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MANOA — Chevan Cordeiro passed for 305 yards and three touchdowns and Dae Dae Hunter ran for 128 yards and another score to lead the University of Hawaii to a 49-35 win over visiting Portland State in the first NCAA football game held on campus at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex Saturday night. 

The Rainbow Warriors rebounded from a 44-10 loss at UCLA in their season opener last week to even their record at 1-1 on the season, while the FCS-level Vikings were making their season debut. 

It was just the bounce-back that UH needed. 

"Coach didn't even have to say anything to us, we were all motivated from after the (UCLA) game," said Cordeiro, a team captain. 

"We knew that we had to win this week and we would just do what we had to do. We watched film that Sunday, right when we landed we watched film and I mean, we learned from our mistakes and we just gotta keep going," he said. 

Hawaii got off to a quick start by capping its first four possessions with touchdowns. It had a 28-0 lead late in the first quarter and had racked up 406 of its 573 yards of total offense by halftime. 

"I was really pleased by the start of the game, that's the way we want to start a game," second-year UH coach Todd Graham said. "We still are — like, we put our foot on the gas, but we still — there's another level to the tempo that we go and our guys gotta understand that in a game like that, so no, I was very pleased with how they started, we just need to finish it off. 

Cordeiro, a junior quarterback and 2018 Saint Louis graduate, completed 18 of his 25 pass attempts with one interception. His 23-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Nick Mardner opened the scoring 4:24 into the contest. 

Two plays after an interception by defensive lineman Pita Tonga, Cordeiro split a pair of Vikings defensive backs with his 20-yard scoring strike to Jared Smart. That gave UH a 21-0 lead with 5:41 left in the opening stanza. 

"That was a nice read by Pita," Cordeiro noted.

"And then Jared Smart, I just saw he sat in the window and I could squeeze it in and he can go up and — I trust him, he can go up and get it — so I mean, I trust in all my receivers and they can go win that 50-50 ball," Cordeiro said. 

Tonga's pick was sandwiched by a couple of three-and-outs for the Rainbow Warrior defense, which were recycled into TD runs of 34 yards for Calvin Turner and 17 yards for Dedrick Parson. 

Portland State pulled to within 42-28 thanks to a 21-point third quarter and threatening to cut it to a one-score game early in the fourth, but the UH defense held on a fourth-down stand to force a turnover on downs. On the very next play, Hunter busted loose for a 59-yard TD scamper down the right sideline for a much-needed insurance score. 

Following the Matthew Shipley extra point, UH led 49-28 with 9:58 left to play. 

The Vikings got a late score on an 11-yard TD pass from Davis Alexander to Nate Bennett to close out the scoring with 1:13 remaining. 

"You gotta give them credit, their quarterback was a savvy guy," Graham said of Portland State. "They made some plays, they had good receivers — we knew that — but you can't let up when you get ahead like that. I'm proud of our guys, that's one in the bank and all that matters is going to the next week and get better, correct your mistakes and all the things that happened are just sloppy that we should be able to get corrected."

UH totaled 268 rushing yards. Cordeiro carried a game-high 18 times for 66 yards, Parson tallied 11 rushes for 38 yards and also scored on a 2-yard run that gave his team a 42-14 lead midway through the third quarter. 

Turner (5 receptions for 82 yards), Mardner (4 for 97) and Smart (4 for 96) were Cordeiro's favorite targets. Aaron Cephus pulled down Cordeiro's third TD pass of the night to cap a 10-play, 84-yard drive that put the Rainbow Warriors up 35-7 with 20 seconds left in the first half. 

Alexander threw for 400 yards and three TDs on 23-of-47 passing. He was intercepted twice. 

Beau Kelly (6 catches for 132 yards, TD), Darien Chase (6 for 105), Bennett (5 for 95) and Mataio Talalemotu (2 for 59, TD) made up most of the production from the Portland State receiving corps. 

Vikings coach Bruce Barham praised the effort he saw from his team, especially after falling behind, 28-0. 

"I mean, 90 percent of the teams in America throw in the towel and start messing around on the sideline," Barham said. "My team stuck their foot in the sand, after halftime they went out and, I mean, they got after it, they made some stuff, they got some turnogers, they scored some points. We looked like (it was) our first game, but you do that against a damn good football team, that's how you're gonna good — that's a fast football team."

Kai Kaneshiro, a junior safety and 2018 Saint Louis graduate, posted six tackles and two pass break-ups for the Hawaii defense.

The Rainbow Warriors will face their second Pac-12 Conference opponent in three weeks when they visit Oregon State Saturday. They will return to their newly-retrofitted on-campus stadium on Sept. 18, when they host San Jose State — and with any hope, fans in attendance.

