McDonald, Hawaii hold on for 31-30 OT win over San Diego St.

Nov 25, 2019, 03:49 pm

SAN DIEGO -- Cole McDonald threw for a career-high 452 yards and three touchdowns, including a 10-yard scoring strike to JoJo Ward in overtime, to help Hawaii beat San Diego State 31-30 on Saturday night.

McDonald completed 29 of 46 passes with no interceptions and added a 1-yard TD run in the second quarter. Cedric Byrd had six receptions for 140 yards and a scored and Ward finished with 120 yards receiving on six catches for Hawaii (7-5, 4-3 Mountain West).

McDonald hit Marcus Armstrong-Brown for a 15-yard gain on third-and-11 and, on third-and-9 Ward's touchdown catch gave the Rainbow Warriors a 31-24 lead in overtime. Juwan Washington, on the next play from scrimmage, raced 25 yards for a touchdown and SDSU went for the win but Ryan Agnew overthrew Kahale Warring in the corner of the end zone.

Hawaii scored 21 second-quarter points to take a 24-14 lead into the break. Ryan Agnew replaced starter Christian Chapman in the fourth quarter and immediately led a 10-play, 68-yard drive capped by his 13-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Lessard. After a Rainbow Warriors punt, SDSU (7-4, 4-3) drove to the 15 before John Baron II missed a 32-yard field-goal attempt as time expired in regulation.

Baron made a 53-yarder in the third quarter, improving to 5 of 5 from 50-plus yards this season.