Wyoming whacks Hawai’i to reclaim Paniolo Trophy
Paul Brecht
Host · Writer
Football offers two possibilities: Snatch someone’s soul or have your own snatched. The University of Hawai‘i football team experienced the latter Saturday as its struggles in Laramie continued with a 27-10 loss to Wyoming.
The Cowboys (2-2, 1-0 Mountain West) reclaimed the Paniolo Trophy and racked up a season-high 387 yards, handing the Rainbow Warriors (1-3, 0-2) their eighth loss in nine trips to Laramie since 1993.
Wyoming quarterback Tyler Hughes had his best outing of the young season, throwing for 204 yards. The Cowboys added 183 rushing yards and scored all three of their touchdowns on the ground, converted six of 12 third-down opportunities and held a time-of-possession advantage of more than four minutes.
Hawai‘i allowed points on an opponent’s opening drive for the first time this season. Wyoming mixed runs with passes to its tight ends to march 64 yards into the red zone before settling for a 28-yard field goal about five minutes into the game.
The Rainbow Warriors answered with a 12-play drive capped by a 28-yard field goal, tying the score at 3-3. That remained the score at the end of the first quarter, but Hawai‘i’s offense struggled to sustain drives for the rest of the half.
Wyoming regained the lead early in the second quarter on Erik Sandvik’s 23-yard field goal. Running back Markell Holman added a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Cowboys a 13-3 halftime lead.
After its opening possession, Hawai‘i ran just 15 plays across its remaining three first-half drives, each ending in a punt. It was the third time in four games this season that the Rainbow Warriors entered halftime without a lead, following slow starts against Stanford and UNLV.
Hawai‘i consumed more than nine minutes on its first possession of the second half, marching to the Wyoming 1-yard line. But the Rainbow Warriors were stonewalled on fourth-and-goal and came away without points.
Hawai‘i’s defense appeared poised to get the ball back with favorable field position after forcing a punt on the ensuing possession. Instead, a penalty for having two players wearing the same number on the punt return unit gave Wyoming a fresh set of downs.
The Cowboys capitalized, running out the rest of the third-quarter clock. They converted a third-and-15 to reach Hawai‘i territory and moved into the red zone on the next play with help from a targeting penalty against Zaden Mariteragi.
Holman scored his second touchdown on the first snap of the fourth quarter, breaking through would-be tacklers on an 18-yard run to extend Wyoming’s lead to 20-3.
Hawai‘i finally found an offensive spark through tight ends Frank Abreu and Devon Tauaefa, who helped the Rainbow Warriors drive 75 yards in less than three minutes. Tauaefa caught his first touchdown pass since 2023, cutting the deficit to 20-10 with 12:11 remaining.
The defense got the ball back for Hawai‘i with just under eight minutes to play, but Sean Olvera-Harle’s 54-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right, leaving the Rainbow Warriors down by 10 with 4:36 remaining.
Wyoming delivered the final blow about three minutes later when running back Samuel Harris went nearly untouched on an 18-yard touchdown run, putting the game out of reach and securing the Paniolo Trophy.
Hawai‘i quarterback Micah Alejado completed 28 of 44 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown and was sacked three times. Running back DeVon Rice rushed for a career-high 75 yards on 12 carries, and the sophomore added two catches for 11 yards.
Hawai‘i returns home to host familiar face Luke Weaver and San Jose State on Saturday, Oct. 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Hawai‘i time, with coverage on K5 and the MW+ app.
