What was once a depth concern for Hawai'i earlier this season was not an issue last night when starting quarterback Bryant Moniz went down.

Moniz, the starter since the Oct. 10 Fresno State game after Greg Alexander's season-ending injury against Louisiana Tech, left last night's game early in the fourth quarter with an injury to his ribs. But backup Shane Austin didn't miss a beat in the Warriors' 24-6 win against New Mexico State at Aloha Stadium.

"He did a good job," Moniz said of his replacement.

Moniz said the injury occurred early in the game. But it wasn't until after the first play of the fourth quarter — the third play of the eventual scoring drive — that Moniz left. Austin, a sophomore like Moniz, inherited third-and-2 from the UH 49. This just after the Aggies closed to 17-6 on Davon House's 58-yard interception return for a TD.

Austin simply did what Moniz was doing all night: He looked for slotback Greg Salas and hit him on a 6-yarder for a first down. Five plays later, he connected with Salas again for a 12-yard TD pass to answer the Aggies' score.

Unlike baseball, where a relief pitcher gets unlimited warmup tosses for an injured pitcher, Austin came off the bench cold.

"(The coaches) always tell you to be ready," Austin said. "You're one play away from going in, especially with how this season's been going, how the quarterbacks have been going down. It could be any game. Every game you have a chance to go in. Only thing is I wasn't warm or anything. I threw like two passes and I'm out there. But it's fun to get out there."

Austin said he recalled the play in the first half when Moniz got hit on the side.

"I remember at halftime, (Moniz) said, 'These rib protectors really don't do much.' I asked him if he was all right, said, 'I'm fine.' "

Despite knowing of the injury, Austin said he thought Moniz was going to finish the game and didn't think he would be called upon.

"You always have to be ready for the chance," Austin said.

Executing the completion to Salas on his first pass was big for Austin, but not just because it kept the drive alive with the first down.

"It felt good to get that first one out," Austin said. "Get those butterflies out ... now it's time to get to work."

It seems everyone was proud of the way Austin delivered when called upon.

"He gets enough reps in practice," UH quarterbacks coach Nick Rolovich said. "This is the second time where he's had to be (ready) on moment's notice, so I think he'll continue to be ready every day."

"I knew Shane was going to do a good job coming in," Salas said. "He came in and played well against Boise (22 of 36 for 174 yards, but three interceptions). A couple miscues in there, but he did a good job against the No. 4 team in the nation.

"We see him in practice all the time. He's a great quarterback, so we knew he had to come in and stay calm. It worked for him."

Austin's previous appearance was against Boise State on Oct. 24, when he had to relieve Moniz, who left that game late in the first quarter with an injury. Austin was 8 of 11 for 72 yards last night.

Before the interception return, Moniz was on his way to having his fourth 300-plus yards passing game. He left having completed 20 of 38 for 294 yards.

"Very good," Rolovich said of Moniz's performance. "I don't know how many dropped balls he had. His completion percentage is going to be where it shouldn't be. His accuracy was top-notch. It's there with the great ones."

Austin completed his first six passes, four to Salas, who had a school-record 16 receptions for 196 yards. The previous mark for catches in a game (15) was set by Davone Bess in 2007 against Boise State.

"Oh, nice," Austin said when told of Salas' record. "I'm glad to be a part of that. I had no idea. I was just trying to get the job done. He deserves it. He works hard for that."

Salas said the record was nice, but "the win is so much better."