Pleading the fourth

Generally speaking, a 34-27 total would be a game's worth, but that was the final score of the fourth quarter of Saturday's wacky Western Athletic Conference game at Spartan Stadium.

The Rainbows held a comfortable 35-7 advantage at the end of the third quarter. Hawaii coach June Jones even started to make wholesale substitutions early in the fourth after Hawaii stretched the margin to 42-7. But San Jose State wouldn't go away.

Quarterback Chris Kasteler connected on an astounding four touchdown passes, forcing the Rainbows to keep looking for the end zone en route to the 62-41 win.

"That fourth quarter was pretty wild, wasn't it? Jones said, shaking his head. "I've been involved in a lot of games in my coaching career, but I've never seen anything quite like that."

The never-ending fourth extended the game to a UH record 4 hours and 12 minutes.

Calling all crowds

Despite one of the greatest turnarounds in recent years, Hawaii fans just haven't bought into the Rainbow connection. At the last home game against Texas Christian, only 33,000 were in the house, a disappointing number considering what Hawaii has accomplished this year.

"We're hoping over 40,000 will be at this game," UH associate athletic director Jim Donovan said, a sentiment echoed by Jones.

One reason for the small crowds this year is an anemic season-ticket base. That number has dwindled to 22,000, down nearly 10,000 from the last time Hawaii made a postseason run in 1992.

"We're hopeful we can get that thing sold out again," Jones said. "I think all the problems we had in the opener with USC have kept the casual fans away. We need them to come back this weekend."

Not very special

There's no arguing that Dennis McKnight has done a good job with special teams this season, but you wouldn't have known it had the San Jose State game been the barometer.

Not only did Chad Shrout have a kick blocked that was returned for a touchdown, place-kicker Eric Hannum missed four PATs and the Rainbows were once again saddled with a bevy of penalties in the kicking game.

"It wasn't very pretty," Jones conceded. "It's something we have to address, especially all the personal foul penalties. We're still having way too many of those."

Weaver runs wild

Avion Weaver played only a half, but still managed to rush for 125 yards and one touchdown. The Spartans concentrated so hard on the pass, they forgot about the run at times.

"It felt good to make a contribution, especially in front of all my family and friends," said Weaver, who played high school football in the Sacramento, Calif., area. "When we run the ball well, we win. When we don't, we struggle."

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By Paul Arnett