We all pretty much expected the University of Hawaii football team to be 1-3 at this point, didn’t we?

What many weren’t prepared for is how ugly a 1-3 it has been.

Arizona is not a good team. It’s got some skilled players, but it’s far from anywhere near the top of the Pac-12. And for the second week in a row, the UH defense struggled against a backup quarterback.

Also, the Rainbow Warriors killed any chance they might have of staying in the game with mistakes, especially penalties. They got away with unforced errors at home against an FCS team last week (barely) but not on the road against the Wildcats who simply out raw-talented UH … by plenty.

At the ‘ohana annual picnic Sunday my nephew Austin Jones, a big Warriors fan, asked for a reason for optimism.

I resisted telling him not to worry, they will not lose next week.

He already knows they have a bye.

The big topic of conversation, of course, was changing the starting quarterback.

“At least it would give us hope,” he said. “We need hope.”

Yes, subbing out Ikaika Woolsey for Dru Brown (or Aaron Zwahlen, whatever happened to him?) to begin the game instead of midway through it when it’s already over might give you some of that.

But in their eagerness to anoint him the starter, some seem to forget that the second-half scoring drives against Arizona were against a team with a very comfortable lead … and when it got the least bit uncomfortable the Wildcats just stepped on the gas a bit again.

Don’t fall into that trap of thinking UH is a second-half team just because its deficit is 77-68 after the break compared to 120-35 before it. The outcome of the three losses were all determined in the first half.

This is not to say Brown is not the answer at quarterback. Even if he is, though, that’s just one part of the puzzle — and how much upside does he actually have?

It’s true you can’t win many college football games these days with a quarterback completing less than 50 percent of his passes, like Woolsey’s 48.9. But Brown hasn’t been much better than that, at 53.3 percent.

A 1-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio like Woolsey (six of each) is poor, too. Granted, Brown’s statistics sample size is small … but does zero TDs to one interception mean he will be ready to start UH’s Mountain West opener against Nevada?

That’s for the coaches to determine, and they’ve got two weeks which helps. The fans in general seem to prefer the youthful unknown over a quarterback we’ve seen establish himself as a game but inconsistent performer for four years, mostly in losses.

Style points do matter when you’re trying to climb out of an abyss. You need something to cling to. Like Austin says, you need something that gives you hope.

I’d have more of that for the Warriors if they somehow learn to tackle better in the next two weeks. In recent years — especially 2014 — UH was a good tackling team early in the season until its defensive depth was lost to injuries and being on the field too long. This year it’s just been bad from the get-go.

The Mountain West looks like it has vastly improved overall from recent years. So if UH’s defense and penalty problems aren’t fixed soon, it won’t really matter who is at quarterback.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.