PULLMAN, WASH. >> Washington State took advantage of Hawaii's mistakes to earn a 42-10 home win at Gesa Field today.

The Rainbow Warriors lost two fumbles, had an interception and missed a potential field goal attempt – the Cougars converted all of that into touchdowns.

WSU quarterback John Mateer was 23 of 27 for 295 yards. He accounted for four of the Cougars' first five touchdowns, threw two scoring passes and rushed two more at option keeper. He later added another passing TD.

The result dropped the Warriors to 2-5 overall. During Timmy Chang's three-year tenure as head coach, they went 1-14.

The Cougars won for the sixth time in seven games, meeting the minimum bowl eligibility requirements.

The Warriors cut their deficit to 21-10 on a 17-yard scoring pass from Brayden Schager to Tylan Hines in the post to open the second half.

But the Cougars responded with a methodical 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Mateer covered the final 8 yards with an option keeper, making it 28-10 with 4:14 left in the third quarter.

With a redesigned sliding pocket, the Warriors were able to give Schager time to get the lead on early drives. But the Warriors' best performance resulted in just one field goal in the first half.

The Warriors advanced into the red zone on their first two possessions. But after Schager absorbed a third-down sack, the Warriors settled for Kansei Matsuzawa's 25-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead. It was their first opening quarter lead in four weeks.

On their second possession, the Warriors faced a third-and-6 from the WSU 11. But Schager's pass was deflected and sailed past Hines in the end zone. This time, Matsuzawa's field goal attempt from 28 yards missed the left goal.

The next two UH drives ended in turnovers. WSU nickelback Kapena Gushiken, a Kamehameha-Maui graduate, recovered the football on Nick Cenacle's catch-and-fumble. The Cougars drove 44 yards, with Mateer's 24-yard scoring pass to Cooper Mathers extending the lead to 14-3 with 8:26 left in the first half.

During UH's ensuing attack, Buddah Al-Uqdah intercepted Schager in midfield. That led to Kris Hutson's jet sweep for a 9-yard scoring run that extended the Cougars' lead to 21-3 with 3:58 left to play.

—
More UH football coverage