FORT COLLINS, Colo. » In Hughes Stadium, the exit door of the visiting team’s locker room opens to a long tunnel.

There are lights at both ends of the tunnel, although — for one cold night — that mattered little to UH quarterback Sean Schroeder.

"I take full responsibility for this loss," Schroeder said following Colorado State’s 42-27 victory on Saturday night.

Schroeder was 19-for-46 for 200 yards, including an 8-yard scoring strike to Chris Gant in the first quarter. But Schroeder was sacked four times and intercepted thrice, with two parlayed into touchdown returns of 76 yards and 40 yards. His final pass was stolen in the end zone.

"I know Coach (Norm Chow) is going to tell you guys — the media — that it’s a team thing, and it is a team thing," Schroeder said. "But I honestly feel I let my team down tonight, and I don’t want that to happen again. I need to make more plays."

The Warriors trailed 28-27 in the fourth quarter when Schroeder tried to needle a pass to the left side. CSU freshman DeAndre Elliott intercepted at the 24 and raced the other way to widen the Rams’ advantage to eight points.

"I checked the play," Schroeder said. "It was a bad check. It was my fault. I take full responsibility."

Later, Jasen Oden, another freshman, intercepted Schroeder and sprinted 40 yards to end the suspense.

Chow reaffirmed his support of Schroeder, a Duke graduate who joined the Warriors in July. But Chow said: "He needs to know when to throw it in there; needs to know when to back off."

But Chow also shared the blame, insisting he probably made some calls he should not have made.

Schroeder said the temperature (mid-30s in the second half) and Fort Collins’ thin air (elevation 4,984 feet) were not factors.

Asked if the cold weather bothered his grip, Schroeder said: "No, nothing like that. It was a great night for football."

The problem, he said, is "I turned the ball over in key situations. To be a big-time playmaker, you’ve got to make those plays, and I didn’t do that tonight."

Schroeder is one of the Warriors’ four co-captains. Chow said a team’s quarterback is in a leadership position.

"That’s what a quarterback is supposed to be," Chow said.

Chow said he has no plans to change quarterbacks.

Schroeder patiently answered questions from reporters. When pressed, he went over the thought process of specific plays.

"We have to stay the course," Schroeder said. "We have to trust one another. We have to trust the coaches and keep moving forward. That’s all we can do."