Hawaii vs. New Mexico State: Warriors Take Care Of Business, 41-21
Calvin Turner turned on the highlights
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Hawaii gets its first FBS win
The Hawaii Warriors traveled to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where they picked up their first road win and first win against an FBS opponent this season by a score of 41-21 over the New Mexico State Aggies.
The Aggies scored a field goal on the first offensive possession, but the Warriors answered when Chevan Cordiero connected with Nick Marnder for a 74-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the game for the Warriors. This was by far the most explosive play of the season and it was nice to see the Bows dial it up deep on the first play of the game. Mardner continued to establish himself as the number one receiver and finished the night with 4 catches for 120 and a Touchdown. Going forward, the Bows need to give him more targets and scheme up plays to get the ball into his hands.
As predicted, Hawaii had a solid day on the ground against the Aggies rushing for a total of 215 yards and three touchdowns. Dedrick Parsons led the way with 89 yards and a touchdown. He played most of the second half after Dae Dae Hunter fumbled the ball in the second quarter.
Calvin Turner Jr. had another Top 10 worthy play when he took a jet sweep that looked disastrous, reversed his field, broke about six tackles and eventually found the endzone. He must’ve ran about 70 yards on the play to score the 14-yard touchdown. He makes the unbelievable look effortless. He finished the night with 52 yards and a touchdown on the ground and another 66 through the air.
4Q- 14:11 | UH 31 NMSU 13
saufjfepjfqoihwiohdqwodw?????? He did what????#WinEveryDay #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/xcwIhdCV0h
— Hawaii Football (@HawaiiFootball) September 26, 2021
Defensively, the Bows allowed the Aggies to drive the field, but they were stingy in the red zone forcing the Aggies to kick three field goals, one of which was missed. They also forced 4 turnovers and the highlight came when Quentin Frazier blitzed off the edge and tipped a backward pass. Cameron Lockridge recovered the fumble and took it back for a touchdown. Frazier has been limited to nickel packages this season but the Azusa Pacific transfer has made a lot of impact plays for the Bows in his short time here. Lockridge was opportunistic last night recovering two fumbles and adding an interception.
Darius Muasau was all over the field. He had 11 tackles (9 solo) , two sacks and three tackles for loss. He’s been relatively quiet this season but it was hard to not notice him last night as it was one of those nights where it seemed like he was in on every play.
The Aggies will travel to Honolulu to play the second game of their season series on October 23rd.
This Saturday, the Warriors will host the best team in California. No, it’s not the USC Trojans or the UCLA Bruins, but it is the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Bulldogs survived a scare from UNLV last night and will come into the game 4-1 and first place in the Mountain West.
Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. Hawaii time and unless Governor Ige has a change of heart, fans will not be allowed into the stadium again. It’s pretty ridiculous that colleges around the country are packing 100,000 into stadiums and here in Hawaii our 9,000 seat stadium remains empty. The Warriors have a tough task ahead of them and let’s hope they can ride the momentum of this victory.
As always, let’s go Bows!
