HONOLULU (AP) — Chevan Cordeiro passed for 246 yards and a touchdown and scored on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter and Hawaii beat Nevada 24-21 on Saturday night.
Cordeiro was 26-of-32 passing without an interception and had 15 carries for 62 yards. Calvin Turner had 10 receptions for 77 yards and a TD for Hawaii (3-3 Mountain West Conference).
Carson Strong hit Cole Turner for a 4-yard touchdown to give Nevada (5-1) a 7-3 lead with 2:57 to play in the first half but Cordeiro led the Rainbow Warriors on an eight-play, 75-yard drive capped by his 7-yard TD pass to Turner less than two minutes later and Hawaii led the rest of the way.
Strong completed 20 of 25 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns and Toa Taua 131 yards rushing and a score on 20 carries for the Wolf Pack.
Taua went over 2,000 rushing yards in his career during the game, needing just 14 entering the game.
Junior RB Devonte Lee ran for a career-high 81 yards on 14 carries, with a long rush of 20 yards.
As a team, Nevada recorded 208 rushing yards, its first 200-yard rushing game of the season and first since it notched 254 at Fresno State in November of 2019.
Hawaii took a 10-point lead when its 10-play, 99-yard drive culminated with a 4-yard touchdown run by Miles Reed late in the third quarter.
On Nevada’s next drive, Taua scored on a 1-yard run, but the Rainbow Warriors answered with a 14-play, 75-yard to make it 24-14 on Cordeiro’s TD run with 9:31 to play.
Tory Horton had an 18-yard scoring reception pulled the Wolf Pack within a field goal about four minutes later but Hawaii ran out the clock with an 11-play drive — including a 9-yard pass from Cordeiro to Turner on fourth-and-9 from the Nevada 26 — to seal it.
Nevada will look for its sixth win of the season when it hosts Fresno State for the regular season home finale on Saturday, Dec. 5, time still to be announced.
