Photo Gallery: Colorado State v. Hawaii

In the thick humidity, the University of Hawaii football team learned another lesson in humility.

Another Rainbow Warriors comeback melted in the Halawa night in Saturday’s 35-28 loss to Colorado State.

A homecoming crowd of 25,755 at Aloha Stadium saw the winless ‘Bows lose their seventh consecutive game when a prayer pass went unanswered as time expired.

"Maybe the football gods don’t want us to win," defensive end Tavita Woodard said of the Warriors’ third failed rebound in the past four games. At 0-7 overall and 0-5 in the Mountain West, the Warriors are officially eliminated from postseason consideration.

"The record doesn’t show it, but we’re a damned good football team," said UH quarterback Sean Schroeder, who was 28-for-49 for 349 yards and two touchdowns. "We do some silly things sometimes, myself included, that hurt us. We have to play consistent through the whole ballgame. We haven’t done that yet."

The Warriors had a please-please-please chance after scoring a touchdown, a 2-point conversion and a field goal and forcing the Rams to punt with 90 seconds left.

The Warriors advanced to the CSU 45. On third down, Schroeder was hit while trying to get the football to running back Steven Lakalaka. The ball hit the ground, Lakalaka scooped it and tried to race toward the UH sideline. He was tackled as the clock struck "0:00."

The officials then signaled the play was under review, and after three minutes of consultation, it was ruled that the bounced ball actually was an incomplete pass.

The officials then re-set the clock at seven seconds.

UH coach Norm Chow then summoned Taylor Graham, who was playing his first game since suffering an injury to his left (non-throwing) shoulder on Sept. 28. Graham had appeared in two drives earlier in Saturday’s game.

"We needed a long throw," Chow said, "and I thought (Graham) had a bigger arm."

Chow placed the success rate of a Hail Mary pass at 10 percent.

"It’s probably less than that," said Graham, who lofted a pass toward Marcus Kemp in the end zone.

Two Rams batted away the pass from the leaping Kemp.

"I tried my best," said Kemp, a true freshman who also was the target of a time-expiring pass against Fresno State four weeks ago. "I got as close to the ball as I could. I jumped as high as I could. It didn’t work out. I didn’t come down with the ball. I never thought when I came to college I would be in that situation where I’d have to make the winning Hail Mary. It hurts that I couldn’t do it. Some day."

Chow said the outcome should not have come down to the parting shot.

"We just can’t put ourselves in those kinds of situations where we have to make something miraculous happen," Chow said. "We don’t start off right."

Indeed, the Warriors tried to find an early spark. They performed the haka on the field at the end of warm-ups for the first time this season. A highlight video was shown to the players. Even the pregame music playlist changed.

"We changed the routine," Chow said. "We tried to start faster."

None of the moves prevented the Warriors from falling behind by two touchdowns eight minutes into the game.

On their second possession, from the CSU 28, Schroeder threw to wideout Chris Gant in the left corner of the end zone. Gant appeared to make the catch initially, but after falling to the turf, CSU’s DeAndre Elliott emerged with the football.

"I had possession when we hit the ground," Gant insisted. "He rolled over on me. The tie goes to the offense, but it didn’t break our way."

On the ensuing play, Donnell Alexander scooted around right end and kept running, going 70 yards before being tackled. But UH cornerback Ne’Quan Phillips was whistled for grabbing Alexander’s face mask on the takedown, tacking on another 5 yards. Kapri Bibbs then ran the final 5 yards for a 7-0 CSU lead.

Diocemy Saint Juste, filling in for injured Bubba Poueu-Luna, took the ensuing kickoff and ran 78 yards to the CSU 18. Two plays later, Lakalaka motioned to the far left. Cory James then raced in from the left side and knocked down Schroeder. Middle linebacker Max Morgan recovered the fumble and sprinted 73 yards the other way for a touchdown.

"The fumble is just dumb on my part," Schroeder said. "It gives them seven right there, too. It was a big momentum swing. It was just dumb."

The Warriors would rebound offensively, but struggled the rest of the half trying to slow the Rams’ perimeter rushing attack and dual-tight-end threat.

Bibbs, who rushed for 201 yards the previous week against Wyoming, gained 137 yards and scored three touchdowns on Saturday.

Alexander added another 81 yards for the Rams, who amassed 231 rushing yards and averaged 4.7 yards per carry.

Garrett Grayson, meanwhile, was efficient in completing 15 of 26 passes for 177 yards, including a 20-yard scoring toss to tight end Crockett Gillmore.

The Rams built a 35-17 lead on Bibbs’ final touchdown, a 13-yarder with 2:49 left in the first half.

The Rams did not score again, preferring to milk the clock with interior rushes and controlled passing.

"We did well in the second half," UH defensive tackle Saui Matagiese said, "but we can’t put ourselves in that (deficit). We’re not taking anything away from Colorado State. That’s a good team. But we put holes in our foot. We missed tackles and missed assignments. We weren’t where we were supposed to be."

There was a play in which the shotgun snap struck Gant, who was in motion. CSU recovered the fumble.

Later, Gant appeared to have a sure touchdown, but he stumbled while making the catch short of the goal line.

"I felt that’s how my night went," Gant said, "there, but not quite there."