HONOLULU — Cody Fajardo accumulated 261 yards of total offense and factored into three touchdowns as Nevada rallied past Hawaii on Saturday, 26-18.
HONOLULU — Cody Fajardo accumulated 261 yards of total offense and factored into three touchdowns as Nevada rallied past Hawaii on Saturday, 26-18.
The Wolf Pack (5-3, 2-2 Mountain West) scored 26 consecutive points after trailing 10-0 in the second quarter to win their second straight game and fourth consecutive meeting against the Rainbow Warriors (2-6, 1-2).
“We played pretty well and should have had 13 points (in the first half),” Hawaii coach Norm Chow said in a university release. “We needed touchdowns and not field goals. The defense played well which allowed us to go ahead but in the second half they just kept the football. They had a 19-play drive and we just can’t score if we don’t have the ball.”
Fajardo rushed for 133 yards on 23 carries and found the end zone on runs of 6 and 8 yards. He also passed for 128 yards (17-of-26) and threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Hasaan Henderson.
“He’s a nice player,” Chow said. “He’s dangerous, smart and a nice young man as well. We knew he was going to be a factor in the ball game and we needed to contain him better than we did. We thought we had a plan, but he felt otherwise.”
Nevada grounded out 190 of its 300 rushing yards after halftime.
Running backs James Butler and Don Jackson combined for 163 rushing yards on 36 carries.
The Wolf Pack averaged 4.9 yards per rush and amassed 427 yards of total offense.
Hawaii held a 10-6 lead at halftime, but Nevada simply imposed its will in the third and fourth quarters.
The Wolf Pack scored on their first four possessions of the second half, putting together several long drives and held the ball for all but 4:30 of the second half.
Brent Zuzo capped a 14-play, 72-yard drive with a 22-yard field goal. After a Hawaii three-and-out Nevada went 67 yards in 10 plays, culminating in Fajardo’s 8-yard touchdown run.
Zuzo tacked on a 20-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to wrap up a 19-play, 85-yard drive that took 9:30 off the clock. Fajardo’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Henderson closed out the scoring for Nevada.
Steven Lakalaka’s 5-yard touchdown run and the ensuing two-point conversion pass from Ikaika Woolsey to Quinton Pedroza cut it to a one-score game with 40 seconds remaining, but Nevada recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.
Woolsey opened the scoring with his 38-yard touchdown pass to Donnie King late in the third quarter. Tyler Hadden’s 36-yard field goal gave the Rainbow Warriors a 10-0 second-quarter lead.
Woolsey finished with 201 passing yards on 18-of-32 passing. Taz Stevenson recorded a game-high 12 tackles to lead the Hawaii defense.
Nevada has now won 11 of the 20 meetings against Hawaii in series history.