For the benefit of a national television audience, the University of Hawaii boiled its entire 14-game football season of 2016 down to one all-encompassing game.

Over a revealing 3 hours and 46 minutes in the Hawaii Bowl, the Rainbow Warriors served up a microcosm of head coach Nick Rolovich’s inaugural campaign.

From the beginning struggles to the satisfying, trophy-hoisting conclusion built on resilience, it was all there on display in a 52-35 victory over Middle Tennessee State.

“That was our season right there,” acknowledged defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa, flicking away the remnants of an ice chest that had been emptied on him in celebration.

Indeed, a team that had begun unsteadily losing three of its first four games closed the season with three consecutive victories to finish an improbable 7-7, marking the first non-losing edition in six years.

“It was a great way to end this year; you really couldn’t ask for anything else,” offensive tackle RJ Hollis said of the Rainbow Warriors’ first postseason Christmas present to their fans in a decade.

And what an end it was, with the Rainbow Warriors scoring a season-high 52 points and stopping the Blue Raiders on fourth-and-goal at the UH 3-yard line with 34 seconds remaining.

It was a symbolic statement by a team that found its greatest strength in the end of the season, something largely unimagined after it had absorbed blowout losses in three of its first four games and suffered confounding defeats in the middle.

Similarly UH wobbled into this one, falling behind 14-0 less than six minutes into the first quarter. The ’Bows went three-and-out on their first two possessions, while MTSU required just six offensive plays to impressively roll up 14 points before much of the Aloha Stadium turnout of 20,327 had found its seats.

At that point, whatever ESPN audience there was probably began reaching for the TV remote. For sure there was an uneasy deja vu feeling. “This whole year it was like that — we wanted to spot somebody 14 points before we bleeping playing,” Lempa said. “There must have been six games like that.”

But the ’Bows found their equilibrium and grit soon thereafter. “The main thing was we didn’t panic,” said offensive coordinator Brian Smith. “We started slow, but we knew it was a long game and we were gonna get our points if we held it together.”

Hollis said, “It was like what Coach Rolo told us early on: If we worked hard and kept at it we could be successful. And we did.”

With as impressive a 28-point burst as it had assembled all season, UH roared into the lead and never trailed thereafter. Moreover it answered each MTSU score with one of its own.

Quarterback Dru Brown, who didn’t receive his first start until the fifth game of the season, managed the game well, completing 20 of 30 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns, held aloft the koa paddle signifying UH’s most outstanding player for the game.

Along the way a UH team that had committed at least one turnover in 22 consecutive games over two seasons not only emerged without one but forced three game-turning turnovers from the Blue Raiders.

“We wanted a win and we wanted a good game and we got both,” said a beaming David Lassner, the UH president.

And a Reader’s Digest look at the whole season all in one game.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.