UH exploring ways to fill Aloha Stadium

The loss to rival Fresno drew fewer fans to Halawa than any other game in the Jones era

Several schools in the Western Athletic Conference would love to host a football attendance of 28,196. But that number for Hawaii's 27-13 loss to Fresno State on Saturday represents the lowest figure in nearly seven years for a UH home game at Aloha Stadium.

The last time UH had so few tickets distributed for a game on Oahu, the Warriors were called the Rainbows and they were losing for the 17th time in their 19-game winless streak. The attendance was announced at 25,918 when Northwestern beat Hawaii 47-21 on Nov. 21, 1998, the second-to-last game of UH's 0-12 season and coach Fred vonAppen's three-year reign of error.

The previous low for coach June Jones was 28,762 on Sept. 11, 1999, when UH beat Eastern Illinois 31-27 to break the losing streak.

UH associate athletic director John McNamara said the department will explore ways to get more fans to the Warriors' final three home games of this season. UH (3-5, 3-3 WAC) hosts Utah State (Nov. 12), Wisconsin (Nov. 25) and San Diego State (Dec. 3).

"The marketing plan for football is rather fluid. If the team's undefeated, there is less promotional activity and discount offers put in place. If it's not, you obviously take a look and see what incentives you can put in place," McNamara said. "The goal is get as large a crowd as possible and make it as affordable as possible without taking away the value for those who already purchased tickets and our loyal season-ticket holders."

Hawaii's attendance has declined each home game this season since the sellout for the opener against USC. The Fresno State game would've drawn more, but it was played at 1:05 p.m. and was shown live on ABC.

Pay-per-view TV sales and higher ticket prices have been cited as other reasons for lower attendance.

"That is the 'in' thing to say," Jones said.

Revenue lost from 200 non-renewed season tickets were made up for by premium season-ticket sales, Jones said.

McNamara said declining the network appearance Saturday was not an option.

"Obviously we know our fans prefer the games at night. There's a heat factor," McNamara said. "ABC provides beneficial exposure. It's very hard to quantify, but our conference has a relationship with ABC and ESPN and we've received a clear message from our coaches that exposure is a benefit having to do with prestige and image. Do you take a short-term hit for a long-term benefit? We have to say yes to the big picture."

McNamara said the athletic department holds a weekly marketing meeting.

"We'll look at additional incentives and promotions," he said.

UH already provides discounts through purchase of a Creditback Card. The Fresno State game offered six tickets for the price of two in a Family Day promotion. The Utah State game is Military Night, offering two tickets for the price of one for all active duty and reserve armed forces members.

Rough road ahead: Hawaii has a tough task ahead of it to earn a fourth-consecutive Hawaii Bowl and fifth winning season in a row.

After Saturday's loss, UH needs to win its remaining four games to finish 7-5 and be bowl eligible.

Coach June Jones thinks it's possible.

"Stranger things have happened," he said after Saturday's game.

They have, and the conclusion to UH's 2004 season is close to it. Last year's three-win November rally saved a lost season for the Warriors and placed them in the Hawaii Bowl, where they beat Alabama-Birmingham to finish 8-5.

To get a finishing sprint going, UH has to do something it hasn't in the past: beat Nevada at Reno. The Warriors visit the Wolf Pack (4-3, 3-1 WAC) on Saturday.

Record book check: Freshman receiver Davone Bess got his name into the UH record book eight games into his college career Saturday with 14 receptions. It tied the mark for catches in one game set by Chad Owens against Army in 2003.

Bess is already threatening some other records.

If he continues at his current pace of 8.0 catches per game for the rest of the season, Bess breaks the standard of 7.84 set by Owens last season. Owens caught 102 passes in 13 games.

If the Warriors do not make it to a postseason game, Bess has four games to catch 38 passes to tie Owens' mark for catches in one season. That would be an average of 9.5 per game.

Colt Brennan has completed 69.1 percent of his passes; the UH record is 59.5 by Tim Chang last year.

Brennan is also on pace to match or pass Chang's season mark of 358 complete passes set in 2004. Brennan has 239 completions, which projects him for 358.5 in four more games. Brennan might have more completions if he had started the first two games.

Nick Rolovich set the single-season efficiency-rating record of 150.5 in 2001. Brennan is at 152.3.

Chang passed for 38 touchdowns last fall for the single-season school record. Brennan has 22 TD passes.