IT was the sloppiest game - literally and figuratively - of the season for the University of Hawaii football team. Luckily for Hawaii, it's the end of the road
The Rainbows have to play mistake-free football just for a chance to win.
Against San Jose State on Saturday, they committed 14 penalties - nine on silly false-start calls - and threw six interceptions. So don't bother to ask who won or the score.
I don't know which is worse, losing 38-14 to lowly San Jose State, which can draw only 4,500 fans at home, or losing their 20th straight Western Athletic Conference game on the road. They were outscored 143-36 in going
0-4 in WAC road games this year.
The 'Bows are pathetic away from Aloha Stadium. Even Napoleon's army, which got bogged down in the Moscow mud, had a better road record.
Five weeks ago, after his Rainbows upset Fresno State, 28-16, in their best performance of the season, coach Fred vonAppen remarked, "We can win the last six games or lose the last six games."
One thing about Fred, there's nothing halfway with him. It's all or nothing.
Since then, the Rainbows have lost four straight games (they have two to go). The funny thing is that they played BYU, San Diego State and Air Force - three pretty fair WAC teams - tough only to get blown out by a reeling San Jose State team.
SPARTANS quarterback Danny O'Dell and slotback Oliver Newell made UH dizzy, connecting for three touchdowns, with Newell leaving Rainbow defensive backs sprawling in the mud. Talk about mud in your eye.
The Rainbows had the previous week off to prepare for the Spartans and showed nothing for it. Obviously, they weren't prepared for the sloppy surface and the home boys were. But as vonAppen said, both teams played under the same conditions, so that's no excuse.
But what's really inexcusable is Hawaii getting flagged for so many false starts in its 10th game of the season. That's one area in which the team hasn't improved all year.
This time the game was never close enough for those first-and-15 situations to make any difference. Still, one has to wonder if the play selections are too difficult.
Maybe the 'Bows should always snap the ball on the first "hut." It seems like they've gained 50 yards a game doing that. You'd think it would be worth looking into.
And why did quarterback Josh Skinner get the quick hook in the game?
True, he threw an ill-advised, up-for-grabs pass that was intercepted late in the first quarter, leading to a Spartan touchdown that broke a 7-7 tie. But the Rainbows were still in it.
NOT, however, after Tim Carey took over. Out two months because of a shoulder injury, Carey returned with a bang - for San Jose State - throwing four interceptions, three as ill-advised as the one that got Skinner yanked.
Obviously rusty, he looked like Jim Carey throwing the football.
About the only positive note from Saturday's game was that Hawaii didn't have any punts blocked or returned for scores.
Also, the Rainbows can't lose again on the road this year. They play Northeast Louisiana this Saturday and Notre Dame the following Saturday, both at home.
I hope vonAppen will be content with a split, which is about as good as it'll get.
UH has a shot - where did we hear that before? - against the Indians. The Fighting Irish? Forget it. They have a chance for a bowl bid if they beat Hawaii, and you know they'll want to go this year after missing out last season.