SAN JOSE, Calif. » Was it a case of too much time off?

"I always felt byes help a defense but don’t help an offense," said Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin, after the Warriors committed five first-half turnovers and six total on their way to a 28-27 loss at San Jose State on Friday. "(The UH offense) was not in sync in the first half."

McMackin knows there’s no real excuse and he wasn’t trying to make one.

But it is reasonable that a week off can hurt a team’s offensive rhythm. How much, though, especially considering when we last saw the Warriors in game action, at LaTech two weeks ago, the run-and-shoot was in fine working order?

Offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich didn’t want to go there.

"It’s hard for me to say that," Rolovich said. "I think they (San Jose State’s defense) played really well. We got sloppy with the ball. Ball security is the name of the game."

Added slot receiver Miah Ostrowski: "That was just us being careless with the ball. We have to do a better job. It’s not what they were doing. It was us."

The UH defense kept Hawaii in the game in the first half, and it forced San Jose State mistakes in the second. The Spartans returned the many Hawaii first-half favors with six turnovers of their own, all in the second half. And the Warriors’ offense took advantage and got inspiring performances after the break from running back Joey Iosefa and receivers Billy Ray Stutzmann and Ostrowski. They all produced most of their yardage in the second half, as well as three touchdowns.

Ostrowski, in his return from a foot injury that kept him out of the previous three games, caught a 19-yard scoring pass from Bryant Moniz to get UH back into the game in the third quarter after San Jose State scored 20 second-quarter points.

"Miah came in and did some good things," McMackin said. "We didn’t want to push him too hard."

"I tried to be positive in the huddle," said Ostrowski, of UH’s comeback. "Stay positive, because we know what we can do offensively."

Stutzmann finished with team highs in catches and receiving yards with seven and 104.

Iosefa rushed for 81 yards and two second-half touchdowns, giving UH the lead and padding it.

"Coach Rolo told the offense, look for the spark," Iosefa said. "Everyone thinks I’m just a blocking back, but sometimes I want to show that I can run, too.

"They were playing a lot of zone, so that opens up the run for us."

"Joey did a good job of blocking and running the football," McMackin said.

San Jose State coach Mike MacIntyre was impressed, too.

"No. 30, he was a bulldozer out there. He ran over us right and left. Next year, we’ve got to hit him lower. That’s my fault. I’ve got to coach that better."

Despite all its problems on offense, especially early, Hawaii was never out of the game.

"We always thought we would win it. Even with 30 seconds left. We had three timeouts," Moniz said of UH’s last-gasp effort that ended when time ran out and the ball on the Hawaii 39.

Moniz entered the game with just one interception for the season, and none in 135 passes since the fourth quarter at Washington — four games ago. Then he threw two in a row and three in the game Friday, plus a lost fumble on a dropped snap.

"It’s just one of those things you can’t really explain," Moniz said. "Just one of those things. I think we were trying too hard. I don’t think it was (the bye week). We practiced really hard in the bye week."

"We just have to work hard to get better," Iosefa said.