For Colt Brennan, the University of Hawai'i football team's first-year quarterback, the growing pains don't end at sunset.

"I'm as frustrated as hell," Brennan said of Saturday's 27-13 loss to nationally ranked Fresno State. "I can't sleep at night. But it's a good frustration. It's driving me. It gets me fired up, and I want to go back out there."

During his weekly news conference yesterday, UH coach June Jones pinpointed several mistakes Brennan made — errors attributed to youth and inexperience.

Jones said it takes a quarterback about 1 1/2 years to master the Warriors' four-wide passing offense. Brennan is a third-year sophomore who transferred from Saddleback Community College in June. "Colt, to be quite honest, is ahead" of schedule, Jones said.

"He is progressing," said Dan Morrison, who coaches the quarterbacks. "He's doing quite well for us given he's only had eight games. He had no spring ball. He comes in here, and his pass efficiency is as high as we've had. His passing efficiency is extraordinarily high. He's done really well in the short time he's had to learn things. Over time, he'll be very special."

Still, Jones said, Brennan needed to improve on recent misjudgments.

During one drive, for instance, Jones summoned Brennan, asking him to call a specific play listed on the offensive players' wristbands. Jones said Brennan glanced at the wristband, and called the name of part of one play and part of another. "He doesn't read the right number," Jones said. "Don't get me wrong, it's happened before. I had Timmy (Chang, last year's quarterback) doing the same thing. I want him to read it. In other words, hold it up and read it to the team in the huddle."

Jones said Brennan also has a tendency to abbreviate his "progression" reads — the four options for each pass play — before scrambling or throwing a pass. "If you go through one, two, three, four . . . somebody's open," Jones said. "You have to get disciplined enough to do that. That comes from playing. Timmy didn't do it right away. Rolo (Nick Rolovich) didn't do it right away. Well, Colt isn't doing it right away. ... It's a growing thing for the quarterback. He has to learn how to do that. Until you just do it enough in the game, it doesn't come."

Jones also said Brennan needs to throw away passes, rather than take sacks, in the red zone (between an opponent's 20 and goal line).

"There were two to three sacks that we told, time and time again, 'Throw the football away,' " Jones said. "On first down, an incomplete pass is a win. That's a win. In other systems, it's not. We don't want to be second-and-15. We want to be second-and-10, because we're going to get it on the next two plays. It's the mentality that's a different philosophy. Colt's belief is, 'I can get away from a guy.' He does sometimes, and good things happen. Other times, a sack puts you in a hole."

Brennan said it is difficult to resist the instinct of refusing to throw away passes.

"It's such a quick-hitting offense," he said. "You think when you send out four, five receivers, somebody has to be open. It's hard, when you're seeing so many opportunities, to throw the ball away. It almost feels like a waste. It's not instinctive to throw it away, but I have to do that, or else it's third-and-15 instead of third-and-10."

Brennan said he also is working on remaining focused during his progression reads. "He's always been up front with me," Brennan said of Jones. "He's quick to say, 'Here's what you need to do.' Obviously, he's been doing this offense forever, and I haven't.

"Sometimes I'll get flustered when I don't see an opening, and I'll run," Brennan added. "He says, 'If you'll stay with it, you can still hit it.' It's a matter of working with him, and getting on the same thinking level."

After reviewing videotapes of the Fresno State game, Brennan realized, "I was close to having the best game of my career. If I eliminated four or five plays — if I run for the first down instead of throwing it (on third-and-1) on the first drive, if I throw it away instead of throwing an interception — I walk away with one of the best games of my career.

"It's those little things. It's fine-tuning the little things. When you play Fresno State, it's the little things that matter, little things that stop you from beating a Top 25 team."

Brennan said the Warriors, with first-year starters at the six ball-handling positions on offense, still are fighting for a winning season. The Warriors, 3-5 overall and 3-3 in the Western Athletic Conference, need to win their final four games.

"It's frustrating at times, because we're young, and we're working hard to win games and learn the offense at the same time," Brennan said. "These things only make you better. We're making mistakes, but we know we're learning from them, and we'll never make them again."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.