The University of Hawai'i football team plays but one home game in the first 29 days of this season.

But if that seems like a long hiatus then please allow us to introduce their opponent tomorrow, the Oregon State Beavers.

For introductions will definitely be necessary when the Beavers set foot on the home sideline at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore. (once they locate it).

All told, the Beavers have been away more than 300 days. Between playing the final two regular season games of 2007 on the road, going to San Francisco for a bowl game and then opening 2008 with games at Stanford and Penn State, OSU hasn't appeared in front of the home folks since two weeks before Thanksgiving.

So, yes, you could say they are eager Beavers about playing at home before what officials say will be a sellout crowd of 45,000-plus.

And, frankly, people in Oregon will tell you, it is about time they brought back a victory with them. The Beavers are 0-2 in another one of their seemingly annual slow starts. Each of the previous four seasons OSU has lurched into the season, losing three of the first five in back-to-back years now.

The Beavers have been great closers each year, including winning seven of their final eight in 2007 to finish in the Top 25, but the wheezing starts have become a frustrating trademark.

So much so apparently, that the www.Oregonlive.com Beaver blog reports that a Portland radio call-in host is now foregoing mention of OSU until it starts its season with a win. The syndicated Bottom Ten has placed the Beavers third. Hardly the way to ring in a new season.

Looking at OSU's schedule, it is easy to imagine the Beavers and their fans putting a big red circle around tomorrow's game as one they need to have. For UH is the only unranked team the Beavers play in September and it is a game they'll likely have to win to avoid what has the potential to become an 0-5 start.

OSU is a 12 1/2-point favorite against UH, the first time it has been favored since the opener against Stanford and, with No 1 Southern California up next week and a trip to No. 22 Utah to follow, probably the last time the Beavers will be the betting line pick until mid-October.

To be sure, the Warriors know the feeling of urgency, having faced their early must-win crossroads last week with Weber State and could use another victory. This week, though, the Warriors are the team solidly in the crosshairs, the opponent on which the Beavers' season could hinge.

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