A disastrous first half for Houston was too much to come back from as the Cougars fell to the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors 28-14 in the New Mexico Bowl that was relocated to Frisco on Thursday.
The Rainbow Warriors (5-4, 4-4 Mountain West Conference) defense made a statement early, picking off junior quarterback Clayton Tune on the Cougars’ (3-5, 3-3 American Athletic Conference) third play from scrimmage to set up Hawai’i inside the UH 10-yard line.
Sophomore quarterback Chevan Cordeiro wasted no time getting Hawai’i on the board, as he connected with freshman running back Dae Dae Hunter on a 3-yard touchdown pass to take an early 7-0 lead.