ALL a University of Hawaii football fan can tell the struggling Rainbows is, "I feel your pain." ’Bows know first downs,
but not scoringAfter the frustrating 10-3 loss to San Diego State, the Rainbows must be wondering what else can happen. It's unusual when 27 first downs produce only three points. But that's what happened to the Rainbows Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.
Once again, the red zone proved a dead zone. Not that the Rainbows have ventured inside the opponent's 20-yard line that often this season.
Twice they got inside the Aztecs' 20 only to run into what head coach Fred vonAppen called an "invisible barrier on the goal line."
The first was at the Aztec 16, but a sack of quarterback Josh Skinner led to an aborted drive and a missed field goal. The second turned out to be the ballgame. The Rainbows were fourth-and-goal on the Aztecs' 3 late in the fourth quarter when Skinner got sacked for a 12-yard loss.
So the one touchdown the Aztecs scored in the opening moments of the game -- Az-Zahir Hakim's 40-yard reception in what turned out to be a big cameo role -- proved to be insurmountable for the punchless 'Bows.
San Diego State's defense had a lot to do with Hawaii's offensive woes. But the Rainbows didn't help themselves with penalties and costly sacks that constantly put them in third-and-long situations.
"The thing that is clearly apparent with our offense is that, if we have any glitch along the way, we can't overcome it," vonAppen said.
SKINNER is still going through a painful learning process and vonAppen can't fault his young sophomore QB who was pressed into duty when Tim Carey went down. But maybe Skinner will watch a few NFL games on Sunday and learn that getting rid of the ball is better than getting sacked.
The most glaring case in point came on the game's defining moment -- when he got sacked on the fourth-down play. Even throwing it up for grabs would have been a better -- if desperate -- option.
"Certainly, the fourth-and-three at the end of the game, we needed to unload it to have any chance to win it. I'm sure Josh would have liked to do some things over again," vonAppen said.
Besides the defensive players, who again played their butts off, the only bright spot was freshman running back Charles Tharp, who did everything asked of him. He ran 28 times for 92 yards and caught nine passes for 115 yards.
"I felt we moved the ball pretty effectively. It's the little things that just kill us -- a sack or a dumb penalty -- which has been the story in most of our losses this year," Tharp said.
A look of frustration also was on the faces of the defensive players in the somber Rainbow locker room after the game. They allowed only one touchdown for the second week in a row.
Part of the agony was the realization that they blew golden opportunities to beat two teams -- BYU and San Diego State -- that have tormented them in the 1990s. They're now 2-14 against the two with the Aztecs winning all eight meetings this decade.
The Rainbows might not come this close to beating the two again. What an opportunity they had, and in back-to-back weeks.
Their showing was a vast improvement over last year's 56-8 drubbing to the Aztecs. But as senior safety Eddie Klaneski put it, "Losing 10-3 was definitely worse because it was more frustrating."
"I wouldn't want to pick between them," vonAppen said. "Losing is not the end of the world, but it's damn uncomfortable. It does more damage to your overall psychology than winning does good."