Just hold it together.

That was what the Hawaii defense did for much of the 30-13 season-opening loss against No. 24 USC on Thursday night at Aloha Stadium, and likely what it will be called upon to do for the rest of 2013 while a young UH offense cuts its teeth.

Two big first-half stops — a goal-line stand resulting in a USC field goal and a safety by Art Laurel on Trojans quarterback Cody Kessler — helped stake the Rainbow Warriors to a 5-3 lead in the middle of the second quarter before the Trojans scored 17 unanswered going into halftime.

UH got USC to go three and out on its first three possessions of the second half — including two guided by their second quarterback, Max Wittek — but the Warriors could not muster the points to catch up.

The UH defenders, a unit with eight returning starters, were as upbeat as could be expected afterward. A few who spoke could sense that yes, the mantle of leadership — at least for now — was on their shoulders.

"I feel like, the 11 guys who are out there, we have to lead everybody at all times," said senior linebacker Brenden Daley, who had a game-high 10 tackles, including four for loss, and forced a fumble. "Whoever the 11 is — senior, freshman — we just have to lead for the whole game."

Vaunted Trojans wide receiver Marqise Lee was held in check early, but eventually got his — eight catches for 104 yards. Tre Madden was at times difficult to corral on the ground, with 109 yards on 18 carries.

But one stat UH could hang its hat on: USC was held to 3-for-14 conversions on third down.

"The second year, we have a lot of returners, they knew what we wanted to get done," defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer said. "Now these guys are starting to get confidence. Playing hard. We feel good about wrapping up. We have to be a little bit better tacklers than we were tonight. But for the most part we put some pressure on the quarterback and made him do some things (he didn’t want to).

"Game-plan wise, we followed it. We got … two turnovers and wish we could have got a couple more."

Sophomore safety Marrell Jackson recorded his first career interception in the second quarter.

Wittek guided the Trojans down to the UH 3 to open the fourth quarter, but the D held and USC settled for a 22-yard field goal, the second time UH stood firm in the final few yards. Daley was key the first time, with a booming tackle for loss on Madden.

Tavita Woodard broke up two Kessler passes on the same sequence in the second quarter, giving UH an unfulfilled chance to extend its early lead.

"We were on point," Woodard said. "We were kind of confident going into this game. We knew we would get that amount of three and outs and we just believed and got the job done. … We kind of thought we could take control of the game early and get at them later on in the game. But we’re going to bounce back next week."