Five minutes and 45 seconds.

Less time than you'll have to wait in line to buy some of the items on your Christmas shopping list. Or, maybe, just get out of the shopping mall parking lot.

But more than enough time, as it turned out, to put a bah humbug ending to the University of Hawai'i football team's regular season last night.

In that span of time No. 13-ranked Cincinnati (11-2) scored 19 unanswered points and Hawai'i went from would-be springers of an upset to just plain upset, a 29-24 victim of its own inexplicable unraveling on Senior Night.

Not even Georgia in Sugar Bowl blowout managed to cut the Warriors' heart out so fast, so completely.

One moment UH held a 24-10 lead with 12 minutes 36 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as magic seemed to descend upon the Aloha Stadium and the rafters rocked in anticipation of the Warriors' biggest upset since Brigham Young almost seven years ago to the day.

The Warriors made big plays and came up with kidney-rattling hits. Memories seemed in the making. Stars were aligned and heroes popping up all over.

Then, not long after the vocal portion of 35,309 on hand took up the premature, not to mention bachi-begging, chant of "over-rated...over-rated.." it had all gone poof!

Halawa become nervously quiet. Thunderstix were silenced.

The Bearcats' Brandon Underwood took an interception of Terrill Byrd's tipped Greg Alexander pass back 20 yards for a touchdown. Alarming but not, in and of itself, terminal.

A 20-yard return after a UH three-and-out series set up a Jake Rogers' 44-yard field goal.

Then, the Bearcats forced a safety off Daniel Libre's fumble in the end zone.

Seventeen seconds later Mardy Gilyard took a Dustin Grutza pass, made a defender whiff and galloped 69 yards for a touchdown.

Suddenly, the Warriors, who had roared back from a 10-0 early first-half deficit, had no more answers. No mojo.

In a four-quarter drama that took 3 hours, 31 minutes to play out on national TV, 5 minutes, 45 seconds is how fast the complexion of a game and the perception of a season can turn. And did last night, a three-game winning streak gone with it.

To be sure the now 7-6 Warriors have had a season of which to proud considering all the marquee players they lost from last year, the overhaul the coaching staff underwent and the 1-3 hole they began this one in. And they have a postseason date in the Dec. 24 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl with an opponent — possibly Notre Dame — still to be named.

But a victory last night would have sent them there floating on a cloud instead of under one.

It would would have assured these Warriors, no matter what happens on Christmas Eve, a winning season. Quite an achievement, really.

Instead, they are staring at the possibility of a .500 finish should they lose. And they have nearly three weeks to think about it all.

If the game finally slipped through the Warriors' fingers at the end, some of the seeds of defeat were sprinkled throughout.

A team that is bidding to lead the 119-school major college division is quarterback sacks surrendered five more last night for a total of 49 in 13 games.

A team also in the running to be the most penalized in its division was assessed 11 more (for 109 yards, including four personal fouls) last night. That's 114 for 1,028 yards for the season.

Last night all that — and more — caught up with the Warriors.

A regular season that could have closed with a strong finishing kick instead concluded with the Warriors no doubt wanting to kick themselves.

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