Posted on: Saturday, November 13, 2004

UH as low as it can go, we hope

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

FRESNO, Calif. — Are we at rock bottom, yet?

If you thought the University of Hawai'i football team hit its low point of the season in that 69-3 loss at Boise State two weeks ago, guess again.

Such was the sad state of affairs on a chilly night in the San Joaquin Valley, where the Warriors were decimated 70-14 by Fresno State, that the Boise debacle almost seemed close by comparison.

Oh, for the once-upon-a-time ago days when road games actually meant something into the fourth quarter.

At Boise, at least, the roof didn't fall in until the 38-point Broncos' third quarter and the crowd stuck around.

The rafters came crashing down on this one in the first quarter, as Fresno, making no pretense of a balanced game plan, ran for 15 consecutive offensive plays and 213 yards.

This one was history with 11 minutes 51 seconds remaining in the second quarter when Fresno State had a 35-0 lead, after which many of the 38,956 in Bulldog Stadium were never seen again. They departed in the ever-present haze of the fireworks that greeted each Bulldog touchdown.

If this were a boxing match, the game would have been called, there being nothing left to prove and the Warriors' charter flight waiting.

But there being no such provision in the Western Athletic Conference code, no mercy rule, the Bulldogs rolled on and on ... unimpeded to a 49-0 halftime lead that was the worst avalanche of points to engulf UH in modern times.

This one was doomed to a painful four-quarter conclusion as television sets across the country clicked off the ESPN cablecast.

"I thought we'd play well," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. "But, I didn't know it was gonna be like that. I really didn't."

Who did?

Except for a first-quarter fumble, where safety Leonard Peters stripped running back Bryson Sumlin in the open field at the Hawai'i 37-yard line, the Bulldogs cruised to touchdowns on all their first-half possessions, making it look surprisingly easy against a team that had won the past three meetings in the series.

Meanwhile, the Warriors punted on five of their seven possessions, the exceptions being a first-series fumble and the monthly, obligatory but curious fake punt pass on fourth-and-17 at the UH 19 yard-line.

So, here's another tape the 4-5 Warriors can throw in the trash. Another game and night best forgotten. If this keeps up, there will be more video in the waste cans than on the shelves.

All but trashed along with it are salvaging dreams of a winning season and a postseason berth in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

But, then, the Warriors have much bigger problems — and questions — before them. A season that was expected to hold such promise has blown up in their hands.

With an injured and battered defense in shambles and an offense that is a shell of its former self, the painful question for this season is: Have we mercifully — and finally — seen the worst?

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.