Too much Chang for Vandals

HONOLULU — Timmy Chang threw for 376 yards and a career-high six touchdowns as Hawaii kept its bowl hopes alive by defeating Idaho 52-21 Saturday night.

Jason Rivers caught all four of his touchdowns in the first half and finished with nine receptions for 167 yards for the Warriors (5-5).

Down 14-10, Chang threw touchdowns of 22, 16, 13 and 15 yards in the decisive second quarter to give the Warriors a 38-21 lead at halftime.

At the break, Chang was 15 of 21 for 292 yards and five touchdowns. He sat out most of the fourth quarter and finished 23 of 31.

With his six-touchdown performance, Chang overtook Marshall’s Chad Pennington for fourth on the NCAA career TD pass list. The fifth-year senior now has 105 TDs and is chasing Ty Detmer’s NCAA mark of 121.

Chang already owns the NCAA career marks for passing yards, completions, attempts and interceptions thrown.

The Vandals got off to a quick start, using trickery to score on their first two possessions.

A fake field goal kept the Vandals’ opening drive alive and led to an 8-yard TD pass from Michael Harrington to Bobby Bernal-Wood that gave Idaho a 7-3 lead.

Five plays later, wideout Desmond Belton caught a lateral pass and threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to fellow receiver Christian Populis to put Idaho up 14-10 after one quarter.

But Hawaii’s passing game erupted in the second quarter.

Chang threw two touchdown passes of 22 and 16 yards to Rivers and connected with Britton Komine on a 13-yard pass to give the Warriors a 31-14 lead.

Hawaii scored its fourth TD of the second quarter on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Rivers.

The Warriors, who have one of the worst defenses in the nation, shut out the Vandals in the second half.

Idaho picked off two of Chang’s passes in Hawaii territory, but was unable to convert. The Vandals also blew a chance to cut Hawaii’s lead just before the half when Willie Sipoloa fumbled on the Warriors’ 5.

Bernal-Wood had nine receptions for 139 yards for Idaho. He needed just eight receptions in the game to break the school’s 35-year-old season record of 95 catches set by Jerry Hendren.

The Vandals (3-9) closed out their first season under coach Nick Holt and final year in the Sun Belt Conference. They are joining the Western Athletic Conference next year.