Quarterback Glenn Freitas gave coach Fred vonAppen a game ball after UH beat Boise State Saturday night.

In fact, the University of Hawaii head football coach emerged from the winning locker room without the benefit of a Gatorade bath or a champagne shampoo.

Inside, the Rainbows were excited to finally get their first victory of the season as all the whooping and hollering would attest.

But there also was a look of relief in their eyes - like a high-wire artist regaining his balance in the nick of time. Too similar to Boston College, Hawaii self-destructed down the stretch.

This time around the Rainbows held on, but the nail-biter was something the assistants talked about with different clusters of players in every corner of the room.

"I would hope they weren't entirely satisfied with that performance," VonAppen said yesterday of the uneven 20-14 win over Boise State. "We certainly weren't.

"But what we urged them to do was savor and enjoy the victory. They are hard to come by, but we wanted them to recognize the fact that we could have put them away. It's an object lesson."

Ane one the players adhered to moments after winning their first game of the season in four tries. In one corner, UH offensive coordinator Guy Benjamin was having a quick discussion with senior quarterback Glenn Freitas.

In another part of the locker room was wide receivers coach Ken Margerum, letting Dillan Micus know that he had a good and bad game.

"We had so many chances to put them away and we didn't," said Micus, who had eight receptions for 84 yards with two big drops. "It's like coach Margerum said, it's time for us to start making plays.

Paul Purdy (42) Kaulana Noa rumble through the Broncos defense.

"Don't get me wrong. It's great to get a win as all the guys in this room will tell you. But there's still plenty of room for improvement."

You won't get any argument from Freitas, who had five passes dropped, including three that were drive-killers. He still hit 18 of 29 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns.

When the Rainbows need an emotional lift, Freitas provides it.

"I'm real excited, I feel like I got this big old (bleeping) bear off my back," Freitas said of his first win as a starter since beating Central Florida last October.

"Now we want to go out and get our first victory in the Western Athletic Conference. We got the momentum going into our next game. I think we'll be all right."

The Rainbows still need to limit their mistakes in order to make that quantum leap. VonAppen didn't have enough fingers to count all the things that nearly did them in.

Eddie Klaneski's fumble on a punt return that gave Boise State one last chance at winning late in the fourth quarter certainly was the biggest one.

Fortunately for him, an aggressive defense - led by middle linebacker Stephen Gonzales and strong safety Chris Shinnick - was able to bail him out.

"Everybody has everybody else's back," Klaneski said. "When on D (defense) count on me. No matter what happens, they always have my back."

That's cutting it a little too close in UH defensive coordinator Don Lindsey's mind. He became visibly upset in the press box after Freitas had trouble running out the clock and characterizes the myriad mistakes thusly.

"I was walking off the field and I thought, what in the world can we do now?" Lindsey said. "I call it Looney Tunes. Tune in every Saturday.

"And again, I say that humorously. But we've got a few episodes coming up (against Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State) that won't be very funny if we continue to make mistakes."

The Rainbows travel to Fresno State Saturday night. They have lost 13 consecutive league games on the road and have won only two of their last 15 WAC games overall.

Tony Thomas, left, is escorted by Russell Grant, Sione Tafuna and Kaulana Noa after scoring Saturday night.

"This is going to be another tough opponent for us, as all of them are," vonAppen said. "We're still a struggling football team; I don't think there is any question about that.

"No offense to Boise State, but we should have finished with a point total in the 30s. It's nice to win a game. Gee whiz, it's been an eternity, but we're certainly not satisfied with only one."

Teams: Hawaii Rainbows at FresnoState Bulldogs
When: Saturday, 4:07 p.m. Hawaii Time, Bulldog Stadium.
Weekend update: Utah whipped Fresno State, 45-17, in Salt Lake City.
Facts & figures: The Bulldogs couldn't stop Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, the former St.Louis star from Hawaii, who ran for 169 yards. Utah's Juan Johnson tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns and quarterback Mike Fouts completed 18 of 23 passes for 214 yards and two scores.