BIG WEST ROUNDUP : Hawaii Plays It Safe, Ties San Jose With a Field Goal

With 49 seconds remaining and his team behind by three points, Hawaii Coach Bob Wagner faced a big decision on fourth and goal at the eight.

Wagner went for the tie.

Jason Elam kicked a 25-yard field goal to give the Rainbows a 35-35 tie with San Jose State Saturday in a nonconference game at San Jose.

“I was really torn,” Wagner said, “but I decided that the pluses of going for the field goal and the tie outweighed the minuses.”

Barely. “This one made it by about the same distance the other one (a 54-yarder in the first quarter) missed--by a hair,” Elam said.

The Spartans (6-3-1) tried for a 48-yard field goal on the game’s final play, but a poor snap foiled the attempt.

San Jose State trailed, 17-7, at halftime, but led, 35-24, late in the fourth quarter before the Rainbows (4-5-1) got within three points on Michael Carter’s one-yard run and Walter Santiago’s two-point conversion run with 4:11 left.

Utah State 21, Pacific 14--Roger Grant scored two touchdowns, and the Aggies shut down the nation’s second-ranked offense for a Big West victory at Logan, Utah.

Utah State (4-6, 2-3) held Pacific’s Aaron Turner without a touchdown reception, ending his NCAA-record streak of consecutive games with a touchdown catch at 13.

Utah State held Pacific (4-7, 3-3) scoreless in the second half.

Nevada Las Vegas 38, New Mexico State 28--Hunkie Cooper passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as UNLV (4-6, 2-4) beat the Aggies (2-8, 2-3) at Las Vegas.