By Lance Tominaga, ESPN Honolulu Web Editor.

Dam.

The University of Hawaii football team fell to the Oregon State Beavers last night, 45-27, in Corvallis, Oregon. The Rainbow Warriors dropped to 1-2 on the young season. Here are a few notes and takes from the game:

♦ Like their season opener at UCLA, the Rainbow Warriors dug themselves into an early hole. The Beavers drove the length of the field for a TD on the game’s first possession, and the Hawaii offense struggled with all-too familiar shortcomings, namely poor line play and dropped passes. The Warriors blinked, and suddenly OSU was up, 21-0. The best UH could do offensively was Chevan Cordeiro scrambling for decent gains. Cordeiro didn’t complete a pass attempt until the second quarter. OSU QB Chance Nolan, a redshirt sophomore, was 13-15 for 176 yards and a TD in the first half.

♦ As bad as the game started for Hawaii – the Beavers outgained UH, 219 yards to 36 in the opening quarter – the start of the second half was even worse. On the very first play, Cordeiro threw an ill-advised pass into a crowd, resulting in an interception. Then, on the very next play, OSU’s BJ Baylor took the handoff and burst up the middle for a 30-yard score. It was a deflating turn of events that, for Hawaii, dampened any hope for a comeback.

♦ Or did it? To their credit, UH kept battling. The Rainbow Warriors scored consecutive TDs later in the third quarter to pull within 11 points. Cordeiro showed leadership and grit in engineering the comeback effort. He finished the game with 366 passing yards and 48 passing yards. He threw for 2 TDs and had 2 picks.

♦ It was good to see UH utilizing creative ways to get multi-purpose back Calvin Turner more touches. The preseason All-Mountain West selection was used on short passes, runs and reverses. The versatile Senior was Hawaii’s most dynamic weapon, finishing the game with 106 receiving yards, 21 rushing yards, 64 return yards and 3 TDs.

♦ Hawaii has now last 19 of their last 20 non-conference road games dating back to the 2010 season. That lone win was against UMass in 2017.

♦ Adding insult to injury, the Rainbow Warriors’ Darius Muasau was ejected from the game after a targeting penalty in the third quarter. That means Hawaii’s All-Mountain West linebacker will have to sit out the first half of this week’s important conference opener against defending MW champion San Jose State.

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