Freshman quarterback Josh Skinner mopped up in Saturday's
34-7 loss to the Air Force Academy.Associated Press

Unlike a fan or casual observer, Rainbows head coach Fred vonAppen and his merry band of assistants can't turn off the television when the score is 28-0, or get up and leave after the halftime show.

Entering this bye week with a substandard 2-7 record and a Western Athletic Conference mark of 1-5 has the coaches a bit on edge, but it's nothing compared to the mental and physical pain felt by the players themselves.

They left a windswept and chilly Falcon Stadium late Saturday afternoon with a when-will-it-ever-end look in their eyes, a kind of dazed and confused state that can occur when losing becomes the norm.

The Air Force Academy, fresh off a stunning win over Notre Dame the week before, didn't appear to have all its planes in a row.

Yes, Heisman Trophy candidate Beau Morgan ran rampant for a little more than three quarters to help secure the 34-7 victory. And the defense held Hawaii's offense in check, especially in the early going as the Falcons built a 28-7 halftime lead.

But you could tell the fly boys weren't exactly taking off and landing with the precision Air Force head coach Fisher DeBerry has come to expect during his 13-plus years on the sidelines.

The result wasn't the usual road kill that has become a part of the Rainbows' lore in recent memory, no matter how much vonAppen and offensive and defensive coordinators Guy Benjamin and Don Lindsey wanted to believe that their team had something to do with it.

The proof is in the numbers.

Hawaii yielded a staggering 520 yards, 323 of those produced by Morgan alone. The offense generated only 237, not that far removed from the 279.5 the Rainbows were averaging entering their ninth game of the season.

Senior quarterback Glenn Freitas watches the painful final moments. Associated Press

Once again, the offense produced one scoring drive where penalties and turnovers didn't play a part. At that point, Hawaii cut the Air Force lead to a workable 21-7 margin, but could get no closer, despite several opportunities in the red zone.

"We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot," said UH quarterback Glenn Freitas, who completed only 1 of 5 passes for 3 yards in the opening quarter. "We didn't make a first down until the second quarter and we put ourselves into too deep a hole early."'

That they did. While Hawaii produced only 10 yards of total offense in the opening 15 minutes, Air Force generated 190 to put the game out of reach early.

In Hawaii's four road games this season - in which the Rainbows were outscored, 176-15 - they found themselves down by 14 to Wyoming, seven to Fresno State, 14 to San Diego State and 14 to Air Force at the end of the first quarter.

"You just can't do that and expect to win, especially on the road," vonAppen said. "We aren't capable of digging ourselves out of deficits like that. I feel badly for the seniors. We wanted to win one road game for them and we just couldn't do it."

After this week's bye, the Rainbows host San Jose State, Brigham Young and Wisconsin before vonAppen's first year as head coach goes down in the record books. At best, the Rainbows will finish 3-9, at worst, 2-10.

When asked what Hawaii would do the next two weeks to prepare for the lowly Spartans, Benjamin replied, "I don't know. I'll have to talk with Fred."

What Hawaii might do is try to expand the playbook past the first chapter. Even Benjamin said the Rainbows don't have that many plays down pat, despite entering the 10th month of the new regime.

That is painfully obvious to anyone who has followed this team. Each week the opponents say, "We know what they're going to do before they even run it." And each week, the Rainbows do little to prove them wrong.

Defensively, Lindsey's troops have their good and bad moments. They yielded an airplane full of yards, but stopped the Falcons on a fourth-down play at Hawaii's 4, and intercepted a pass in the end zone to keep things from getting totally out of hand.

It's tough to mount a stand in the thin air of the Rocky Mountains when the offense is going three and out on its first three possessions. But it's also difficult to win when your leading tackler is once again free safety Eddie Klaneski with 16.

"I thought our guys played responsibly," Lindsey said. "But this is one of the best option offenses in the country. They definitely have the best option quarterback, who is a proven winner.

"I'm not sure what we can do during the bye week, but try to heal our guys, and come back and try to do it all again in a couple of weeks. There isn't a lot we can do when the effort is there, but the ability is lacking."

And perhaps that statement sums it up best of all.

No matter how lacking the Rainbows are in talent, their effort remains at close to 100 percent. It would be easy to pack it in like the casual fan who turns off the television or leaves before the final gun sounds.

So far, that hasn't been the case. It's not the best situation for the players and coaches, but at this point in time, it's the best they can do.

Teams: San Jose State at Hawaii
When: Saturday, Nov. 9, 7:07 p.m., Aloha Stadium.
Weekend update: Idle last week, the Spartans play San DiegoState this Saturday.
Inside information:San Jose State managed a 26-25 win over Texas-El Paso but in its other three WAC games, the Spartans have been outscored, 154-53.
Quotable:"We're having a tough time," says SJSU coach John Ralston about his team's first season as a WACmember. Ralston, 69, will retire at the end of the season.