Same old song

SAN DIEGO » The University of Hawaii marching band played familiar songs during Saturday’s game against San Diego State.

The UH football team also played what has become a familiar tune — this time a 52-14 loss to the Aztecs.

The Warriors suffered their third consecutive blowout, increasing the aggregate scores in those games to 168-38.

And, for the third game in a row, the Warriors had no answer to a quarterback whose feats were rooted in his feet.

Quarterback Ryan Katz, an Oregon State graduate who transferred to SDSU this spring, razzled with 190 passing yards and two scoring throws, and dazzled with touchdown runs of 27, 34 and 9 yards.

"We knew all about him," UH coach Norm Chow said. "We tried to recruit him."

Katz took advantage of an NCAA rule that allows a graduate student to transfer between FBS schools without redshirting. The Warriors could not land Katz in January and they had difficulty getting him on Saturday.

Katz entered averaging 9.55 yards on non-sack scrambles. Against UH, on non-sack scrambles or designed runs, Katz gained 74 yards on seven carries.

"I want to be a passer first, but (offensive coordinator Andy) Ludwig, he dials those plays up, and I’m going to run them," Katz said. "I"m going to run them to the best of my ability. It is fun, though."

For the Warriors (1-4, 0-2 Mountain West), it wasn’t one thing. It also was several others.

"You’re not going to win turning the ball over four times and playing a team that doesn’t turn it over," Chow said, adding the Warriors made "crazy, crazy mistakes."

The Warriors, in fact, lost three fumbles that were parlayed into two touchdowns and a field goal. Chow considered a roughing-the-punter penalty as the fourth turnover.

"We fumbled snaps," Chow said. "We snapped the ball on the wrong cadence. I mean, (on defense), we had guys in the wrong position. I keep thinking we’re simplified, and we have to simplify even more. Simplify. Simplify. I thought we did that last week. Obviously, we didn’t do that."

The Warriors were assessed rare penalties for an illegal snap and attempting to vault a wedge blocker on an Aztecs punt attempt. Chow was particularly peeved at that last infraction, which was covered in a rules orientation during training camp.

This was the second consecutive road trip for the Warriors, who played at Brigham Young on Sept. 28. The Warriors returned home, practiced for five days on the Manoa campus and arrived in San Diego on Friday night.

They shuffled the lineup — freshman linebackers Benneton "Benny" Fonua and Jerrol Garcia-Williams started; Art Laurel moved to weakside linebacker, and John Hardy-Tuliau moved to cornerback — and simplified the defensive schemes. On offense, the Warriors practiced a quick-hitting attack on runs and passes.

"We thought we were ready," Chow said. "We thought we were prepared. I’m searching for answers just like everybody else."

SDSU coach Rocky Long publicly criticized his pass defense, which had been torched for more than 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns in the previous three games. The Warriors sought to take advantage, opening with a spread attack. But then the Aztecs (2-3, 1-1), whose base is a 3-3-5 scheme, brought a fourth defender to the line and launched an all-points blitz.

That forced the Warriors to add blockers and, in turn, shift back to a running attack. That would have been a practical backup plan if not for self-inflicted mistakes.

Down 7-0, Mike Edwards fielded a kickoff a yard deep in the end zone. He tried to make a spin move, but was struck by David Lamar and then by Stan Sedberry, before fumbling. The Aztecs recovered at the UH 18, eventually leading to Adam Muema’s 1-yard scoring run.

"I was trying to make a play for my team," Edwards said. "Sometimes it’s best to go down. … I did something I never do. I was going backward and somebody came from behind and knocked the ball loose. It usually doesn’t happen to me. You can bet your bottom dollar it won’t happen again this season."

A sequence late in the second quarter proved to be a 14-point turnaround. Trailing 28-7, UH’s Sean Schroeder threw a fourth-down pass to slotback Miah Ostrowski, who was open at the 5. But Ostrowski failed to secure what could have been a touchdown.

"It slipped out of my left hand and hit me on the face mask," Ostrowski said. "It was an easy catch, and it just slipped when I tried to catch it. I should have caught it. … It’s frustrating."

The Aztecs’ ensuing drive stalled, and they punted. Taking over at their 20, the Warriors set up their hurry-up offense. Schroeder passed to Billy Ray Stutzmann, who made the catch, took two strides and fumbled when he was hit by cornerback Leon McFadden. Derek Largent recovered at the UH 29. Four plays later, Katz, with his receivers enveloped by defensive backs and linebackers, scrambled 9 yards to the end zone. Instead of closing to 14 points, the Warriors had a 28-point deficit at the intermission.

"I told them at halftime, I wanted to see how tough we were, how tough men we are," Chow said.

Will Gregory scored on a 3-yard run to cap the Warriors’ nine-play, 78-yard drive to open the third quarter.

"We came out, we had a nice drive, and then things went haywire again," Chow said.

When the Warriors crammed the tackle box, Katz would throw deep, despite being without speedy Colin Lockett and with Ezell Ruffin playing with a fractured hand. When the Warriors went with a soft coverage, Katz would throw underneath or scramble.

"A lot of times in those situations, the quarterback is unaccounted for," Hawaii defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer said.

Now the Warriors will do an accounting of their situation. Laurel suffered a knee injury in the first half. He might undergo an MRI today. He was walking without crutches after the game. Hardy-Tuliau might have suffered a mild concussion. He was held out for what he termed "precautionary reasons."

Chow said there might be some personnel moves this week. But he said Schroeder will remain as the starter.

"I have faith in all of the coaches and I have faith in all of my teammates," Schroeder said. "I can tell you one thing: I’m working my butt off. I’m not getting discouraged. I’m playing as hard as I can and giving it the best effort I can. We can all improve. That’s what I hope to do next week."