Drops costly for Warriors

For the Hawaii football team, the video version was not much better than the live performance.

"We dropped too many balls," UH coach Norm Chow said the day after Saturday’s 33-14 road loss to Oregon State. "We were on the field too long defensively. Our third-down situation was atrocious. We need to get better at that."

But Chow said the rebuilt offensive line "did OK," and quarterback Taylor Graham "didn’t do as bad" as initially believed.

Graham was 10-for-20 for 95 yards and a touchdown. Four of his passes were dropped, including three on third down. The Rainbow Warriors did not commit a turnover.

"The thing that keeps me going is the effort from these guys," Chow said.

Still, the offense continued to struggle, with the exception of a nine-play, 80-yard drive capped by Graham’s 15-yard scoring pass to H-back Clark Evans.

The Warriors had six three-and-out drives for an aggregate 7 minutes, 11 seconds.

The Beavers opened the second half with a nine-play drive to take a 21-14 lead. The Warriors’ ensuing drive ended after 7 yards and a dropped pass.

"The margin of error when you play a good football team is so narrow, you can’t afford to do that," Chow said.

The Warriors converted one of 11 third-down plays.

Chow said he remains confident in newcomer receivers Vasquez Haynes (three catches for 21 yards), Marcus Kemp (two for 18) and Keith Kirkwood (one for seven).

"They just need to start making plays," Chow said. "I’m not giving up on them. We’ll see what happens."

Chow said Billy Ray Stutzmann, who was not included on the 66-player travel roster, is expected to have an expanded role in the Sept. 21 road game against Nevada. The Warriors have a bye this coming weekend.

Stutzmann did not participate in training camp after suffering a concussion in a one-car accident in July. Although he began to practice in the days leading to the Aug. 29 opener against USC, Stutzmann did not receive full clearance to play in games until last week.

"We’re going to take a look at him," said Chow, noting Stutzmann led the Warriors with 35 catches in 2012. "He has that experience. He’s (started) for two years. We’re going to give him a shot. We’re going to give him a chance."

Chow said it appears the offensive line will remain intact. Against OSU, the starters were left tackle Mike Milovale, left guard Kody Afusia, center Ben Clarke, right guard Frank Loyd Jr. and right tackle David Griffin. Griffin, who transferred from Mesa Community College in January, did not play against USC.

"Griffin played OK," Chow said. "Frank Loyd pass-protected well. He needs to run-block better. … I think we found ourselves an offensive line."

Chow said Dejon Allen, a freshman, will be used in the rotation at guard. Allen signed with UH in February 2012 but did not gain admission into UH until this past June. He rotated between offensive line and defensive tackle in training camp.

"We’re giving Dejon Allen a shot," Chow said. "Love him. We made a mistake not having him on offense to begin with."

Chow said he expects the Warriors to be fully healthy for the Nevada game. Running back Joey Iosefa, tight end Jordan Pu‘u-Robinson and defensive tackle Kennedy Tulimasealii did not play in the first two games.

Middle linebacker Brenden Daley, safety/long-snapper Kawika Borden and safety Trayvon Henderson were injured during the OSU game. Henderson suffered a concussion when he was hit out of bounds by OSU’s Jovan Stevenson.