Malcolm Lane pulled in a 24-yard scoring pass from Greg Alexander with 20 seconds to lift Hawai'i to a pulsating 38-31 victory over Nevada tonight at Aloha Stadium.

After Nevada tied it at 34 with 1:31 to play, Alexander drove the Warriors to the Wolf Pack 24.

On third-and-1, it appeared the Warriors were setting up for a Dan Kelly field-goal attempt. Instead, Alexander threw to Lane, who was running a streak pattern along the right sideline.

Lane's catch touched off a wild celebration.

"We got in a position where we couldn't stop the clock so we needed to take a shot," Alexander said.

Alexander finished 17 of 22 for 205 yards and two touchdowns as the Warriors improved to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. With five games remaining, they need to win at least three to finish with a winning regular season and earn the accompanying berth in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

Hawai'i changed its offense, lineup and, in the end, its fortunes. The Warriors moved defensive back Ryan Mouton to slotback, and implemented a quarterback platoon.

By the fourth quarter, starter Inoke Funaki and Tyler Graunke were out of the rotation, and Alexander was at the controls.

The Warriors took a 31-17 lead on a 16-yard scoring pass from Alexander to Michael Washington. Washington, who was removed as the punt returner and nearly lost his full-time job at slotback, also had a scoring reception in the second quarter.

But Nevada tied it with two fourth-quarter touchdowns — Colin Kaepernick's 5-yard scoring pass to Marko Mitchell and a 34-yarder to Chris Wellington with 1:31 to play.

For all of the alterations made the past week, the Warriors relied on two staples — an aggressive defense and Funaki — to take a 14-10 lead into the intermission.

The Warriors crafted a game plan in which Funaki, who was making his fifth consecutive start, and Graunke would alternate series.

But the Warriors abandoned the quarterback platoon when Graunke, whose two drives were in driving rain, threw a pass directly at linebacker James-Michael Johnson.

Graunke was making his first appearance in a game in four weeks. He had been held out because the coaches had determined he was physically unable to play. But Graunke took half of the snaps with the first-team offense this week in practices that were closed to the general public. (Media members were allowed to attend.)

The Warriors took a 7-0 lead thanks to their defense.

Kaepernick tried to scramble away from pressure. Defensive end David Veikune stripped free the football from Kaepernick. Defensive end John Fonoti, racing across the field, scooped up the ball at the 12, secured it and ran the rest of the way for his first career touchdown. Fonoti, a fourth-year junior from Farrington High, was credited with a 9-yard scoring play. Kelly's extra-point kick made it 7-0.

But the Wolf Pack wasted little time in tying the score.

Kaepernick, who can run 40 yards in just under 4.6 seconds, faked a handoff to running back Vai Taua, who ran into the middle of the UH defense. Kaepernick then raced around the right end, eluded two would-be tacklers and sprinted the rest of the way to complete a 61-yard scoring dash.

Brett Jaekle's PAT tied it at 7.

A series of turnovers helped the Warriors regain the lead.

The Warriors lost the ball when Graunke was intercepted. But on the ensuing possession, Taua was hit by Solomon Elimimian on a dive play. The ball popped into the air, where it was caught by cornerback Jameel Dowling.

The Warriors drove to the Nevada 26, from where Funaki completed a 26-yard scoring pass to slotback Washington.

Mouton played both ways, entering the game as a nickelback. Mouton made two big defensive plays. On third-and-16, he forced Kaepernick to scramble out of bounds.

Later, on third-and-5, Kaepernick again was forced to abandon the pocket to avoid a blitzing Mouton. Kaepernick fell short of the first-down marker.

Elimimian, meanwhile, became the Warriors' career leader in tackles. He needed four to surpass Levi Stanley. Elimimian achieved the mark on the Wolf Pack's second possession.