LOS ANGELES » After three years of holding a clipboard, what’s a few battle scars?

"It’s football," Hawaii quarterback Sean Schroeder said. "If you want to be a quarterback, you have to be tough."

Schroeder was hit early and often in the Warriors’ 49-10 loss, but he refused to stay down.

"I feel good," he said after the game.

Head coach Norm Chow said: "He’s a tough guy."

Schroeder earned a bachelor’s degree in three years at Duke, where he was a seldom-used backup quarterback. When Chow was hired as UH’s head coach in December, Schroeder began thinking about the transfer exemption in which college graduates can play at a second school without redshirting.

Schroeder was accepted into UH’s graduate school in July. He earned the starting job after the third practice of training camp.

Saturday’s game was the first one he started since his senior year in high school.

Schroeder struggled early.

"I think it was just jitters," Chow said. "Sean missed a couple of signals from the sideline that he never missed before."

But Chow said it was to be expected.

"It was the first game," Schroeder said. "If you’ve been watching college football all along, no matter where you play, the first game you’re going to have some jitters. I’m sure (the Trojans) had some jitters, too."

But Schroeder settled down, particularly after he absorbed his first hit.

"It was good to get that," Schroeder said. "It felt like I played in a football game. That’s why I came (to UH). I wanted to play. I’m happy to be with a great group of guys."

Schroeder was sacked five times and pressured numerous times. Both of his interceptions came when he was hit while throwing.

Still, Schroeder completed 24 of 39 passes for 208 yards. He scrambled away from pressure several times.

He was at his best in the second half, when he found receivers on underneath routes.

"We were clicking (in the third quarter)," Schroeder said. "We had a good mix of run and pass."

Chow said there were problems with the scheme, not the personnel, that led to protection problems.

"We’ll get those cleaned up," Chow said.

Schroeder said: "I’m proud of the offensive line. I’m proud of the whole team in how they battled. The score didn’t represent the effort we gave and the way we battled."