UH’s magic runs out

Oregon State ends the Warriors' win streak at nine; next up for Hawaii is the Hawaii Bowl

Everything was set up for another magical finish for Hawaii last night.

The Warriors weathered a storm of BCS talent to still be in the game in the fourth quarter. A huge crowd of 46,683 at Aloha Stadium had their back. Colt Brennan led a late touchdown drive to put UH within a score.

And the defense came up with a three and out in the waning minutes to give the ball back to the Warriors.

The nation's top offense, with the ball at the Oregon State 40 with 4 minutes left? It seemed like a sure thing. It was the previous week. It was all season.

This is what happened against Purdue a scant seven days prior, except for one thing -- this time UH couldn't get the final score to put it over the top.

Brennan proved he's human, as his fourth-down pass bounced in front of Jason Rivers, and Oregon State -- even though it couldn't get another first down -- took a safety and ran out the clock.

The Beavers, with 11 players and five coaches with Hawaii on their birth certificates and résumés, hung on for a 35-32 victory.

The No. 24 Warriors suffered their first loss after nine wins in a row. It is UH's first home defeat since more than a year ago, and Hawaii might fall out of the national rankings. Brennan may have also lost any chance to be among the Heisman Trophy finalists at next week's awards ceremony in New York.

"The best thing about tonight is we've got one more game and we can send (the seniors) out with a win," said Warriors coach June Jones, who remains tied with Dick Tomey at the top of the Hawaii career coaching wins list with 63.

UH concludes one of its finest seasons Dec. 24 against Arizona State in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. With a win in that game, the Warriors would tie the school record for victories set by the 1992 team that went 11-2.

Brennan -- who entered the game leading the nation in passing efficiency, completion percentage, touchdown passes and passing yards -- threw for 401 yards and two touchdowns, completing 37 passes in 50 attempts.

"We didn't punt once, so it wasn't like they stopped us," Brennan said.

But he was sacked a season-high six times and intercepted twice. It was the first time he's been picked off more than once since a win against UNLV in September.

The Warriors outgained the Beavers 504 yards to 316, but OSU did not turn the ball over.

Oregon State quarterback Matt Moore made the big plays when they were needed, and Sabby Piscitelli got both interceptions for the Beavers, who improved to 9-4.

Moore threw three touchdown passes while completing 11 of 17 for 245 yards. Running back Yvenson Bernard rushed for 108 yards and a score.

UH's Davone Bess caught 10 passes for 116 yards and made two big plays while the Warriors tried to rally.

Oregon State, which never trailed, went up 35-24 with 13:18 left when Bernard scored on a 1-yard run after Moore completed a 23-yard pass to tight end Joe Newton.

The Warriors then got a momentum-turning break, as punter Kyle Loomis fumbled and UH got the ball at the Oregon State 44 with 9:54 left in the game.

"When we dropped that punt, I thought they don't need any help moving the ball," Beavers coach Mike Riley said.

Brennan took advantage, throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Grice-Mullins that closed the margin to 35-30 with 7:06 left. The Warriors then failed on a 2-point conversion try, as Brennan rolled to his right but found nothing but white jerseys and was tackled before reaching the goal line.

The touchdown gave Brennan 53 TD passes for the season, putting him within one of David Klingler's NCAA single-season record of 54.

Hawaii then stuffed Oregon State on three downs, with Ikaika Alama-Francis sacking Moore for a 6-yard loss on second down.

"There was no doubt in my mind we could stop them in that situation," Alama-Francis said. "We did what we had to do."

Bess returned OSU's punt 35 yards to the Beavers 40.

After Brennan hit Bess for an 18-yard gain, Brennan escaped trouble and dumped off to Reagan Mauia for 3 yards.

Dorian Smith caught Brennan on second down for a 7-yard sack. An incomplete pass on third down left Hawaii with fourth and 14 at the OSU 26 with 2:12 left. The normally-accurate Brennan's final pass bounced in front of Jason Rivers, and the Beavers took over on downs.

"If I had just thrown a little bit more air on it, we would've gotten the first down and probably would have had a chance to score and maybe win the game," said Brennan, who entered the game completing 72 percent of his throws. "It's a bummer."

"I thought for sure that when we got the ball back to the offense we'd score," safety Leonard Peters said. "Things just didn't go our way tonight."

Loomis took a safety with 2 seconds left for the final score.

The Warriors seemed poised to take the lead in the third quarter when they drove from their own 1 to the Beavers 14, but Piscitelli intercepted a low pass in the OSU end zone.

On the next play, Moore threw long to Sammie Stroughter, who had beaten UH cornerback Gerard Lewis with a slow-and-go move. Stroughter caught the ball and outran the Warriors for an 80-yard touchdown.

Stroughter caught three passes for 106 yards.

The Warriors came right back with a big play after the kickoff, as Brennan tossed a shovel pass to Nate Ilaoa, who went for a 34-yard gain. A roughing-the-passer penalty added 15 yards and put the ball on the OSU 31.

A 10-yard sack by Derrick Doggett (who led the Beavers with 12 tackles) forced the Warriors to settle for a field goal.

Another shovel to Ilaoa went for 21 yards, and Dan Kelly kicked a 26-yard field goal and UH closed to 28-24 with 1:39 left in the third.

"We could never make them punt, but we did make them try field goals," Riley said.

Hawaii failed to score in the first quarter for only the second time this season.

Moore threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Newton on the last play of the opening period, and Oregon State took a 7-0 lead.

Kelly -- 10-for-11 on field goals coming into the game -- missed two attempts in the first quarter, from 50 and 38 yards.

Ross Dickerson, wearing No. 37 instead of his usual 82, started at running back for UH.

Ilaoa, the usual starter and Hawaii's leading rusher and scorer, entered the game early in the second quarter and scored on a 1-yard touchdown with 11:27 left before halftime to tie the score at 7.

Ilaoa had missed significant practice time with a sore heel from the previous week against Purdue.

Oregon State retook the lead immediately as Gerard Lawson took the next kickoff 2 yards deep in the OSU end zone and returned it all the way for a 14-7 Beavers lead. It was the first kickoff return for a score against UH since 2001.

Hawaii needed a 10-play drive to cover 61 yards to draw even, with Brennan scrambling the final 4 yards for his fifth rushing touchdown of the season at 6:54 before the break.

Ruben Jackson eluded the UH secondary and caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Moore, and OSU led again, 21-14, with 3:26 left in the second quarter.

Brennan threw his 52nd touchdown pass of the season with 20 seconds left before the break. It was an 11-yarder to Bess, and it allowed UH to tie the score again, at 21.

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