One by one, Ryan Grice-Mullen's University of Hawai'i football senior teammates stopped by to hug him and offer their thanks.

Grice-Mullen gave the seniors a great parting gift with his pass-catching performance last night in Hawai'i's 49-38 victory over visiting San Diego State in the season finale for both teams.

"I know how these seniors feel," said Grice-Mullen, who had 10 catches for 167 yards and three touchdowns. "I'm kinda young. I'm just barely out of (Rialto) high school. I remember my last game of my senior year. I'm just glad we were able to pull out a win for these guys."

Entering last night's game, the Aztec defense had allowed just five passing touchdowns. Hawai'i matched that total last night.

"If we play our game, and everybody does their job, I feel that no school in the nation can stop our passing attack," said Grice-Mullen, a 5-foot-10, 174-pound redshirt freshman from Rialto, Calif.

Grice-Mullen is one of two dynamic Hawai'i freshmen receivers. Teammate Davone Bess was named to the 2005 Rivals.com Freshman All-America Team this week, an award that Bess said could have easily gone to Grice-Mullen.

"I feel we both deserve it," said Bess, who had four catches for 42 yards last night. "But the way Ryan played tonight, I'm ready to give it to him right now."

Last night, Grice-Mullen caught three first-half touchdowns of 63, 13 and 10 yards. He also recovered a fumble in the third quarter.

Grice-Mullen also had 11 catches for 139 yards in a 41-24 loss against visiting No. 24 Wisconsin on Nov. 25.

"The last couple of games, he's really stepped up," Hawai'i quarterback Colt Brennan said. "He's made some great catches for me, and got me out of some tough situations by going up and getting ball. It's such a joy to throw to a guy like that. He has so much spirit. Every time he touches the ball, he wants a touchdown."

Two of Grice-Mullen's touchdowns last night were set up by Aztec turnovers.

Ryan Keomaka's interception of Kevin O'Connell led to Grice-Mullen's second touchdown that tied the score at 21 with 28 seconds remaining in the half.

On the play, Brennan hit Grice-Mullen cutting across the end zone for a 13-yard score to cap a six-play, 49-yard drive.

On the ensuing possession, O'Connell's errant pitch led to a fumble and Hawai'i's Melila Purcell recovered the ball on the San Diego 10. Two plays later, Brennan found Grice-Mullen in the end zone for a 28-21 Hawai'i lead with 15 seconds left.

Grice-Mullen finished the season with 85 catches, 1,228 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.