Hawaii’s run-and-shoot did what it does. Micah Alejado threw for 338 yards and found Dez Alves for a 58-yard touchdown that had Clarence T.C. Ching rocking.
But in the end, San Jose State’s 20-16 win was accomplished the old-fashioned way.
A scheme battle SJSU won in the trenches
The Spartans ran 34 times for just 78 yards, a 2.3-yard average that won’t turn heads on a stat sheet. SJSU went 4 of 4 in the red zone, converted both fourth-down tries and leaned on two hard-nosed Jabari Bates’ runs for two big conversions in the fourth quarter;
leading to Trajan Sinatra’s 30-yard field goal with 1:15 left.
“We have to be able to run the football to be able to win,” said Niumatalolo postgame. “We want to be one of the best passing teams in the country, but in order to play winning football, you have to be able to run the ball.”
The defensive front also lived in Alejado’s lap. SJSU sacked Alejado three times, hit him for five tackles for loss and forced a fumble. The pressure also set up both interceptions that flipped the game. Jayden Robertson’s first-half pick at the Hawaii 20 set up Kama Kopa-Kaawalauole’s touchdown catch two plays later and Caleb Womack’s interception with under seven minutes left snuffed out a Hawaii possession when the Warriors needed it most.
“I had dropped back to a deep half and then it was the same thing again,” said Womack. “The D-line just got home and made him throw a bad ball. It was a good play call as well and it gave me the opportunity to go make a play.”
Womack also offered the line of the night when asked how Hawaii’s crowd and in-stadium atmosphere nearly flipped momentum in the third quarter, when the Warriors ripped off 13 unanswered points after the half.
“I feel like it’s kind of part of Hawaii’s tactics to kind of lure you to sleep,” said Womack. “They play that relaxing music. It did kind of take us a minute to get rolling, but we all locked in.”
Opposite trajectories and the No. 3 picture
The bigger number here isn’t the yardage. It’s the records.
San Jose State moves to 3-2 and 1-0 in conference play. Hawaii drops to 1-4 and 0-3; considering the ‘Bows are a program that reached the Hawaii Bowl a year ago now losing for the third straight week in conference play.
SJSU had been sitting out the Mountain West’s muddled debate over who’s third-best behind North Dakota State and New Mexico, parked in a bye week while Air Force, Wyoming and UNLV traded results. A true road win in a rivalry game, built on a perfect 4-for-4 trip through the red zone and a defense that got off the field when it mattered, is the kind of evidence that reenters a team into that conversation.
Carson Clark, who caught a touchdown and said the chemistry with QB Luke Weaver keeps growing by the day, put the week-to-week approach plainly.
“Don’t get too high, don’t get too low in any game, no matter how high the stakes are,” said Clark. “I wouldn’t say the rivalry was anything bigger than it was for me.”
And if there’s a face for where this program is trying to go, Niumatalolo pointed straight to Kopa-Kaawalauole, the captain whose touchdown catch opened the scoring. Call him the bridge between the identity SJSU wants and the one that’s starting to show up on Saturdays.
“I would say Kama’s the kind of kid that represents the type of football players that I want here in San Jose State,” said Niumatalolo on the Hawaiian native. “Tough, hard-nosed, but gracious, a good citizen, a good person on the field. I just love who he is and how he represents us.”
For a team the shares many parallels with Hawaii, that’s the version of SJSU that showed up in Honolulu. For a Mountain West still sorting out its pecking order, this one counts for something.
