Utah State football coach Brent Guy thought his team hit rock bottom when it lost by 31 points to Fresno State nearly a month ago.
He was wrong. In their 50-23 loss to Hawaii late Saturday in Honolulu, the Warriors threw the Aggies a shovel.
"I told the guys we went right back to Fresno State, but that was worse than Fresno State," Guy told KVNU radio following the 27-point loss. "It's disappointing that we've gone that far back."
The Warriors scored 31 consecutive points to snap a four-game losing streak to Utah State, while the Aggies dropped their fifth straight game of the season.
"It was all the second quarter," Guy said. "We got beat by 27 points, and we gave up 28 in the second quarter. It's real simple math."
Using two quarterbacks — Leon Jackson III and Jerod Walker — the Aggies tallied just 26 yards total offense in the second quarter, while the Warriors marched up and down the field.
In the second quarter alone, the Warriors (4-6, 4-4) tallied 218 yards total offense while scoring touchdowns on four straight possessions.
Quarterback Colt Brennan, who completed 24 of 36 passes for 386 yards, teamed up with Davone Bess for a 6-yard score to start the four-touchdown barrage. On that drive, Brennan completed 6 of 7 passes for 73 yards.
Following a Utah State fumble by Jackson, who was hurt on the play, David Farmer rumbled in from a yard out, while Nate Ilaoa and Brennan had TD runs of 3 and 1 yards, respectively, to close out the 28-point quarter. Brennan's score came with six seconds left in the half to increase the Warriors' lead to 34-3.
"It was tough. With the second quarter and the way it was, I wish we could have competed and had a chance to win in the fourth quarter," Guy said.
Led by Walker, the Aggies outscored the Warriors 20-16 in the second half — two of Hawaii's points came on a blocked extra points, which they returned.
The Aggies (2-7, 1-5) scored on their first possession of the second half on a 46-yard run by Walker, who rushed for a team-high 88 yards. He also completed 13 of 17 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown to Kevin Robinson.
In the second half, fullback Lynwood Johnson recorded the first touchdown of his career with a 5-yard run in the third quarter.
Hawaii tallied 579 yards total offense to Utah State's 371. Two Hawaii receivers — Ross Dickerson and Bess — had more than 100 yards receiving with 112 and 110, respectively.
Tony Pennyman led Utah State with six catches for 80 yards, while Dionte Holloway had four catches for 77 yards.
Before leaving with an injury, Jackson completed 4 of 7 passes for 30 yards and had seven carries for 16 yards.
The Aggies close out the home portion of their Western Athletic Conference schedule Saturday when they host Nevada at 1 p.m. at Romney Stadium.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com