They played “Happy Birthday” over the Aloha Stadium sound system Saturday afternoon but the good feelings didn’t even make it through the first quarter for University of Hawaii football coach Todd Graham.
On a day when Graham’s 56th birthday was to be observed, San Jose State quickly took over the party — and the game — landing a 21-0 first-quarter sucker punch en route to a 35-24 victory.
“That was a very disappointing football game,” Graham said dourly afterward. “We did a poor job of getting the guys ready. We absolutely played the worst that we have played this entire season defensively in the first quarter.”
One week after Graham termed UH’s victory over previously unbeaten Nevada “a giant step forward,” he acknowledged the loss to the Mountain West Conference-leading 5-0 Spartans as, “a giant step backward.”
The startling regression dropped the Warriors to 3-4 and, with just one game remaining in this truncated eight-game regular season — COVID-19 willing, of course — that means the best they can now do is a .500 record for his inaugural campaign at UH.
The hopes for a third consecutive winning season disappeared in a burst of explosive plays by the Spartans who managed seven snaps of 20 yards or more, six of them coming in the telltale first half where the search for elite discipline was most lacking.
>> PHOTOS: San Jose State beats Hawaii
A UH offense struggling to attain a sense of rhythm, meanwhile, managed but two.
San Jose State’s so-called “chunk” plays, including two strikes of 50 yards or more, either directly scored or set up four of the Spartans’ five touchdowns. “They ran the ball all over us, simple running plays nothing complex,” Graham said. “We made critical errors like we haven’t made all year,” he added.
“I think they are probably the best team that we have played so far but they’re not that good,” Graham said. “We made them look a lot better because we spotted them 21 points in the first quarter.”
But, then, digging an early hole has been something of a trademark for Hawaii this season, being outscored 72-17 in the first quarter and 118-61 in first halves.
At times the Warriors, who were officially the “visitors” in this one, seemed so lethargic you’d have thought they had traveled here instead of San Jose State, the team that COVID-19 restrictions in Santa Clara County forced to get on a plane.
Just 5 minutes and 52 seconds this one quickly took on the look of a long day for the ’Bows who had already exhausted two timeouts. With 5 minutes, 14 seconds remaining in the third quarter UH had used up all of its timeouts. Graham would say later that one timeout was called because UH only had 10 men on the field. Another was wasted due to having 12.
The blahs extended to a UH offense that punted on its first four possessions and seven times overall. Fittingly some of Graham’s most laudatory comments were reserved for Adam Stack, who averaged 44.8 yards per punt.
Even when the Warriors managed a string of 17 unanswered points to close to 21-17 in the third quarter, they stunted their comebacks hopes by giving up big plays, and making costly errors. In the space of three minutes in the fourth quarter, UH was cited for three penalties, including an illegal formation during an onside kick attempt.
As time expired, the Spartans still had one last big run left in them, dashing to the south end zone and hurdling the advertising panels to triumphantly take possession of the Dick Tomey Legacy Trophy and then posing for photos.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
