Wyoming vs. Hawaii final score: Warriors second half surge takes down Cowboys, 38-28

The Hawaii Warriors amassed 513 yards of total offense and were able to overcome three early turnovers, countering with 21 unanswered points to close out the game and push past the Wyoming Cowboys, 38-28.  The Cowboys came out swinging on their first possession, driving 71 yards on 5 plays and scoring a touchdown in the first two minutes of the game.  On the ensuing drive, Hawaii fumbled the ball which was recovered by Wyoming linebacker Devyn Harris and returned for 78 yards to make it a 14-0 early lead for the Cowboys.

The 'Bows responded with a first quarter field goal and the first of two touchdown catches by Quinton Pedroza bringing Hawaii within four, 14-10.  The Cowboys would score one last time before the half on a 42 yard strike from Colby Kirkegaard to Jalen Claiborne and go into the locker room with a 21-10 lead.

What would appear to be a dire turn of events for Hawaii, took a peculiar turn towards success.  The Rainbow Warriors lost both starting quarterback Taylor Graham to a foot injury, as well as tailback bruiser Steven Lakalaka to a likely concussion.  With former starting quarterback Ikaika Woolsey at the helm and Diocemy Saint Juste standing in as the third-string tailback, Hawaii stormed forward with a dominant second half performance.

Wyoming once again had a difficult time protecting quarterback Colby Kirkegaard, allowing four sacks and unable to slow a Hawaii defensive surge that contributed to two Kirkegaard interceptions.  The Warriors were able to heavily capitalize on RAC (run-after-catch) yardage due to the Cowboys' ongoing struggles with open field tackling.  Diocemy and Woolsey were able to notch a collective 308 yards in the second half alone, which proved to be more than the visibly vulnerable Wyoming Cowboy defense could handle.  Wyoming's Shaun Wick recorded his fourth 100+ yard rushing performance of the season.

Wyoming (3-3, 1-1 MWC), which will try to regain its footing, heads back to the safe confines of Laramie next week to take on San Jose State (2-3, 1-1 MWC) in another cross-divisional Mountain West match-up.  Hawaii (2-4, 1-0 MWC) has a difficult task ahead of them, heading to San Diego State (3-3, 2-1 MWC) to try to knock off the Aztecs at home.