After reaching the quarter mark of the regular season, the 2-1 Hawaii football team is embracing a good bye.

With no game this coming weekend, the Rainbow Warriors will use the extra time to recruit — seven assistant coaches remained on the mainland following the 56-23 loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl — and to prepare for the Mountain West opener against Wyoming on Sept. 23 in Laramie, Wyo.

Of the nonconference setback on Saturday, head coach Nick Rolovich said: “If we would have lost and played OK, I would feel better. I would say that (the Bruins) are a talented football team, but we helped them. And we were going to have to play much sounder to give them a game.”

The Warriors rarely pressured UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen, who threw a career-high five touchdown passes. The Bruins lone punt came after the suspense — and the starters — had departed.

“I think we’re a lot better on defense than we showed,” Rolovich said. “But that’s what you put on film. That’s what we are right now.”

Rolovich said the Warriors missed too many tackles.

“After watching the film, that wasn’t the normal effort our defense gave,” Rolovich said. “The amount of mental errors that we made had to be our highest this season, probably by a long shot. And they took advantage of it.”

While the offense amassed 515 yards, Rolovich noted, “We need to finish drives. We’re moving the ball good on the first drive, then fizzle out. We’re moving the ball good on the second drive, then fizzle out.”

Down 21-7 in the second quarter, the Warriors had a third-and-2 at their 49. But they were penalized for an offensive pass interference. Two plays and a 5-yard penalty later, the Warriors failed to gain a first down on a fake punt. The Bruins drove 48 yards on four plays to extend their lead to 28-7, then moved out of reach on cornerback Darnay Holmes’ interception return for a touchdown.

“The events that followed the offensive pass-interference call, that was pretty miserable,” Rolovich said. “That was probably the turning point.”

By design, the Warriors opened the playbook, introducing new formations and movements.

“We made an emphasis offensively to do more to take advantage of who we’ve got and what they’re good at,” Rolovich said. “I think we got more creative than we had been. … We felt we needed to be different to compete in this game.”

There was a residual effect. “The Mountain West will have more to prepare for,” Rolovich said.

The Warriors, who have missed four school days because of the first two road trips, will not practice the next couple of days. A “scout bowl” involving redshirts and developing players is tentatively scheduled for Thursday.