University of Hawaii running back Joey Iosefa (7) leaps over the top of a pile of players at the goal line for the game's opening score against Washington. Evan Asato | SL

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University of Hawaii running back Joey Iosefa (7) leaps over the top of a pile of players at the goal line for the game's opening score against Washington. Evan Asato | SL

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HALAWA — Washington did just enough to escape with a 17-16 win over Hawaii in an NCAA Division I college football game at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The 25th-ranked Huskies (1-0), who were a 17-point betting favorite by Las Vegas oddsmakers, rallied from a 10-0 first-quarter deficit and withstood a second-half charge by the Rainbow Warriors (0-1). A crowd of 32,197 fans watched the season opener for both teams, which was nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.

"Our guys played hard," said Washington coach Chris Petersen, who was making his Huskies' debut after a long and highly successful tenure at Boise State. "I think there were some good individual plays, but certainly as team we didn't play nearly like I think we can play."

Sophomore wide receiver John Ross accounted for 198 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns to lead Washington offensively. Ross got the Huskies on the board late in the first quarter with his 20-yard touchdown run on a reverse and just minutes later, he hauled in a 91-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Lindquist to give his team the lead for good.

"Coach was just yelling at me to run over the top and they were playing off coverage and I knew if I got him on his toes, then I'd turn him around and it happened just how we practiced," said Ross, who also had two kickoff returns for 82 yards. "I was just trying to make the best play possible for the team, just put us in a good position. I didn't expect it to go that way, but I'm happy that it did. Jeff put up the ball in great position. It was a great ball and I ran under it."

Washington added a 36-yard field goal by Cameron Van Winkle late in the second quarter to take a 17-10 lead into the intermission.

Hawaii's Tyler Hadden booted a 38-yard field goal at the 9:45 mark of the third quarter and a 27-yarder early in the fourth, which made the score 17-16, but also missed a 40-yard try on the penultimate play of the first half.

"We had our chances both offensively and defensively," Rainbow Warriors' third-year coach Norm Chow said. "We played with a lot of energy, which I thought we would. We need to cut down on making mistakes. You can't make mistakes against a good football team like this."

Hawaii jumped out to an early 10-0 lead by scoring on its first two offensive possessions of the game. Running back Joey Iosefa punched in a 1-yard run just minutes into the game and Hadden made it a two-score game with a 28-yard field goal to cap an 18-play, 79-yard drive later in the first quarter.

Iosefa finished with 143 rushing yards on 30 attempts. Quarterback Ikaika Woolsey completed 23 of his 42 pass attempts for 207 yards. He was sacked three times. Quinton Pedroza led all receivers with nine catches for 90 yards. Defensive back Taz Stevenson, who transferred from Washington before this season, recorded a team-high 10 tackles.

It was the fifth meeting between the teams. Washington now owns a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series. Hawaii is now 58-35-5 all-time in season openers and 29-56 against current members of the Pac-12 conference.