Brian Bautista | SL

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Brian Bautista | SL

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Micah Alejado threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns to lead Hawaii to a 31-19 road win at Colorado State Saturday afternoon. 

The Rainbow Warriors (6-2 overall, 3-1 Mountain West) racked up 435 yards of total offense and held the Rams (2-5, 1-2) to only 261 total yards to tally their third straight victory. 

Alejado completed 26 of his 38 passes and was intercepted once. He connected with Jackson Harris on a 75-yard touchdown pass that gave Hawaii the lead for good with 5:54 left in the second quarter. The same duo hooked up for a 9-yard scoring strike that stretched it to a 21-7 cushion at the 9:50 mark of the third quarter. 

Alejado also found Nick Cenacle on a 17-yard TD pass to open the scoring with 8:38 left in the first quarter. 

Kansei Matzusawa knocked through a 26-yard field goal that gave the Rainbow Warriors a 24-7 lead with 3:09 left in the third quarter and Cam Barfield closed out the scoring with his 35-yard TD run in the closing minutes. 

Matsuzawa has converted at least one field goal in all eight games this year. He surpassed former All-American Jason Elam with his 21st straight successful field goal attempt to set a new school record. Matsuzawa is now 20 of 20 on field goals this season. 

Harris finished with five receptions for 109 yards, Cenacle racked up seven grabs for 70 yards and Karsyn Pupunu chipped in five catches for 56 yards. 

Jamih Otis had 7 ½ tackles and Jalen Smith added five stops and a forced fumble to lead Hawaii defensively. Tariq Jones recorded two of the team's six sacks on the day. Both Luther McCoy and Jackie Johnson III accounted for 1 ½ sacks apiece. 

The Rainbow Warriors are now bowl eligible for the first time since 2020. They have a bye next week before they return to the road to face San Jose State on Nov. 1. 

Hawaii is off to its best start through eight games since it went 6-2 in 2018.