"Hey, we're undefeated at Ching Field, that's all that matters," quipped Graham. "That's what my wife said."

Cordeiro said the team will have to keep that same hunger and aggressive mindset throughout the upcoming week in preparation for the Beavers. 

"I mean, after last week's loss against UCLA, this week we were very hungry," he said. "We had a different mindset coming in, going into film, going into practice and the first drive our goal was to score and keep scoring every drive."

Portland State will play its second FBS-level opponent in as many weeks when it visits Washington State Saturday. 

BALL-SECURITY ISSUES FOR ‘BOWS

Officially, Hawaii lost three of its six fumbles on the night and combined with Cordeiro's lone interception of the night, it turned the ball over a total of four times, which the Vikings turned into 21 points. 

But there were also a number of muffed kickoff and punt returns, and a at least a handful of dropped passes that led to a frustrating night despite a 14-point win. 

"Our ball security is not good," Graham stated. "I mean, it doesn't matter if you don't turn the ball over. First half, there was a lot of times that we put the ball in jeopardy. We're going in and we're up 28-7, we put the ball in traffic — just stuff like that we can't do. The biggest thing you can't do is beat yourself and I think what happened is I think we got a big lead and everyone's thinking, ‘Oh, we're just gonna blow these guys out.' "

Turner, Cordeiro and Bethel each lost a fumble, but Turner had a particularly tough night as he also muffed a punt return and two kickoffs, including one that was recovered in the end zone by Tyreese Shakir for a Portland State touchdown. 

The Vikings later recovered an onside kick as well. 

"All that stuff is just sloppy stuff, I mean, kickoff, you gotta field the ball," Graham said. "You can't let the ball hit the ground on a kickoff and we knew that going in that they do some specialty kicks like that — the onside kick, you gotta field the ball — I mean, probably should have let that ball go through to our guy and let the scheme work for us, but it's good to learn all these things and win."

Cordeiro said the team may have let off the proverbial gas pedal a bit after jumping out to the 28-0 lead. 

"I just feel like in the first quarter we was rolling, we was hungry and It's like in the second half, maybe people just got complacent, but I mean, I just feel like we gotta keep our foot on the gas pedal and not let that happen again," Cordeiro said. 

Ultimately, Graham says the mistakes will get corrected, but any win is a good win. 

"I thought we came out ready to go, we come out, get a huge lead and then obviously got really, really sloppy, but the biggest thing is, man, you always gotta be excited and happy when you get a win," he said. 

HOMECOMING FOR APANA-PURCELL

It wasn't just the Rainbow Warriors who "came home" to Ching Athletic Complex Saturday night. The game also served as a homecoming of sorts for Portland State senior defensive back Ty Apana-Purcell, a 2015 Mililani graduate and Ewa Beach native. 

Apana-Purcell is the second-string free safety, behind starter Ryan Lesch, who recorded a team-high seven solo tackles and nine total stops in the loss. When Lesch had to exit the game briefly in the fourth quarter due to cramping, Apana-Purcell filled in; He registered his only tackle of the night after a 5-yard run by Hunter that helped lead to a UH three-and-out that Vikings offense turned into Alexander's 11-yard TD pass to Bennett in the closing minutes. 

"We started sloppy, missed tackles, nobody was coming with the right leverage; I felt like we came out with the usual first-game jitters, zone busts, just everything was going wrong, downhill, downhill and then it finally picked up by the time the offense got the board, but by then it was just a little too late — we still had a chance, but it was a little too late," Apana-Purcell said. 

He went on, "We played tough in the second half. This could pay off real good in the long run. We play Wazzu next week, but we have something to look forward to and something to look back at and show that we never just folded after going down 28 (points), most teams would just give up by then, so at least, the boys showed some heart. We made it a close game in the end, but we just couldn't finish."

Barham spoke glowingly after the game about Apana-Purcell's value to the Vikings. 

"I love the kid, whoever his parents are should be the proudest people on earth," said the seventh-year Portland State coach. "He came to our place, he earned the A.J. Slaughter Memorial Scholarship, which goes to the hardest-working walk-on that's on my team — earning that's a big deal to our program — so between that and who he is and how he acts and how he plays, he's going to get a lot of chances, but there's a guy in front of him that's pretty damn good and there's good competition, but he comes to work everyday smiling and he works his ass off, so I have nothing bad to say about the kid and I commend his parents; I hope my kids turn out like him."

Apana-Purcell relished the opportunity to be a part of history as the first NCAA game played on the Manoa campus. 

