Some days, there is a chorus line of players waiting to serve their punishments. But this week, there was no hazing in the grass, not one offender.

"Guys are being more accountable to their teammates," said UH coach June Jones, whose team hosts Tulsa (1-3) at 6:05 p.m. today at Aloha Stadium. "It's been a good week as far as that's concerned."

Uriah Moenoa, who will start at center in place of injured Derek Fa'avi, said: "We knew we had to step it up. We're more focused, more enthusiastic about what we're doing."

With last weekend's bye, the Warriors have had two weeks to recover from their meltdown in Houston, a 41-29 loss to Rice. The Warriors missed blocks (five sacks), passes (seven drops, including four in the end zone) and tackles (16 whiffs).

Of that game's 171 plays, the Warriors' uneven effort could be capsulized in Tim Chang's screen pass to running back Michael Brewster in the third quarter. Brewster gained 5 yards on the play, advancing to the Rice 13. But the play should have resulted in a UH touchdown. The two receivers aligned on the right side were supposed to sprint into the end zone, drawing a cornerback and safety away from Brewster. Instead, they ran at half-speed, tipping off the play, and enabling the safety to break off and tackle Brewster.

"We didn't run (the defensive backs) off," said Ron Lee, who coaches the UH receivers. "We're not playing with the kind of intensity we need to play to win. The problem we're having is we're not taking it from here" — he pointed to the practice field — "to the game. We've had great practices, catching everything, but we've got to take that into the game."

Lee said it is apparent the Warriors' highly regarded four-wide passing attack is serving as motivation for opposing defenses.

"Florida Atlantic and Rice played us at another level," Lee said. "They flew around and hit us. They were aggressive. They played their best game of the season against us. That's what we have to expect from everybody. ... Teams are coming after us. We're one of the top teams in the country in the passing game. Timmy is on his way to breaking the record (for most passing yards in an NCAA career). These things get the (opposing team's) guys fired up. We need to step it up. That's all it is."

Jones agreed, saying, "What concerns me is when guys are not going 100 percent every play. It doesn't matter how hot it is. It doesn't matter how tired you are. The only thing you can control is going 100 percent every play. That's your job."

There appears to have been renewed enthusiasm during this week's practices.

"Before," defensive tackle Lui Fuga said, "we were too polite."

Cornerback Abraham Elimimian said: "We have too many nice guys. This week, we're calling people out. We want to have fun out there, but at the same time, we want to challenge each other."

To overcome the 0-2 start, the Warriors must win seven of their remaining 10 regular-season games to earn a berth in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl. As part of a special agreement, the bowl will accept UH if it has a winning regular season.

"I know it's a cliche, but this is a must-win game for us," Elimimian said. "Losing is never acceptable, but we really can't afford to lose this game."

Fuga said: "That's why guys are practicing with more emotion. We know what's at stake. If we go 0-3 — shoot — it's going to hurt real bad. We have to keep our heads up and believe. I know in my heart we should be 2-0. It's those little plays we didn't make. Little plays add up to big losses. We know we have to play hard every down."