It seemed forever, Sean Schroeder flailing around in the grasp of a San Diego State defender, the Hawaii quarterback trying desperately to free himself on fourth-and-forever, one slim chance remaining to keep alive the Rainbow Warriors’ hopes for their first win of the season.
The last play of overtime, and Schroeder refused to go down. But he couldn’t get free, either. Finally a desperation dump-off falls to the Aloha Stadium turf, and there you have it: 0-10. No wins and 10 losses.
Another week, another heart-breaking way to lose.
Another defeat that went down to the last play.
Another step closer to a legacy with which no one wants to be associated.
It’s clear coach Norm Chow is running out of ways to describe things.
"Failure is not failure until you start blaming others," he said.
Umm … OK.
This time was a little different with the overtime wrinkle. San Diego State dominated it, but UH still had that last chance.
In overtime, the entire Aztecs defense seemed to key on Joey Iosefa, who has 341 rushing yards in the past two games. He could do little in the end, however, with the rest of the offense breaking down around him.
The inevitability of another loss for this team began to kick in before the OT as San Diego State manufactured a quick drive with five minutes remaining to tie it. UH got two more chances in regulation but could put nothing together.
The Rainbow Warriors were just plain bad in overtime, allowing the Aztecs a touchdown in three plays, and then when it was their turn, losing 10 yards instead of putting up a fight.
And that was sad considering how tough UH had performed earlier on Retro Night, at times looking like a team of Nogas and Kafentzises on defense, and Iosefa like a hybrid of Heikoti Fakava and Travis Sims, except bigger.
It was a field-position game, and Scott Harding came back from his thigh injury to punt the Rainbow Warriors out of trouble and the Aztecs into it.
And UH never trailed — until the very end, until Adam Muema, every bit as unstoppable for the Aztecs as Iosefa was for Hawaii, scored in overtime.
The play-calling for UH in OT was suspect. Going for it all on third and 20 from the 35 instead of chunking for the first down — that was almost as if someone had forgotten they were in four-down territory.
Some of the things that happen to this team make it seem like a group destined to lose every game, and in the most painful ways possible. It’s hard to watch.
When it was over, when Schroeder had finally thrown the last incompletion, fans stood and stared at the field with glazed eyes. This might have been the cruelest loss of the season — up there with UNLV on the last-second field goal.
Finally, watching them trudge up the steps, you could only wonder how much more this loyal core group can take.
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Read Dave Reardon’s Quick Reads at staradvertiser.com/warriorbeat.
