CORVALLIS, Ore. — In the gloom of yesterday's one-sided 45-7 loss to Oregon State, the Hawai'i football team is heading back to the proverbial drawing board.

The question is: Who will be the artist?

The Warriors' third starting quarterback in as many games — right-handed Tyler Graunke, a fifth-year senior — suffered an injury to his right thumb and right wrist. He will undergo X-rays this afternoon, when the Warriors return from the Mainland. They stayed overnight in Oakland.

"I can't move my thumb, or put any pressure on it, like to shake a hand," said Graunke, who exited after the Warriors' second possession of the second half. "I can't grip a ball."

Long before that, the Warriors lost their grip on the game. After running back Kealoha Pilares scooted 16 yards — untouched — to the end zone, capping their first drive, the Warriors did not score again.

The Beavers, who entered 0-2 with the accompanying 110th-rated defense against the run, scored 45 unanswered points. It could have been more decisive. Kicker Justin Kahut, who was wobbly because of a painful hip pointer, missed three field-goal attempts from gimme range.

The Beavers, who had converted 34.5 percent of their third-down plays in their first two games, succeeded 8 of 17 times in such situations yesterday. The Warriors were 1 for 11, and now are a malnourished 5 of 33 this season.

OSU freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers — the so-called "Quizz Show" — scored on runs of 1 and 3 yards, finishing with 110 yards on 26 carries.

Quarterback Lyle Moevao completed 20 of 34 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns.

"It was a great game overall as a team — offensively, defensively," Moevao said. "Everybody did their job. It showed what we're capable of as a whole team."

The thing was, the script called for a different storyline. After the Warriors took a 7-0 lead, the Beavers, as predicted, switched from a standard 4-3 defensive front to a 30 alignment. In this scheme, which features two defensive ends and a defensive tackle who becomes a nose tackle, middle linebacker Bryant Cornell moves to the line. In most defenses, the linebacker who moves up is positioned as a rush end. Cornell became a stand-up lineman playing between the nose tackle and defensive end.

The strategy's intent is to create confusion, with the defensive linemen running stunts and loops. The tradeoff is that the defense is more vulnerable to perimeter runs, especially when the wideouts are running deep routes to drag the cornerbacks away from the line of scrimmage.

"We like our matchup against that," UH offensive line coach Brian Smith said. "We thought we could move the ball on them (by) running it."

But fate had taken a blue pencil to the blueprints. Running back Leon Wright-Jackson aggravated his arch on the Warriors' first play. Running back coach Alex Gerke, who noticed Wright-Jackson's limp, brought out the hook. Wright-Jackson was done for the game.

Two plays later, Keith "The Bear" AhSoon, who had moved from left guard to left tackle in place of injured Laupepa Letuli, fell in a painful heap. An MRI tomorrow will determine if he suffered ligament damage to his left knee. He was on crutches in the second half. His replacement, Aaron Kia, was iffy three days earlier because of tendinitis in his knees.

The Warriors had the right matchup, but the wrong timing.

"We lost a back, we lost a lineman," offensive coordinator Ron Lee said.

By then, the momentum had found the exit.

Not only did the Warriors punt four consecutive times during a four-possession stretch in the first half, they were ceding FieldTurf. The Beavers did not have a scoring drive longer than 59 yards; three were 40 yards or shorter.

"We really helped beat ourselves," UH head coach Greg McMackin said. "The field position was absolutely not good. You've got to give Oregon State credit for that. ... It was pretty much the field position that got us in trouble."

Even the best plans — Tim Grasso's punts to the narrow strip between the numbers and the sideline — were overturned because of Sammie Stroughter's speedy returns. Even when receiving punts to the far right, Stroughter would out-race the UH manhunt to the wall of blockers on the left side.

"There were some guys who broke down within the coverage," McMackin said. "So we've got to look at our personnel."

And, yet, the Warriors were down 21-7 at the intermission, and set to receive the kickoff to start the second half.

McMackin told his players: "There's no reason to panic. We're down by 14. We've been there before a lot of times. We get the ball, take it down and score, and we're right back in the ball game."

Later, McMackin told reporters, "It didn't happen that way."

On the second play of the second half, Graunke tried to laser a pass to wideout Malcolm Lane. Cornell, who had retreated into coverage, intercepted. Graunke had four options on that play.

"I went through my reads, and Malcolm was my last read," Graunke said. "He kind of hesitated on the route, and turned it out. It was an in-or-out (route). I kind of tried to go back to my third read, but I already had been through my fourth read. It was a bad read on my part. I should have tucked it (and run) and get what I could."

The Beavers parlayed the turnover into Rodgers' 1-yard scoring run.

On UH's next possession, Graunke was hit by defensive end Slade Norris while throwing incomplete on third down. Graunke walked off the field, rubbing his right hand.

Graunke actually had injured his wrist in the first half. Norris' knockdown caused the thumb injury.

"I probably should have gotten the ball out earlier," Graunke said. "I wouldn't have put myself in the situations to get hit like that."

The Warriors have a bye this coming Saturday. Their Western Athletic Conference opener is Sept. 27 against San Jose State.

If Graunke is not available for that game, then Inoke Funaki would ascend to No. 1 quarterback.

Graunke finished 12 of 27 for 118 yards and two interceptions yesterday. Funaki, a fourth-year junior, was 4 of 8 with an interception.

The turnover came when Funaki, eying wideout Greg Salas, tried to laser the pass through coverage. But Funaki had waited too long for Salas to try to break into the clear.

"I stayed with that read so long the defender zeroed in on my eyes," Funaki said. "I should have moved on with my progressions. That was bad. I have to take care of the ball."

Near the end of the third quarter, running back Daniel Libre aggravated an already tender right ankle. He did not play against Weber State because of a high-ankle sprain.

"I got hit (and) my cleat didn't turn with me," Libre said. "It's a tough break."

With two injured running backs and inconsistent passing, the Warriors had little hope of constructing a comeback.

They finished with 211 total yards, their lowest production since gaining 174 yards against Southern Methodist on Oct. 3, 1998.

Quarterback coach Nick Rolovich said to score on the first drive and "not get anything going the rest of the game is not UH football. ... We won't win any ball games playing like that."

McMackin said he hopes the bye week will provide enough time for several players to mend. The downtime also might be useful for Dan Kelly, who missed his third consecutive field-goal attempt dating to the Weber State game.

"I'm just going through a slump," Kelly said. "I have to kick and kick and kick until I get out of this slump. ... I feel I'm kicking the exact same way, but it's not coming off my foot the same. It's one of those things where I have to get a camera on me and figure out what I'm doing wrong, and then look at old film and see what I was doing right in camp. It was the best camp I ever had, and this is the worst start I've had in my career here. I need to fix it, and move on. I need to do my job."

After the game, McMackin apologized for the outcome. He also said the Warriors' primary goals remain: To win the WAC and qualify for a postseason bowl.

"I want to say to the people, 'Don't lose faith. We still have all of our goals ahead of us,' " McMackin said. "I take full responsibility. And we're going to get things fixed."