On a wet and windless Halawa night, a perfect ending slipped away from the University of Hawai'i football team.

Instead, the Warriors made three crucial mistakes on special teams in falling to Boise State, 44-41, at Aloha Stadium.

"It was definitely a heart-breaker," said UH quarterback Colt Brennan, who closed the Warriors to 42-41 with a 19-yard scoring pass to Ryan Grice-Mullen with 3:03 to play.

But on the ensuing extra-point attempt, Boise State's Daryn Colledge powered his way in to block Daniel Kelly's kick. Orlando Scandrick picked up the football and scooted 90 yards the other way for a conversion score worth two points.

"It was going all the way back," Colledge said. "That was the game right there."

It was a stunning turnaround for the Warriors, whose defense allowed only two touchdowns against the NCAA's highest-scoring team in the 21st century. Kelly, a freshman, said Tanuvasa Moe's snap was perfect, and the rain was not a factor.

"I kick in the rain in practice," Kelly said. "The rain doesn't bother me. ... I'm not really sure what happened. My head was down, so I didn't see who blocked it. All of a sudden I saw it being returned the other way. I couldn't make the (tackle). They hire us for our leg, not our speed. It's hard to catch up to those fast guys."

The Warriors had complained that the Broncos were bumping Moe when he snapped on placekicks. "My understanding of the rule is you can't land on the center (on kick attempts), and they were landing on top our center, and pushing through," Kelly said. "But that's not anything we can control. It's one of those elements, like the weather."

Moe said: "I have to be more stout. I have to be ready when they come. If they're going to hit me and the officials aren't going to call it, then obviously it's legal. I have to be stout and get in there."

Jerry Glanville, who coordinates UH's defense and special teams, thought that the Broncos' strategy of hitting Moe was "illegal," but felt it did not contribute to the failed extra-point attempt. "It was a low kick, anyway," Glanville said.

Indeed, the Warriors' best efforts were negated by self-inflicted mistakes. The Warriors had used multiple blitzes to keep Zabransky on the run. Strong safety Lono Manners, who can run 40 yards in 4.5 seconds and bench-press 500 pounds, led the way for the Warriors, forcing two fumbles, making a leaping interception and breaking up three passes.

On offense, Brennan eluded the Broncos' blitzes to complete 29 of 51 passes for 426 yards and four touchdowns.

Two of Brennan's scoring passes went to Davone Bess — the second punctuated when Bess dived into the end zone at the end of a 29-yard play — to boost the Warriors to a 20-7 lead at the intermission.

Grice-Mullen caught UH's other two scoring passes. On the first, from the UH 27, Brennan scrambled to his right and lofted a pass to a Grice Mullen, who made a leaping catch, eluded Scandrick, tip-toed along the right sideline and sprinted the rest of the way. Kelly's PAT made it 35-35 with 11:01 to play.

"I saw (Grice-Mullen) get behind the guy, and I tried to give him something to catch," Brennan said. "He did an unbelievable job of turning that into a touchdown. We have a name for that play. It's called 'street ball.' "

On the second, Brennan hit Grice-Mullen at the end of a post route for a 19-yard TD that closed UH to 42-41. "We practiced that all week," Brennan said. "We knew what the (safety) was going to do, and that (Grice-Mullen) would be wide open. That was a good play."

But the lesson of the ensuing block was that, for the Warriors, being good sometimes isn't good enough.

In dominating on special teams, the Broncos stayed closed and eventually pulled ahead.

Quinton Jones, who did not play last week because of an injury, scored on a 92-yard punt return to give the Broncos their first lead, 21-20, with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Colledge blocked Kelly's field-goal attempt from 45 yards. Scandrick picked up the ball and raced 69 yards for a touchdown and a 35-28 Boise State lead — a one-two combination that would repeat later in the game.

Of all of the Warriors' meltdowns on special teams, the most damaging came in the third quarter. Nate Ilaoa scored on a 37-yard run to give the Warriors a 28-21 lead.

The Broncos' next drive stalled at their 36, and they lined up to punt. But punter Kyle Stringer dropped the long snap, then after eluding the UH rush, scrambled 13 yards for a first down. Four plays later, Legedu Naanee caught a 6-yard scoring pass — one of his two touchdowns — to tie it at 28.

"I thought the play that turned the game around was when they dropped the punt and then they ran it for a first down," Glanville said. "That was unforgivable. That was very disappointing."

But Zabransky said that was typical of the Broncos, who won their 27th consecutive Western Athletic Conference game, a streak dating to 2001.

"You have to stay positive and believe in your guys and believe in yourself," Zabransky said. "We're not three-time defending (WAC) champions for nothing."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.