The Associated Press

HONOLULU — University of Hawaii football coach Nick Rolovich had this Hawaii Bowl all figured out, except for the details.

He told his players there would be times when beating BYU seemed out of reach, but he wanted them to expect to win the game in the fourth quarter. And that’s what happened Saturday in Aloha Stadium, a 38-34 victory for the Rainbow Warriors’ first win over the once-rival Cougars since 2001.

Rolovich just couldn’t have scripted how it would happen.

UH scored 31 points by halftime against a BYU defense that had given up more than 30 points in a game just once this year, on the road against Washington. The Rainbow Warriors were blanked so badly in the second half they didn’t even get into the red zone until their final possession.

That was when Cole McDonald took them 71 yards in three plays, capping off a magnificent Christmas Eve with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Nick Mardner with 1:17 remaining.

Khoury Bethley grabbed his second interception of the game — and the season — to stop BYU’s last chance and give Hawaii only its sixth 10-win season in school history and the first since 2010.

“It sure wasn’t looking that good,” Rolovich said. “To get a 10-win season by beating BYU, it’s hard to write anything better.”

McDonald finished with 493 yards passing and four touchdowns, taking him over 4,000 yards for the season. He constantly burned the BYU secondary with the deep ball, and he was at his best at the end.

BYU (7-6) took its only lead of the game on a 20-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. The Cougars had a chance to run out the clock until Zach Wilson was hurried and threw incomplete on third-and-2.

That gave Hawaii one last opportunity, all it needed.

McDonald had an idea about what the defense was trying to do, and he manipulated the safety by looking right before coming back to the left to find Mardner alone for a 38-yard gain down the left sideline. On the next play, he found Mardner on a post and led him perfectly. Those were the only two catches Mardner had for the game.

“I was nervous and excited,” McDonald said. “It was destiny for us.”

Rolovich played for UH in 2001 when it last beat BYU — a 72-45 Warriors win that spoiled the Cougars’ undefeated season. The teams had built a rivalry while both played in the Western Athletic Conference, and this was the first time they met in a bowl game, with Hawaii (10-5) designated the visiting team on its home field.

BYU wasted a solid game by Wilson, whose father grew up in the islands. Wilson threw for 274 yards and ran for 72 yards and two short TDs to help the Cougars rally in the first half.

BYU’s last chance ended when Bethley picked off Wilson for the second time, and the celebration was on.

McDonald finished 28 of 46, and he did most of his damage in the first half by throwing for 331 yards and three scores. Of the four touchdown drives, the shortest was 40 yards — that one followed Bethley’s first interception. Two plays later, McDonald found Jared Smart on a post route with a perfectly thrown pass that made it 14-0.

Wilson brought the Cougars back, leading them on touchdown drives of 73, 75 and 75 yards, the last one ending with Micah Simon scoring on an 11-yard reverse.

“We knew they had a dynamic offense,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake, who grew up in Laie, Oahu. “We knew we had to be at our best. Obviously, we didn’t make enough plays to win the game. The big plays were the issue, even at the end of the game.”

Hawaii receivers Smart and JoJo Ward each went over 1,000 yards for the year, joining Cedric Byrd II. This is the sixth time in NCAA history that a team had three players with at least 1,000 yards receiving in a season. Hawaii has done it twice, the other time in 2007.

Hawaii 14 17 0 7–38

BYU 7 17 7 3–34

First Quarter

HAW–Smart 7 pass from McDonald (Meskell kick), 7:32.

HAW–Smart 40 pass from McDonald (Meskell kick), 4:55.

BYU–Katoa 1 run (Oldroyd kick), :54.

Second Quarter

HAW–McDonald 1 run (Meskell kick), 13:33.

BYU–Wilson 1 run (Oldroyd kick), 9:42.

HAW–FG Meskell 46, 5:50.

BYU–Simon 11 run (Oldroyd kick), 3:16.

HAW–Sharsh 18 pass from McDonald (Meskell kick), 1:16.

BYU–FG Oldroyd 37, :18.

Third Quarter

BYU–Wilson 2 run (Oldroyd kick), 11:58.

Fourth Quarter

BYU–FG Oldroyd 20, 14:37.

HAW–Mardner 24 pass from McDonald (Meskell kick), 1:17.

HAW BYU

First downs 20 29

Rushes-yards 27-2 40-231

Passing 493 274

Comp-Att-Int 28-47-0 24-41-2

Return Yards 120 124

Punts-Avg. 6-42.2 4-41.2

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1

Penalties-Yards 6-59 2-20

Time of Possession 29:29 30:31

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Hawaii, Reed 10-17, Sharsh 1-3, Byrd 1-2, Furuta 1-1, (Team) 2-(minus 4), Cordeiro 1-(minus 7), McDonald 11-(minus 10). BYU, Allgeier 8-77, Wilson 14-72, Katoa 11-51, Hifo 3-12, Simon 1-11, Milne 1-6, Wake 1-2, Esukpa 1-0.

PASSING–Hawaii, Cordeiro 0-1-0-0, McDonald 28-46-0-493. BYU, Simon 0-1-0-0, Wilson 24-40-2-274.

RECEIVING–Hawaii, J.Ward 7-159, Smart 7-142, Sharsh 7-90, Byrd 3-29, Mardner 2-62, Victor 1-6, Reed 1-5. BYU, Bushman 6-91, Simon 5-56, Hifo 5-44, Milne 3-54, Shumway 3-22, Katoa 2-7.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–Hawaii, Meskell 40. BYU, Oldroyd 41.