It was a freeze frame throwback in history, Colt Brennan and Boise State football coach Chris Petersen sharing a handshake and nostalgic postgame moment on the turf at Aloha Stadium on Saturday evening.

It recalled another one five years earlier when Brennan, then the University of Hawaii’s record-setting quarterback, had led the Warriors to the Western Athletic Conference championship over Petersen and the Broncos.

And it served as a vivid reminder of just how far things have fallen for the now 1-8 (0-6 Mountain West Conference) Warriors since that magical season. Never has the 2007 campaign seemed so distant in the rear-view mirror as it did Saturday in a desolate Aloha Stadium, where Boise State laid a 49-14 thumping and seventh consecutive loss on the Warriors before a few — very few — of their closest friends and family.

The announced turnstile count was 24,001, but it looked a lot more like 16,000-18,000 and sounded like a last-gasp Hula Bowl turnout.

Boise State quarterback Joe Southwick gazed at the emptying stands afterward and marveled, "There were, I think, two plays that come to mind where it actually got loud."

Gee, two plays among 144 where there was actually something resembling a din.

Much of the noise provided by the 3,000-4,000 orange-and-blue-clad Boise State faithful who made up the bulk of the "crowd" in the north end zone. There were so many empty orange sideline seats the Broncos probably mistook them for their fans.

The two biggest UH outbursts were Mike Edwards’ 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and backup quarterback Jeremy Higgins’ appearance with 6 minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Not counting the boos that followed UH off the field at halftime, that is.

Between Boise State dominating everything but kickoff returns and the paucity of a crowd, it made for a sad way to end the Broncos-Warriors series that had once meant so much and provoked so much passion.

Boise State moves on to the Big East Conference in football next season, never to return here again, if the Broncos can help it. And while that is too bad, the biggest disappointment is that Saturday’s game is the final memory that we are left with from a decade-plus series.

It was a game that featured UH’s top running back, Will Gregory, getting tossed out in the first series for throwing a punch and the Warriors managing a modern-era low of minus 14 yards rushing, thanks, in part, to six sacks.

Nobody expected a huge turnout for the game given the 2 p.m. kickoff and TV availability (NBC Sports Network). But this is — or used to be — UH-Boise State, a meeting that once meant something and had more than tepid interest even when a championship wasn’t on the line.

With more than 5,000 no-shows and a deepening offensive struggle you shudder to think what it means for the final two (Nevada-Las Vegas and South Alabama) or three (Temple, if it comes to that) home games after the Warriors return from a meeting at Air Force.

And, worse, what it means for the deepening red ink in the already financially strapped athletic department. UH had initially projected football would bring in $4.7 million in gate receipts this season. That was quickly lowered to $4.2 million. And now, the projection, some say, appears more on a $3.8 million trend and an overall athletic department deficit of, perhaps, $2 million.

The loss UH sustained Saturday was nothing like the sobering warnings that accompanied it.

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