FRESNO, Calif. » Fresno State coach Pat Hill kept coming back to one thing—turnovers.

The blocked field goal that could have won last night's game with Hawaii? The missed field goal in overtime? The way his defense played to hold Hawaii's offense down and give the Bulldogs a chance to rally?

Turnovers.

“;You just can't make that many mistakes,”; Hill said of his team's six miscues. “;It's very hard to overcome that. You can't put your defense on a 30-yard field most of the night.”;

No, you can't. And although Fresno State rallied and gave itself a chance to preserve its national ranking, eventually, the Warriors prevailed, 32-29 in overtime.

“;Obviously, that was a very, very tough loss,”; Hill said. “;But I've got to give a lot of credit to Hawaii. Six turnovers—I think that's a record since I've been here.”;

Not quite. The Bulldogs turned the ball over six times on Sept. 2, 2000, when they lost 43-10 at Ohio State. But that was playing big-school-patsy on the road. Last night, Fresno State was playing the part of WAC favorite and potential BCS team.

The latter goal is done now. As for the former ...

“;Even though the BCS is now out of the question, we've got to go out there and win the WAC,”; said running back Lonyae Miller, who rushed for 161 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown that spurred the Bulldogs' comeback. Alas, he also had one of the fumbles.

“;We need to capitalize on the opportunities that we have,”; Miller said. “;Without the turnovers, without the fumbles and interceptions, it's easily a blowout.”;

Fresno State grabbed an early 3-0 lead, marching down the field on the game's opening possession. The lead, which was the Bulldogs' only one of the night, lasted all of 19 seconds, the time it took the Warriors' Ryan Mouton to return the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.

That return also stuck in Hill's craw.

“;You just can't win football games when you turn it over six times and give up a long kick return for a touchdown,”; he said.

On the ensuing kickoff, Fresno State's A.J. Jefferson fumbled the ball, with Hawaii's Jayson Rego recovering. That led to a field goal. The Bulldogs' next possession ended when quarterback Tom Brandstater fumbled while being sacked. That led to another field goal. Fresno State's next possession ended when Brandstater was intercepted by Keao Monteilh. That led to a touchdown. Three consecutive turnovers leading to 13 points and a 19-3 Warriors lead.

Brandstater was intercepted again on Fresno State's first possession of the second half, this time by Brashton Satele. That led to another touchdown, which made the score 26-9.

That's when Miller sparked the comeback. After a touchback on the kickoff, Miller took the ball to the right and raced down the sideline for the score. Anthony Harding, who rushed for 157 yards for the night, capped the comeback when he scored the tying touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

Then, it came down to the kicking game. Kevin Goessling, who missed a potential game-tying field goal in the Bulldogs' 13-10 loss to Wisconsin, lined up for a 36-yard kick with 50 seconds left in the game. Six-foot-four Tua Mahaley got up to block the kick, and the game went to overtime.

There, Fresno State had the ball first and failed to move it. Goessling lined up for a 40-yard field goal, but missed it wide left. However, Hawaii's Calvin Roberts hit Goessling after the kick for a 5-yard penalty. This time, Goeesling pushed the 35-yarder wide right.

Hawaii responded by running three times to set up Dan Kelly's 34-yard field goal. Kelly split the uprights, and Hill was left to ruminate on his team's mistakes.