This game has never made sense. It’s one of the reasons why the University of Hawaii got out of the Western Athletic Conference. There is no reason for Hawaii and Louisiana Tech to waste money and energy traversing the more than 4,000 miles between the two schools to play games of any kind on a regular basis.

Thankfully, UH is on its way out and won’t have to make the craziest biennial voyage in sports anymore after this school year. And neither will LaTech.

But as bad as it’s been logistically, the football series concluding Saturday at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, La., has been quite interesting on the field. It’s a decent accidental rivalry, even though Hawaii has won all but two of the nine meetings. It has featured some key moments in recent UH football history.

And this game stands to be one of them, a potential turning point to a season.

TIMMY CHANG broke the NCAA passing yardage record against LaTech. He also led UH to a highly entertaining shootout win in Ruston in 2003. Four years after that, the host Bulldogs gave Colt Brennan and the Warriors all they could handle — one point in overtime short of derailing UH’s undefeated regular season that was rewarded with a less successful visit to Louisiana three months later.

In 2005 and 2009, the Bulldogs bushwhacked the Warriors in Ruston. It was a young Hawaii team on the rise the first time. Two years ago, the Warriors arrived in Ruston to play a midweek game 11 days after a tough loss at UNLV. Hawaii — with many players distracted by a hurricane in the Samoan islands — was beaten decisively 27-6. It was the WAC opener and the first of five consecutive league losses, and UH lost its starting quarterback, Greg Alexander, for the season. He was replaced by a sophomore walk-on, Bryant Moniz.

The question now is if the 2011 Warriors are more like the 2003 and 2007 editions that traded punches series-for-series with the Bulldogs and finished on top, or the 2005 and 2009 teams that for various reasons were unable to do so.

THIS MIGHT BE a defining game for UH; it has been in the past. In the years Hawaii won at LaTech it finished 13-3 in the WAC and 21-6 overall. When it lost, it went 7-9 in the WAC and 11-14 overall — the only two losing seasons in the past decade.

In recent seasons, it looked like UH had put many of its road woes on the shelf … big wins at Fresno State the best indicator. But the Warriors were 0-2 away from home this September and rumblings of dissatisfaction with coach Greg McMackin are bubbling again, despite a 56-14 home win against UC Davis last week and the season-opening victory over Colorado.

McMackin’s contract ends after next season. His offer to take a pay cut in exchange for an extension elicited a wait-and-see from upper campus, and that can’t help recruiting. There should be reconsideration with a win at LaTech. But a loss doesn’t bode well, even though it’s just the first WAC game.

More than usual rides on Moniz having time to find his receivers and the defense stuffing the run Saturday at Ruston. Hawaii at LaTech is always huge for the Warriors, especially this finale — even though it defies logic that these two teams ever played each other.

Reach Star-Advertiser sports columnist Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com, his "Quick Reads" blog at staradvertiser.com and twitter.com/dave_reardon.