There is a saying in athletics that the more talent you have the more second chances you are inclined to get when you misbehave.

And slotback Melquise Stovall, one of the top return specialists and receivers in the Mountain West Conference, has plenty of talent.

Sadly for all concerned, however, what he no longer has, as of Monday, is a place on the University of Hawaii football team.

Head coach Nick Rolovich announced that Stovall, a junior who came to the ’Bows from Cal via Riverside City College, was dropped from the squad for failing to abide by “certain expectations required of a football (player)” at UH.

The move, which Rolovich described as a “last straw” situation, was apparently pushed to the tipping point by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Stovall received late in the second quarter of Saturday’s 56-26 loss to the Air Force Academy.

So give Rolovich, whose team is 4-3 as it heads into a pivotal stretch on the schedule, credit for sticking by the standards he has set down.

After signaling for a fair catch of a punt at the UH 26-yard line, Stovall flipped the ball at a Falcon defender, incurring the penalty that set the ’Bows back to the 13-yard line with 1 minute, 18 seconds remaining in the first half.

That it came after UH had called a timeout to try and put up another score in a game the ’Bows trailed, 28-20, scuttling the plan, seemed to further upset coaches who have sought to crack down on such infractions.

Some penalties, such as pass interference when you are badly beaten on a play or holding, when your quarterback is about to get flattened, have their moments. Tossing the ball at an opponent isn’t one of them and UH coaches this season have been quick to brand unsportsmanlike conduct as “selfish.”

The depth of the displeasure must have been considerable since Stovall, who had both UH touchdowns to that point, did not see action in the second half as a receiver or return specialist in a game the ’Bows were still very much in. At least until Air Force began lowering the boom in the final 23 minutes of the second half.

That says a lot because Stovall is probably the most accomplished return specialist the ’Bows have had since Mike Edwards (2011-12) and seemed to have knack for the specialty. Moreover, after missing a couple of games due to injury, Stovall was hitting his stride as a receiver with 11 catches for 185 yards and four touchdowns in the six quarters prior to being benched.

That kind of talent and production tends to prompt a lot of coaches to water down sanctions or, at least, offer up a bushel of “second chances.”

But such elasticity in the application of enforcement can also backfire when you are trying to send a message about discipline, as we have seen in the past at UH and elsewhere.

Dabo Swinney, coach of national champion Clemson, delivered his own statement Saturday by immediately pulling a freshman defensive back, Andrew Booth Jr., for throwing a punch before the officials could act. Then, Swinney sent Booth home with the equipment bus instead of on the team plane for the 438-mile trip from Louisville on Saturday, the Greenville (S.C.) News reported.

In some places it was a tough week to misbehave in college football. And UH was one of them.

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