t make mistakes, but I don’t think we ever quit believing.”
Joey Iosefa had a career-high three touchdown runs for Hawaii.
Hawaii drove 59 yards to the Oregon State 16 on the game’s opening possession, but linebacker Jabral Johnson forced a fumble by Iosefa, which was recovered by the Beavers’ Siale Hautau.
Against then 25th-ranked Washington last week, Hawaii trailed 17-10 at halftime, but got a pair of second-half field goals only to come up short.
After its opening possession, Hawaii managed just 51 yards for the rest of the half.
Meanwhile, Sean Mannion threw for 207 yards by halftime and finished with 300 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Beavers.
“We’ll take it,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. “We know we got to get better in some aspects. We knew that last weekend and we got better in some of those things from last week. We just got to keep improving.”
Victor Bolden caught 11 passes for 119 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown reception early in the second half. Terron Ward rushed for 124 yards and scored on runs of 32 and 2 yards in the first half.
“I was just glad we did it because I have a lot of respect for their defense (and) their defensive staff. I think they’re well coached,” Riley said.
Oregon State recycled the turnover into a 4-yard touchdown pass from Mannion to Richard Mullaney to open the scoring and extended its lead on Mannion’s 5-yard scoring strike to Connor Hamlett on the Beavers’ next drive.
Two possessions later, Ward scampered into the end zone from 32 yards out to give his team a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Hawaii got its first score with 10:52 to play in the second quarter when Iosefa plunged into the end zone from 2 yards out. The score was set up on an interception by TJ Taimatuia after Mannion’s pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage.
Garrett Owens made a 27-yard field on Oregon State’s ensuing drive and after a Hawaii three-and-out, Mannion and company drove 84 yards in seven plays, capped by Ward’s second touchdown run, to make the score 31-7.
Steven Nelson and Michael Doctor had eight tackles apiece to lead the Oregon State defense. Nelson also intercepted an Ikaika Woolsey pass in the second half.
Woolsey finished 20-of-50 passing for 236 yards. Marcus Kemp notched a team-high 102 receiving yards on five receptions.
“They obviously came roaring back,” Riley said of Hawaii. “They get momentum and they get excited and you go into a shell a little bit, then they make plays,” Riley said. “I’ve seen that happen lots of times, so I’m just glad we held them off to win the game.”
The Beavers were 5 for 5 in the red zone for their fourth consecutive win against the Rainbow Warriors, including a 33-14 win in Corvallis, Oregon, last year. Oregon State now leads the all-time series 7-3.
It was a successful return trip to islands for Oregon State, which beat Boise State, 38-23, in the 2013 Hawaii Bowl back on Christmas Day. The Beavers have more wins at Aloha Stadium — Hawaii’s home field — than the Rainbow Warriors in that time.
Oregon State is now 5-3 all-time against Hawaii in Honolulu. After a bye next week, the Beavers host San Diego State on Sept. 20.
Hawaii will play its third home game in as many weeks when it hosts Northern Iowa Saturday.