By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

HOUSTON — Curiously, a University of Hawai'i football team that crossed five time zones and came all of 3,907 miles to play Rice lost last night because it couldn't go the last mile.

Again.

Anybody starting to notice a disturbing trend here?

The Warriors certainly have what it takes to go into the fourth quarter with a lead or keep a contest close, but apparently not what it requires to close out a game. They can get on the doorstep of winning; they just haven't been able to master how to kick down the door, yet.

And that, as much as anything is why they lost to Rice 41-29 and were doomed to an 0-2 start for the first time since the 3-9 season of 2000. Never in the Western Athletic Conference era that began in 1979 has UH opened a season 0-2 when it was favored in both games.

Remember when Dick Tomey's well-worn battle cry was: "We just want to have a chance to win in the fourth quarter."? And, how his teams usually found ways to make the most of it?

The best UH teams have traditionally asked no quarter and given none, either. This one, so far, just can't seem to finish fourth quarters, try as it might.

It led Division I-AA Florida Atlantic 28-19 into the fourth and lost, in overtime, 35-28, in the season opener.

Then, last night, it scored a go-ahead field goal for a 29-28 lead with 10:12 left in the fourth quarter and couldn't do anything thereafter on offense, defense or special teams.

In two fourth quarters and an overtime period, UH has but one measly field goal to show for it and has been outscored 29-3.

Not exactly a prescription for victory, but something that underlines the extent of the breakdowns and how the accumulation of so many of what coaches like to call "the little things" have done in the Warriors this season.

A pass off a receiver's hands in the end zone. A bobbled kickoff at the two yardline that results in poor field position at the Hawai'i 10. Passes thrown into the ground. A 29-yard punt. Some bad play calling. Missed tackles.

You name it. Any of the plays, had they been made, could have helped turn the tide. Or, at the very least provided a spark.

The Warriors needed somebody, anybody, to help them turn the tide. And nobody did. With so many able veterans on this team that is perhaps the most puzzling part in this whole bewildering start.

Instead, it was the Owls, for the second game in a row, who found the players who made the plays and seized the moment, the momentum and, ultimately, the game.

The Rice version drove 80 yards for a touchdown and then 43 more for another TD, both scores coming in the final 5 minutes, 16 seconds.

While the Owls talked of getting a leg up in the battle for a WAC championship, the Warriors trudged toward their buses and the 0-2 long ride home.

One that could have been so much more satisfying if only they had been able to go that last mile once they got here.

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