By Stephen Tsai

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The last dance belonged to Fresno State.

In the final football meeting between the teams for the foreseeable future, Fresno State held on for Saturday’s 23-21 victory over Hawaii at the Ching Complex.

A crowd of 12,466 saw the Warriors close to 23-21 on Micah Alejado’s 10-yard scoring pass to Blaze Kamoku with 10 seconds to play. But wideout Brandon White could not secure Alejado’s potential tying conversion pass in the end zone.

“We had to leave it all on the field,” Alejado said of the last drive. “I think that’s what you saw from the offense. Just a continuous fight from the start of the game. We were having a hard time in the fringe and in the red zone and on the plus side of the field. That last drive was leaving it all out there. Luckily, we caught one with the post to Blaze Kamoku. The 2-point they defended really well. … That’s the game of football. We fought until the end.”

The Warriors failed to recover Kansei Matsuzawa’s on-side kick.

“There’s no quit in them.” UH coach Timmy Chang said of the now 3-2 Warriors, who play a road game against Air Force this coming Saturday. “They’re building and developing in that room. And that’s what I’m most proud of.”

The Warriors could not capitalize on a defense that produced nine points on a safety and a scoop-and-score. The Warriors held the Bulldogs, who entered averaging 202.5 rushing yards per game, to 71 yards on 32 carries.

“All that goes to (defensive coordinator Dennis) Thurman and all our defensive coaches,” said linebacker Jamih Otis, who scored on a 37-yard fumble return. “They harped on us all week, just being physical. These past three games, the weeks of practices, have been long and physical. We’ve been going after that.”

The Bulldogs parlayed two fourth-quarter interceptions into the go-ahead field goal and a decisive pick-6 in the 57th game of this series. Conference cohorts since 1992, Fresno State is leaving the Mountain West— and the Rainbow Warriors — to join the rebuilt Pac-12 on July 1, 2026.

The Warriors had taken a 15-13 lead on Matsuzawa’s 52-yard field goal, the longest of his three-season NCAA career, with 3:15 left in the third quarter. His second trey of the game was Matsuzawa’s 13th in a row to start the season, tying Rigo Sanchez’s streak in 2016.

Later, Alejado’s pass toward the right side was intercepted by cornerback Al’zillion Hamilton. Hamilton stepped out of bounds at the UH 12 on the return. The Bulldogs moved to the 9, where Dylan Lynch was summoned for his fourth field-goal attempt.

The left-footed Lynch’s three previous kicks hooked wide right. This time, Lynch was true from 27 yards with 9:54 left to give the Bulldogs a 16-15 advantage, their first lead of the night.

On UH’s next possession, linebacker K’vion Thunderbird jumped White’s route for the interception. He ran 59 yards the other way to extend the margin to 23-15 with 5:20 to play.

After sitting out the previous two games because of a deeply bruised right foot, Alejado made his return to the Hawaii starting lineup. Alejado was 28-for-47 for 219 yards and a touchdown. Alejado, who was not intercepted as a Bishop Gorman High senior in 2023 or in four UH games last year, was picked off three times on Saturday. He also absorbed four sacks. There were two plays when Alejado appeared to take hits to his knees.

“I felt great,” Alejado said. “We thought I was 100% going into the game. And, obviously, they took some shots. It’s football. I told the ref to look out for it. But, at the end of the day, I was good.”

Chang expressed confidence Alejado will regain the “rhythm” that made him the clear No. 1 quarterback. Chang also said he will review video to determine whether the entire offensive unit was in sync on the passes that were intercepted. The Warriors also were without injured slotback Nick Cenacle, last year’s leading receiver, and left tackle Dean Briski, whose mother recently died.

It was the Warriors’ defense that made an impression in a dominant first half.

It was two defensive plays that accounted for all the Warriors’ first-half points in taking a 9-7 lead into the intermission.

With the ball at the Fresno 7, UH defensive tackle De’Jon Benton struck right-handed quarterback E.J. Warner’s throwing arm before he could release a pass. Right guard Julian Polendo dived for the fumbled ball in the end zone but downed for a safety and a 2-0 UH lead with 7:20 left in the first half.

Later, Warner tried to throw a hitch pass to running back Rayshon Luke. But the backward pass was incomplete, becoming a fumble. Otis grabbed the football and raced 37 yards for the scoop-and-score with 1:47 left in the second quarter. “I had the ball in my hands, I had to score,” Otis said.

Matsuzawa’s point-after kick made it 9-0.

The Warriors also denied the Bulldogs three times on key third-down plays. Two of those stops set up Lynch field-goal attempts. But Lynch, who entered connecting on 83.3% of his treys, was wide right on both of his field-goal attempts in the first half.

The Bulldogs did manage to drive 57 yards in six plays for their only first-half touchdown with 38 seconds to play. Warner’s 13-yard pass to tight end Richie Anderson covered the final 13 yards.

FIRST QUARTER

No scoring.

SECOND QUARTER

>> Safety, Fresno State recovers own fumble after strip sack in end zone.

>> Time: 7:20. Score: Hawaii 2, Fresno State 0

>> Jamih Otis 37-yard fumble return. Kansei Matsuzawa kick.

>> Time: 1:47. Score: Hawaii 9 Fresno State 0

FRESNO STATE

>> Richie Anderson III 13 pass from E.J. Warner. Dylan Lynch kick.

>> Drive: 6 plays, 57 yards, 0:56 elapsed time.

>> Time: 0:38. Score: Hawaii 9, Fresno State 7

THIRD QUARTER

>> Matsuzawa 40-yard field goal.

>> Drive: 9 plays, 34 yards, 2:00 elapsed time.

>> Time: 7:31. Score: Hawaii 12, Fresno State 7

FRESNO STATE

>> Bryson Donelson 1 run. Pass failed.

>> Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:44 elapsed time.

>> Time: 5:47. Score: Fresno State 13, Hawaii 12

>> Matsuzawa 52-yard field goal.

>> Drive: 7 plays, 41 yards, 2:32 elapsed time.

>> Time: 3:15. Score: Hawaii 15, Fresno State 13

FOURTH QUARTER

FRESNO STATE

>> Lynch 27-yard field goal.

>> Drive: 4 plays, 3 yards, 2:04 elapsed time.

>> Time: 13:25. Score: Fresno State 16, Hawaii 15

FRESNO STATE

>> K’Vion Thunderbird 59-yard interception return. Lynch kick.

>> Time: 5:20. Score: Fresno State 23, Hawaii 15

>> B. Kamoku 10 pass from Micah Alejado. Pass failed.

>> Drive: 12 plays, 77 yards, 2:56 elapsed time.

>> Time: 0:10. Score: Fresno State 23, Hawaii 21