Turnover deficit
hurt Warriors

UH gave away 4 and
took away none in the
35-32 loss at BYU

WAC standings

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

PROVO, Utah >> Forget about the rain, the altitude, the short week of preparation.

The outcome Friday when Brigham Young beat Hawaii 35-32 was determined by that old "battle" coaches like to talk about -- the turnover battle.

When Hawaii won four consecutive games, three at the end of 2001 and this year's season opener, the key was turnovers -- not making them on offense and causing them on defense.

In those four games, UH was plus-six in turnovers.

But Friday at Brigham Young, the Warriors lost the ball four times and didn't take it away once. That's a big reason Hawaii left Provo empty-handed once again, losing for the eighth time at BYU and still looking for its first victory here.

The Cougars were far from flawless; they dropped passes and they had two bad snaps on punts. But they ended up taking much better care of the football.

"We made a lot of stupid mistakes, but the better team won," BYU right tackle Isaac Herring said.

Two of the four interceptions of Tim Chang led to Cougar touchdowns.

Chang said he second-guessed himself several times, and that might have caused him to make some bad decisions.

"I threw the ball where it wasn't supposed to be," he said. "I didn't trust my instincts and I ended up making costly errors. Usually when I trust my instincts I do well."

On defense the Warriors made many mistakes, too. Defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa didn't fault his unit's effort, but, "We had some busts, I know we had some busts," Lempa said. "We had busts in our defense, but there was great effort and great pursuit."

But Lempa knows a defense is more likely to create turnovers when the players are in the right places to begin with.

"That's what it comes down to," linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa said. "Obviously we didn't make enough big plays. To win football games that's what you need, turnovers. That helped determine last year's game. Three-and-outs are good, but turnovers are what will win the game for you."

Defensive tackle Lance Samuseva gave BYU credit.

"It was just a matter of execution. They came off the ball well and they got yardage," he said. "I think they just executed better than us. But we fought hard and fought to the end. We just ran out of time."

The Hawaii locker room was a somber one, but not as bad as you might expect for such a close loss to UH's top rival. Although the Warriors had to hustle to make their charter flight, defensive end La'anui Correa took time to individually congratulate as many of his teammates from the other side of the line as he could for their effort.

UH trailed 35-24 with time running out, but made a game of it again when Thero Mitchell's 2-yard TD run and a Chang-to-Clifton Herbert conversion put the Warriors within three points. But it wasn't to be, as Justin Ayat's onside kick was recovered by BYU's Reno Mahe.

"We're here, it's 35-24, the game's over, and we almost win the game. That says it all right there," UH coach June Jones said. "We'll watch (tape) Monday, run, take a little time off and get ready for UTEP (on Sept. 21)."

Correa said the late rally was heartening.

"That kind of makes us want to get back into it right away. But we probably need another week," he said. "We have to go on the road to UTEP now, so we probably need a week to heal up and get ready."

Chang gets two weeks to heal his fractured pinkie on his throwing hand and to analyze what went wrong and learn from it.

"It's a long plane ride home, but I won't be down for long. I have a lot of good friends and family to bring me back up," Chang said. "We'll bounce back against UTEP. We need to win on the road."

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WAC STANDINGS

CONFERENCE OVERALL

	W	L	PF	PA	W	L	PF	PA	Str
San Jose St.	0	0	0	0	1	0	33	14	W1
Boise St.	0	0	0	0	1	0	38	21	W1
La. Tech	0	0	0	0	1	0	39	36	W1
UTEP	0	0	0	0	1	0	42	12	W1
Fresno St.	0	0	0	0	1	1	37	37	W1

Hawaii	0	0	0	0	1	1	93	71	W1
Tulsa	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	37	L1
Rice	0	0	0	0	0	1	10	24	L1
Nevada	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	31	L1
SMU	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	38	L1

Friday
Brigham Young 35, Hawaii 32

Yesterday
No. 13 Oregon 28, Fresno St. 24
No. 14 Washington 34, San Jose St. 10
No. 15 Michigan St. 27, Rice 10
Kentucky 77, UTEP 17
Clemson 33, Louisiana Tech 13
Arkansas 41, Boise State 14
Texas Tech 24, SMU 14
Arkansas St. 21, Tulsa 19

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UH Athletics