By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

HOUSTON — They say everything is bigger here in Texas and, so, it would seem is the predicament the University of Hawai'i football team finds itself in today.

Just two games into the 12-game season, the Warriors have their collective back up against the storm-tossed Gulf of Mexico, just about literally and figuratively when they play Rice University today at 2:05 p.m. (Hawai'i time).

A game against Division I-A Florida Atlantic that was to have merely warmed the Warriors up for the challenges ahead, has, instead, put them in a situation of immediate concern by virtue of the 35-28 overtime loss two weeks ago.

It is dangerous enough that the UH schedule was back loaded with the four toughest opponents — No. 23 Boise State, No. 20 Fresno State, Northwestern and Michigan State — all in the final six games. But history also reminds us that none of the last four UH teams to open a season 0-2 has salvaged a winning year, either.

This last fact is undoubtedly not lost on the people who, after three consecutive deficit years in the athletic department budget, are charged with balancing the books and paying off loans.

Nor has it escaped the attention of the folks who run the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl and are counting on UH to become bowl eligible as the hometown entry for the Dec. 24th game. Winning the necessary seven games is more easily accomplished if you aren't forced to win seven of the last 10.

So, despite the earliness of this game on the schedule, there is an unmistakable urgency on several fronts for the Warriors against Rice. And, there is fast-dwindling room for error.

Win here in their last meeting as Western Athletic Conference opponents, since the Owls bolt to Conference USA July 1, 2005, and the Warriors can still mount a speedy recovery over the next four games — Tulsa, Nevada, Texas-El Paso and San Jose — all but one of which will be at Aloha Stadium and all of which they would likely be favored in.

But stumble again here and ... well, let's just say the pall would be considerable. For one, UH would start the season 0-2 for the first time since the 3-9 season of 2000. For another, since joining the WAC in 1979, UH has never begun a season at 0-2 when it has been favored in both games.

First, UH was a 22-point favorite in the opener against Florida Atlantic. And, now, in a rarity for a team 3,907 miles from home, it is a two-point pick on the Las Vegas betting lines over 1-0 Rice.

This latest line might have more to do with Rice's injury situation — two starting offensive linemen and two running backs are unlikely to play because of ailments suffered in the opening win over Houston — than the Warriors.

But when it comes to playing the Owls, UH is in no position to look a gift fowl in the mouth.

Not here. And, especially after that opening loss to those other Owls of FAU, not now.

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