Posted on: Sunday, October 31, 2004

Run-shoot has been offensive

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Three points?

Of all the shocks that came out of Hawai'i's 69-3 loss to Boise State — and space limitations do not permit a full accounting — this is the one that keeps you shaking your head days later.

Or, at least the one that should prompt the most questions.

How does UH get all of 76 offensive plays and end up with just three lousy points? That's a soccer score and this, we're told, is supposed to be an imaginative, state-of-the-art offense with veteran players and an accomplished coach.

Basically, UH played one offensive series Friday, the first one. It drove 59 yards, controlling the ball for 4 minutes, 28 seconds to set up Justin Ayat's 38-yard field goal. Then it did nothing for the rest of the game. It was 0-for-almost four quarters.

West Keli'ikipi carried three times in the opening drive for 19 yards and was only called on six more times thereafter.

The last time UH was held without an offensive touchdown was in head coach June Jones' first game in 1999. Since the players were still learning the plays and, after all, doing it against Southern California, some indulgences were understandable.

But this is six years later. Or, as it has been referred to in Manoa, after five of the greatest recruiting classes in school history.

These guys know the plays, the routes and each other. They've been on the road a bunch and even won some games there, although not recently. Many have played on the very same blue turf where Friday's debacle took place.

We understood going into the season that the defense would not be what it was the last two years. We knew there would be instances where the offense would have to help carry the defense. And, with the injuries that have further sapped the defense, we feared there might be some tough nights.

But the offense wasn't supposed to add to that degree of difficulty by coughing up six turnovers, matching the high in Jones' tenure. It was either supposed to score in a hurry and in bunches or move the ball to keep the defense off the field. Friday night it didn't do much of either.

Between the six turnovers and six punts (five of the three-and-out variety) the offense was UH's worst enemy. Boise State successfully bottled it up inside on what amounted to a tight 30-yard box for the night.

Maybe you could say the pressure of the moment got to quarterback Tim Chang & Co., what with Ty Detmer's NCAA career record hanging over them and the national spotlight shining on them.

But what about Texas-El Paso two weeks earlier? UH struggled to score 14 offensive points — with the last seven coming after the outcome was already decided.

Whether the Warriors have simply lost their way to the end zone or, as a Boise sportscaster put it, completely "lost their aura," the result is the same. They are 3-4 and aren't going anywhere until they get better.

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