After losing big in Tucson last week, Hawaii returned to Clarence T.C. Ching Complex to open a three-game home-stretch that could end up deciding Hawaii’s bowl fortunes for the 2025 season. The topic of the week was quarterback Micah Alejado’s health and whether he would play. If unavailable, would backup quarterback Luke Weaver be able to hold the fort down? The answer was yes. While far from a perfect outing, Weaver threw for 294 yards and tossed three touchdown passes in a key 37-20 win over Sam
Houston
Let’s take a look at the key moments from the victory:
-Earlier in the week, Timmy Chang said that freshman quarterback Micah Alejado would be a game-time decision, but Alejado didn’t even suit up for the contest. He was seen in street clothes while the team warmed up. In an unexpected surprise, Sam Houston starting quarterback Hunter Watson was also ruled out for the Hawaii game. That twist left us with a battle of backup quarterbacks, Luke Weaver vs. Sam Houston’s Mabrey Mettauer.
Key wide receiver Nick Cenacle was also ruled out with a knee injury, hopefully just a precaution.
-Luke Weaver wasted no time getting comfortable, completing a 47-yard pass to Pofele Ashlock on the first offensive play. The drive featured some goal line drama when running back Cam Barfield appeared to fumble on the 1-yard line, but his forearm was down and the call on the field overturned. On 4th-and-goal, running back Landon Sims scored on a short pass from Weaver to give Hawaii a 7-0 lead, the confident start Hawaii needed.
-The pivotal moment of the contest that turned the game in Hawaii’s favor came in the second quarter when 3rd-and-15, backup linebacker Giovanni Iovino picked off Mettauer for a 41-yard pick-six to give Hawaii a 14-3 lead. Iovino was busy on the evening, he had to replace linebacker Jamih Otis after he was ejected for targeting.
-Kansei Matsuzawa, the most famous Hawaii Warrior now being called, “The Tokyo Toe” scored a field goal before the halftime break to make it a two possession lead. Matsuzawa is 8/8 on the season in field goals, mounting an all-conference type season.
-It appeared as if Hawaii was poised to coast to victory in the second half, but a 66-yard pick-six by Sam Houston’s Emon Allen cut the lead to 20-13 after Hawaii had frankly dominated much of the evening. It wasn’t a good throw by Weaver.
-Fear not, Weaver bounced back on the following drive, engineering a 9-play, 76-yard drive that was capped off by a Pofele Ashlock touchdown to push the score to 27-13. Sam Houston, however, didn’t come all the way to Hawaii to just give up. With 10:39 left in the fourth quarter, Giovanni Iovino absolutely crushed Sam Houston quarterback Mabrey Mettauer, knocking him out of the game and riling up the Bearkats. Freshman Landyn Locke replaced Mettauer and promptly led the Bearkats down for a touchdown via several shovel passes that left run-and-shoot Hawaii fans feeling like they were being taunted by the playcalling.
-Credit Weaver and the Hawaii offense. Every time adversity arrived, they answered the call. Sam Houston’s touchdown closed the gap to 27-20, but Hawaii would tack on another 10 points before the end of the game to close out a 37-20 victory. With Alejado’s status in question, Weaver stepped in to help Hawaii pick up a huge victory for their bowl aspirations. Expect Weaver to give Alejado another week of rest next week against the hapless Portland State Vikings, allowing Alejado to heal up for a pivotal conference opener against Fresno State in two weeks.