"It was cool to play at the new stadium, brand new spot. I've played at Aloha Stadium since I was a kid, so I wanted to play there, but it was cool to be the first team to play at the new stadium and shoot, I wish all the family was able to come out — I would have had like at least 200 come out, family, friends, cousins, all that," he said. 

Because of government restrictions imposed to limit gathering sizes intended to limit the spread of COVID-19, fan attendance was not permitted Saturday. That meant, Apana-Purcell's family and friends mostly watched the game on TV from their homes. 

"All my friends at their house, my dad, them all over at their house, my girlfriend and her family at their house," he said. "Hopefully they get the fans by the end of the year, at least for the UH boys, so they can experience that. I don't want another year without that, it's a brand new spot."

While his loved ones may not have been in the stands Saturday, they are never very far from Apana-Purcell's thoughts. The same sentiment can be said for redshirt freshman defensive end Kennedy Freeman, a 2019 Punahou graduate from Aiea. 

"That means everything," Apana-Purcell said when asked what it means to him to represent the 50th state, as well as Ewa Beach and Mililani High School. 

"I've got the Ewa Beach on the backplate, I've got the Mililani sticker all over my locker room, it means everything. My boy, Ken, the other boy from Punahou, he brings the ukulele around and sings for everybody — always blast the Fiji, the J-Boog, the Johnny Suite, Nesian Nine, all of that in the locker room — just gotta keep it going, 808, trying to get all the boys out there," he said. 

Apana-Purcell said was able to talk story with several of his friends from small-kid time on the UH team after the game — well, mostly, after the game. 

"I talked to all the boys — Tamatoa Atimalala, I talked to Alema (Kapoi), Chevan — I was talking a little smack to Darius during the game, just playing around," Apana-Purcell laughed. "It was fun, fun and games; two Ewa Beach guys and Trojan boys, too."

TRACKING THE LOCAL BOYS

In addition to Kaneshiro's work, several other Rainbow Warriors who graduated from Hawaii high schools recorded statistics on the defensive side of the ball Saturday. 

Freshman defensive lineman Ezra Evaimalo, a 2020 Kamehameha graduate from Waianae who was a First Team All-Hawaii Open Division selection in 2019, made two tackles and had one quarterback hurry. Junior linebacker Isaiah Tufaga, a 2018 Saint Louis alum and two-time All-Hawaii selection, also had two tackles, as did junior linebacker Darius Muasau, a 2018 All-Hawaii First Team pick and 2019 Mililani graduate, who also made one tackle for loss, forced a fumble and had one quarterback hurry. Senior defensive lineman Alema Kapoi, a 2016 Kamehameha graduate from Kapolei who was a two-time All-Hawaii pick, made one tackle and had a quarterback hurry. 

On special teams, freshman Kyler Halvorsen, a Kaiser graduate who was a First Team All-Hawaii Division II placekicker as a junior in 2019, averaged 51.8 yards on his eight kickoffs and registered one touchback. Portland State opted to fair catch several of Halvorsen's kickoffs, which allowed them to take possession at their own 25-yard line. 

Other players from local high schools who got into the game, but did not register any statistics were: sophomore WR Tomato Mokiao-Atimalala (Campbell '20 of Kapolei), junior DB Kalamaku Kuewa (Kamehameha '18 of Kailua), senior linebacker Noa Kamana (Punahou '17 of Honolulu), junior OL Eliki Tanuvasa (Saint Louis '18 of Honolulu), junior TE Kamuela Borden (Iolani '15 of Pearl City), junior PK/P Adam Stack (Kamehameha '17 of Kailua) and junior DL Foi Shaw (Farrington '18 of Kaneohe). 

 

ODDS AND ENDS 

Hawaii's 49 points and 573 total yards Saturday were the most in the 11 games under Graham. It tallied 11 plays of 20-or-more yards (seven of them by pass and the other four by rush). … Cordeiro registered his third 300-yard passing game of his career. … Hunter set career highs in rushing attempts and yards and his 59-yard TD run in the fourth quarter was a career long. … Cephus' 4-yard TD catch in the second quarter was his first career TD as a Rainbow Warrior. … Smart has caught a pass in all 26 games he has played in at UH. … Hawaii has won its last 18 games against FCS teams dating back to the 2001 season. The average margin of victory in those games have been 27.7 points. … The Rainbow Warriors have won their home-opener in each of the last seven seasons; their last home-opening loss was to No. 25 Washington (17-16) in 2014. … UH now leads the all-time series against Portland State, 5-1, including 4-1 in games played in Honolulu. The teams are scheduled to play again on Sept. 13, 2025 in Honolulu. ... Hawaii DB Cameron Lockridge was disqualified in the third quarter due to a targeting penalty and consequently will have to sit out the first half of the Oregon State game.