WHEN you're laying claim to being the worst football team in America, it doesn't get any better than this: Finale with BYU
epitome of UH season
A school-worst 0-6 start.
This is University of Hawaii football.
Forget, "Go 'Bows." It's "Woe 'Bows."
It's certainly sad to see how far the UH football program has fallen in the last five years. When Bob Wagner was fired as coach in 1995 after going 4-8, nobody thought it could get any worse.
It has.
The following year under Wagner's successor, Fred vonAppen, the Rainbows suffered their worst season since first playing football in 1909, going 2-10.
You think that's bad.
After getting drubbed by Brigham Young, 31-9, Saturday night, the hapless 'Bows are halfway to an 0-12 season. They've never gone winless before.
With Northern Illinois finally ending a 23-game losing streak, ESPN and the nation have cast their eyes on Hawaii and Nevada-Las Vegas. The two are tied for the longest losing streak among Division I-A schools at 12 games. And counting.
THOUGH members of the Western Athletic Conference, they're not scheduled to play each other this season. And maybe not for a while, until some bad feelings are soothed.
UNLV is one of the eight defectors from the WAC, and university president Kenneth Mortimer doesn't care if UH ever schedules it again in football. Don't bet on it.
BYU falls in the same category. But one thing's for sure. VonAppen should be glad that his Rainbows don't have to play the Cougars next year.
With only one senior starter -- ex-Rainbow tackle Joe Wong -- on an offense that's a year away from greatness, the Cougars showed they are already too much for the 'Bows.
The 25th and final scheduled meeting between UH and BYU started off promisingly.
Playing with emotion, the Rainbows kept the Cougars from making a first down for nearly the first 17 minutes of the game and took a 3-0 lead. But emotion can go only so far. After that, it's a matter of execution, and the Rainbows didn't execute -- again.
Not that they could have beaten BYU. But three lapses in a span of 102 seconds dashed any hopes of an upset.
After the Cougars scored on an 84-yard drive to go ahead, 10-3, with 1:28 left before the half, the 'Bows played giveaway.
FIRST, Craig Stutzmann dropped a first-down pass that could have helped the 'Bows run out the clock, enabling them to regroup, feeling not so bad about being down by only a TD.
But poor clock management by the coaching staff compounded the situation, enabling the Cougars to get the ball back and score a morale-deflating touchdown with 14 seconds left for a 17-3 lead.
When Mike Rigell returned the second-half kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown -- untouched, by the way -- the smallest crowd (25,527) ever to see a UH-BYU game at Aloha Stadium didn't have to wait to hear the Fat Lady sing. It was over before it was over.
So ended the UH-BYU rivalry, which stirred so many emotions and memories. It ended not with a bang, but a whimper.
The one poignant moment for me was seeing BYU coach LaVell Edwards stroll around the field after the game. He, too, has a lot of memories of stirring battles with the 'Bows.
He deserves our good thoughts for appreciating what a great tradition the rivalry has been for both teams.