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Hawai‘i Stuns Stanford With A Last-Second Field Goal To Win The Season Opener, 23-20

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Football

(BCSNN) — Micah Alejado threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns, and Kansei Matsuzawa drilled a 38-yard field goal as time expired to lift Hawai‘i to a dramatic 23–20 win over Stanford on Saturday night at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. The victory marked the Rainbow Warriors’ first win over a Power Four opponent since 2019 and their first-ever triumph over Stanford in five tries.

Alejado, making his second career start, completed 27 of 39 passes and added 36 rushing yards, overcoming a third-quarter ankle injury to lead Hawai‘i on two fourth-quarter scoring drives. His final possession—a nine-play, 51-yard march—set up Matsuzawa’s game-winning kick and capped a gritty comeback after trailing 10–0 early in the first quarter.

Stanford quarterback Ben Gulbranson, a transfer from Oregon State, finished 15-of-30 for 109 yards and an INT in his Cardinal debut. Stanford’s lone offensive touchdown came on a 20-play, 85-yard drive that consumed nearly 10 minutes of clock and ended with a 2-yard scoring run by Micah Ford, who led all rushers with 113 yards on 26 carries.

Hawai‘i wide receiver Pofele Ashlock led all pass catchers with nine receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown, while Jackson Harris—who transferred from Stanford during the past offseason—added six catches for 59 yards and a score against his former team. The Rainbow Warriors’ defense forced a key fourth-quarter interception and held Stanford to just seven second-half points.

Stanford opened the game with a field goal and a defensive touchdown off a strip sack recovered in the end zone, but costly penalties and missed opportunities allowed Hawai‘i to claw its way back. The Cardinal committed three 15-yard infractions on a second-quarter drive that gave Hawai‘i its first lead, and failed to convert a late possession into points before surrendering the game-winning drive.

Hawai‘i (1–0) will travel to face Arizona on Aug. 30, while Stanford (0–1) returns home to host Cal Poly. For the Rainbow Warriors, the win signals a promising start to the 2025 campaign under head coach Timmy Chang. For Stanford, interim coach Frank Reich will look to regroup quickly as the Cardinal navigate their second season in the ACC.