Hawaii pulled out a few new wrinkles for last night's game against Nevada.

But it was the last little surprise that made all the difference.

After Nevada knotted the game at 31-31 with 1:31 left in regulation, Greg Alexander - the third of three Hawaii quarterbacks to see action - marched the Warriors into Nevada territory and faced third and 1 at the Wolf Pack 24.

Instead of setting up a potential game-winning field goal, Alexander lofted a pass down the right side and Malcolm Lane pulled in the throw with 20 seconds left to send Hawaii to a dramatic 38-31 Western Athletic Conference win before a crowd of 33,020 at Aloha Stadium.

“;I didn't want to go to overtime,”; Lane said after Hawaii improved to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in WAC play.

“;Just looking over at the sideline, everybody was tired, they fought hard and I wanted to end it there. It all came down to who wanted the ball more.”;

Alexander, the third-team quarterback in practice during the week, threw two touchdowns in the final period - the Warriors' first fourth-quarter scores in five games - to outgun Nevada's Colin Kaepernick.

“;This was a great team win,”; said UH coach Greg McMackin, who called the game a “;must win”; in the Warriors' hopes of making the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

“;The offense did some outstanding things and made a huge play late in the game.”;

Alexander said he didn't know he would play until just before taking the field in the third quarter and responded by going 17-for-22 for 205 yards.

“;The game plan was to throw a lot a balls,”; said slotback Mike Washington, who caught five passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns. “;We weren't putting enough points on the board, so we went back to that old Hawaii, that run-and-shoot attacking offense and we executed the game plan (McMackin) enforced.”;

The Hawaii offense threw a couple of new looks at the Wolf Pack, countering Kaepernick's dual-threat ability with the three-quarterback rotation and moving cornerback Ryan Mouton to slotback.

Inoke Funaki started and alternated series with Tyler Graunke - seeing his first game action in three weeks - in the first quarter.

McMackin said the plan entering the game was to stick to those two, but the coaches called on Alexander to start the second half and he led the Warriors to a field goal on his first drive and a touchdown on his second in his most extensive action since starting the opener at Florida.

“;Going into the Florida game you feel like you know the offense, but you really don't,”; Alexander said. “;After watching the past six weeks I feel like I got it down for the most part and feel more comfortable out there.”;

Mouton pulled double duty in starting at slotback, catching five passes for 58 yards in the second half, and chipping in on defense in nickel situations.

Hawaii's highest point output of the season was just enough to hold off Kaepernick and a Nevada offense that rolled up 481 total yards, 308 on the ground.

The teams traded fire in a second-half shootout, with Nevada erasing a 31-17 Hawaii lead on fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Kaepernick to Marko Mitchell and Wellington with 1:31 left.

Hawaii took over at its own 23 with 1:29 left and Alexander floated a 16-yard completion to Mouton and a 17-yarder to Washington to move into Nevada territory.

He kept the drive going with a 10-yard scramble on third and 9, but the Warriors had to use their final two timeouts with 31 seconds left. Facing third down, the Warriors decided to go for the touchdown.

“;It was situation where it was going to be us or nobody,”; Alexander said of the pass.

Lane answered by outdueling a Wolf Pack defender for the ball for his sixth and biggest catch of the game.

“;That was the biggest criticism on me, coaches telling me go up and get the ball,”; Lane said. “;So the whole time I saw the ball in the air, that was the No. 1 thing going through my head.”;