PROVO, Utah >> As Hawaii quarterback Sean Schroeder tried to stand following an after-the-pass hit, he was inadvertently kneed by a Brigham Young linebacker attempting a chest-bump celebration with a teammate.

And that was the symbolism of the Warriors’ 47-0 blowout loss to the Cougars: Some nights, it is easy to be kicked while down.

“It was brutal,” co-captain Mike Edwards said of the Warriors’ first shutout loss since 1998, a span of 182 games.

In three matchups against FBS opponents this season, the Warriors (1-3) have been outscored by a combined 165-34.

Coach Norm Chow’s fourth return to Provo, where he was a BYU coach for 27 years, was marred by an offense that managed 149 yards and nine first downs, and a defense that could not contain two understudies.

Taysom Hill, a 22-year-old freshman quarterback, made his first NCAA start, in place of ailing Riley Nelson (lower-back strain). Jamaal Williams was summoned after starting running back Michael Alisa suffered an elbow injury.

Hill rushed for 143 yards, including a 68-yard dash through the heart of the UH defense, and passed for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

In 15 carries, Williams produced 155 yards and two touchdowns.

“I didn’t know that Mike was really injured,” Williams said. “So when they told me, I knew I had to step up. Whether that meant carrying the ball or blocking for Taysom, I had to step up.”

In all, the Cougars, who struggled offensively in the past two games, rushed for 396 yards — a total that Kaumeyer rounded up to disaster.

“To give up 400 yards rushing means we didn’t give our offense any chance,” Kaumeyer said. “That’s inexcusable. We’ve got to get that thing fixed.”

Adding injury to insult, the Warriors were hit hard on the defensive line. Defensive tackles Geordon Hanohano and Siasau Matagiese suffered apparent neck injuries in the first quarter. X-rays were negative. Defensive end Marcus Malepeai, who moved from end to defensive tackle, left with a sprained right knee.

On offense, the Warriors’ best run-blocker, right guard Dave Lefotu, suffered an arm injury. Right tackle Sean Shigematsu left with an undisclosed injury. Running back Joey Iosefa missed his second consecutive game after aggravating a sprained ankle.

“But that’s not an excuse,” Chow said. “The rest of us have to get playing.”

Even before the injuries, Chow noted, the Warriors appeared to be emotionally flat.

“It’s a little bit of a concern,” Chow said. “Why? I’ll have to figure that out. … We talked about that in the locker room. That’s not an excuse.”

Chow said the Warriors practiced for the possibility of facing Hill, who had committed to Stanford before going on a church mission. Instead, Hill enrolled at BYU in January.

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said Nelson would retain the starting job if healthy. But Hill took most of the first-team reps this week.

“(Nelson) was hurt this week,” Mendenhall said. “He has been the whole week, so we made the decision to sit him out.”

Hill is best on rollouts and scrambles. Defenses cannot afford to overload the tackle box because receivers Cody Hoffman and Ross Apo are threats. Williams, who is lightning to Alisa’s thunder, is another speedy option for Hill.

UH usually plays man-press coverages with the corners. But to distract Hill, the Warriors sometimes played zone in the secondary. It didn’t matter. Even when Hill ran into a blitz, he managed to scramble away.

“He did some really good things,” Kaumeyer said of Hill. “He was getting into the flow.”

Kaumeyer’s schemes require blitzers to set a frenetic tempo.

“We’re starting way too slow,” Kaumeyer said. “We have to come out with the attitude of attacking faster. Again, we were waiting for things to happen instead of attacking. BYU is a good team. They know what they’re doing. Give them some avenues, and they’ll take them.”

The Warriors tried different tactics to slow the Cougars. Little worked. The Cougars rolled up 540 yards, an average of 6.9 yards per play. They controlled the ball for nearly 36 minutes.
“It was not a good night for tackling,” Kaumeyer said. “If you can’t tackle and get guys down, it doesn’t matter what the scheme is.”

The Cougars’ defense, meanwhile, did not miss many tackles or opportunities. The Cougars forced two fumbles on sacks, leading to two touchdowns.

The Warriors had difficulty running consistently. Except for a 30-yard completion to Billy Ray Stutzmann, the passing wasn’t much better. Sean Schroeder was 12-for-27 for 108 yards while trying to elude linebackers Brandon Ogletree and Kyle Van Noy.

“I guess it didn’t come together for us,” Stutzmann said. “It was a long night. We started out slow, and it kept going downhill from there. It was a rough night.”

The Warriors were 1-for-12 on third-down conversions.

Their first snap in BYU territory was with 13:15 left in the third quarter, on their 30th play of the game.

“They executed and we didn’t,”  Schroeder said. “That’s the name of the game. We’re not going to make excuses. We’re not going to hold our heads down. We’re going to keep marching on. That’s all we can do. … We’re going to put all of our waking hours into this thing. It’s a long season ahead of us. We still have a lot to play for.”

Click here to enlarge graphic.