Sports Watch
RAINBOW football fans didn't ask for much. But they didn't ask for so little, either. Not the start
UH fans hoped forA sellout crow watched Southern California romp to a 62-7 victory to hand Hawaii its worst season-opening loss.
And, oh, did we mention that UH's losing streak is now at 19 games?
It doesn't get junker than this despite the largest and noisiest crowd since 1994 for a UH game at Aloha Stadium.
The traffic jam? Let's not even get into that except to say it won't happen again the rest of this season. But surely everyone got seated by the time USC took a 41-0 halftime lead, easily covering the 27-point spread.
Despite the runaway, the operative word for diehard Rainbow fans is disappointment, not discouragement.
To a man, including new head coach June Jones, the lopsided loss to USC was just that. Disappointing, not discouraging.
Nobody expected the Rainbows to beat the Trojans, except maybe Gov. Ben Cayetano. It's a good thing he didn't bet the state budget on the game.
Then again, neither did anyone expect the 'Bows to lose that badly.
Mind you, the Trojans took glee in running up the score.
WITH star tailback Chad Morton and the first-team defense with linebacker Markus Steele still playing late in the third quarter in a game already wrapped up, you know that SC coach Paul Hackett was thinking of making points with the voters of the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Actually, the Trojans hit the 60-point mark thanks to the Rainbows, who played so ineptly that you had to wonder if it were the white uniforms, or the snazzy-looking new black helmets, or if Fred vonAppen was still the head coach.
Four fumbles lost -- one returned 46 yards for a touchdown -- an intercepted pass, gaffes by the kickoff return men and three personal-foul penalties contributed to what the USC offense didn't do.
"We did a lot of things wrong," said senior Rainbow cornerback Quincy LeJay, who scored the Rainbows' only touchdown on a 21-yard interception return in the third quarter.
"We did a lot of stupid things, fumbling that snap, personal fouls. They were disappointing. You can't do that against a good football team like SC," Jones said. "And their speed magnified the problem."
STILL, Jones was upbeat despite the 55-point loss in a game in which his offense never scored for the first time in his coaching career.
"Everybody can do better. The offensive line can do better. The defensive line can do better. I can coach better," he added.
"We've got a long way to go. But I'm confident we'll get better. We'll get it going. We'll be back and we'll get the crowd back."
No question, the nationally ranked Trojans -- arguably the toughest team on this year's schedule -- were simply too much for the Rainbows.
They can beat up on UH. But can they beat UCLA, a team they haven't beaten in the last eight years?
"We will. We will," said USC quarterback Carson Palmer.
Take his word for it . He told the Los Angeles media that he thought the Trojans would score on every possession against the Rainbows. USC scored in all seven possessions with Palmer at quarterback.
The good news is that the Rainbows next play the easiest game on this year's schedule -- Eastern Illinois.
Go 'Bows.
End that damned losing streak.