LOGAN, Utah » “;Opportunity”; was the operative word outside a somber Hawaii locker room after the Warriors' loss at Utah State yesterday.

The Warriors repeatedly misfired on chances to score and thus let an opportunity to creep closer to a bowl bid slip away in a 30-14 defeat to the Aggies at Romney Stadium.

Hawaii's offense racked up more yards, but Utah State—led by sophomore quarterback Diondre Borel—delivered the game's decisive plays in defeating Hawaii for the first time since joining the Western Athletic Conference in 2005.

Conversely, Hawaii, which had scored at least 50 points in its last three meetings with Utah State, came up empty on four of five red-zone opportunities and had two field goals blocked in falling to 4-5 overall and 3-3 in WAC play.

“;I give them credit, because when they had an opportunity to make a play, they made it,”; Hawaii linebacker Adam Leonard said. “;That's what football is about, making the most out of opportunities.”;

Doing some fast math outside the locker room, Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin counted up 31 points the Warriors left on the table.

“;I don't have any excuses, we didn't get it done,”; McMackin said. “;As much as last week's game all three phases of the team had a part in the win (over Nevada), all three phases of the team had a part in this loss.

“;I don't know if it was Halloween, or I don't know what, I've never been involved in a game like this.”;

After dropping the front end of a two-game road trip, the Warriors will remain on the mainland and try to regroup during a weeklong stay in El Paso, Texas. They must win three of their final four games to earn a berth in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, a stretch that begins Saturday at New Mexico State.

“;It's a devastating loss,”; McMackin said. “;The thing is we still have our goal, it's just going to be tougher now.”;

Borel ran the show for Utah State, completing 14 of 19 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. The dual-threat quarterback also rushed for 87 yards, 61 coming on a backbreaking fourth-quarter sprint after Hawaii closed to 20-14.

Borel's run set up a field goal with 4:08 left as the Aggies closed out the Warriors a week after suffering a last-second loss to Fresno State.

“;We had some ups and downs in the football game, like we knew we would, but we learned our lesson from last week,”; Utah State coach Brent Guy said after notching just his seventh WAC win in four seasons in Logan. “;I feel like we finished the game in the fourth quarter like we need to finish it.”;

Hawaii's quarterback duo of Greg Alexander and Inoke Funaki led the Warriors to 374 yards in total offense. But it was the miscues inside the Utah State 20 that gnawed at them after the game.

“;It doesn't really matter what you do unless you punch it in the end zone,”; said Alexander, who went 13-for-27 for 186 yards and a touchdown in his second start of the season. “;We can be the greatest team in America between the 20s but it's nothing unless we put it in the end zone.”;

After Utah State took a 3-0 lead, Hawaii drove to the Utah State 1 on its opening drive, but was stopped on third down. After taking a delay-of-game penalty, Dan Kelly's 26-yard field goal was deflected by Paul Igboeli.

Kelly also had a 49-yarder blocked by Roy Hurst in the second quarter and the Aggies struck immediately, with Borel hitting Nnamdi Gwacham on a 62-yard touchdown to put Utah State up 10-0.

Hawaii trailed 13-7 at halftime and the momentum seemed to turn when Malcolm Lane returned the opening kickoff 46 yards and Alexander hit Aaron Bain for a 33-yard gain to the Utah State 4. But Daniel Libre fumbled an option pitch and Igboeli recovered to stymie the Warriors again.

“;That's the sad part about it. It's not like we were struggling to move the ball, we just couldn't close (drives),”; Libre said. “;I take responsibility for that one, I should have caught it.”;