Sports Watch
Sure enough, the 'Bows are 0-1, losing to the Eagles, 24-21, Saturday at Aloha Stadium. But who would have thought it would come down to a 42-yard field goal on the last play of the game?
Certainly not the 34,838 fans who stood and applauded the Rainbows after their valiant effort. It was nice to hear the cheering back in UH football.
The defeat, though, was a heart-breaker for the Rainbow players and coaching staff. The painful reality was that Boston College rallied for 11 points in the final 96 seconds of the game to avert college football's upset of the day.
Senior quarterback Glenn Freitas, who suffered through the team turmoil after back-to-back 3-8-1 and 4-8 seasons, called it the worst loss of his life because the 'Bows came oh, so close, only to lose.
"We came to win. Nobody believed us. Only our families, our fans, the players and coaches. We just let this one slip away," Freitas said.
"A loss is a loss. But this tells me that we can win," added linebacker Doug Rosevold, playing his first game for the 'Bows. "Today is a learning lesson. It tells who we are as a team and where we're at."
Neither did the defeat leave a good taste in the mouth of Fred vonAppen, who's also 0-1 as a head coach.
"We played courageously and well at times, but not consistently enough to win a football game against a quality opponent like Boston College," vonAppen said. "The name of the game is to win. And we didn't do that."
VONAPPEN found out a lot about the character of his team. But the overall disclosure didn't prove comforting.
The 'Bows are inexperienced and it showed in their performance, especially in the closing minutes of both the first and second halves.
Poor punt coverage led to a quick Boston College touchdown just before the half and a three-and-out that consumed only 25 seconds after the Eagles had tied the score gave them just enough time to get the ball back quickly to kick the winning field goal.
Too bad, too, since it deprived fans of the opportunity of seeing the NCAA's new tie-breaker format in action.
So it was a heart-breaker, not a tie-breaker.
The game was so close that there were a lot of "ifs" on which the game could have turned.
If Steve Laulu could have intercepted the pass he juggled in the end zone. If Al Hunter, who played an outstanding game, wasn't flagged for holding. If BC coach Dan Henning didn't decide to change quarterbacks. If this, if that.
VonAppen, though, doesn't believe in ifs.
THERE wouldn't have been any ifs had the Rainbows been able to run the football at two critical junctures in the fourth quarter: the time they were first-and-10 at BC's 47 with 6:42 left in the game and three-and-out at the end.
"We clearly have got to run the football better," vonAppen said. "You must be able to run the football effectively when they know you have to run it and you know you have to run it."
The inability of the Rainbows to do just that against the Eagles proved to be the difference.
"Had we been able to run the football then, we all might have been able to feel better today," vonAppen said. "It was a noble effort by the team. Now we have to move on."
After he reviews the game film with the team, the book will be officially closed on Boston College, vonAppen said.
Starting tomorrow, the Rainbows will be focusing on Saturday's opponent, Ohio University, and not dwell about the One That Got Away.