BOISE, Idaho — For the University of Hawai'i football team, it wasn't just one thing, it was another ... and another ... and another ...

All of the mistakes and missed opportunities added up to a 41-34 loss to 25th-ranked Boise State before a capacity crowd of 30,642 at Bronco Stadium.

And in the somber postgame locker room, it was the Warriors who were as blue as the artificial surface.

"This really hurts, and it's not going to stop hurting until we win again," UH free safety Leonard Peters said.

The Warriors' fingerprints were all over their second loss — both on the road — in three games this season. It was the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Malfunctions on a field-goal attempt and two point-after tries cost the Warriors a potential five points — seven, if the tab includes Boise State parlaying one of the botched PATs into two points.

The Warriors also turned the ball over three times, dropped two passes in the end zone and went zip-for-two on replay decisions.

"We just have a real bad tendency to do that to ourselves, especially in games on the road," said UH quarterback Colt Brennan, who completed 25 of 36 passes for 388 yards and five touchdowns.

"We put ourselves in such a hole. It kills us. The weird thing is, Boise State doesn't do that. They're so sound in what they do. They don't make mistakes, and we do, and that's why we were playing catch-up the entire game."

And yet, the Warriors remained in contention until the final minute. They closed to 41-34 on Brennan's 8-yard pass to Jason Rivers and Daniel Kelly's point-after kick with 2:59 remaining.

But the Warriors failed to secure the ensuing on-sides kick. The Broncos then advanced to the UH 44, where they faced a fourth-and-1 situation with 1:05 to play.

Ian Johnson, a tailback playing on a strained right knee, took a handoff, absorbed a shot from linebacker C.J. Allen-Jones in the backfield and then scooted for the final 16 of his 178 rushing yards.

During the preceding timeout, Johnson recalled, "I looked into the eyes of my teammates, and it was as if they were saying, 'this is one play. We've been here for how long. Put everything into it. Don't worry about your aches and pains.' "

Johnson said he saw Allen-Jones approaching, but "I didn't care. I gave him everything I had, and he couldn't take it."

Allen-Jones said: "I wish I could have come down at a better angle. I couldn't time it. We knew that would be the last big play."

After that, the unbeaten Broncos ran out the clock for their fourth victory of the season. The Warriors, meanwhile, were left to agonize over the what-if scenarios on the 6 1/2-hour charter flight to Honolulu.

Most troubling is the unexpected short-circuiting of the snap-to-hold connection. UH entered without a bad snap on placekicks since the middle of last season, when Jake Ingram was installed as long-snapper.

With UH trailing 15-0, holder Kurt Milne could not place a bad snap on a 22-yard field-goal attempt, and instead threw incomplete on an improvised play.

After Rivers caught the first of his three scoring passes to close UH to 15-6, Milne could not secure a high snap. He retrieved the football, but when he tried to fall down, he was grabbed by a Bronco. The football was knocked free, and BSU's Orlando Scandrick picked it up and raced 88 yards for a two-point conversion. In last year's game, Scandrick scored on returns of a blocked field goal and PAT.

"It wasn't deja vu, it was a lot of practice," Scandrick said. "We work every day on that, and they were struggling in the kicking game, obviously. Maybe they were a little overly concerned, I think, and kind of panicked."

After cutting the deficit to 34-27 in the fourth quarter, another bad snap on a PAT attempt led to kicker Daniel Kelly throwing incomplete.

"I could have handled all of (the snaps)," Milne said. "I feel really bad for my team. It's pretty much inexcusable. I don't know what's going on. I'm having terrible luck."

"I thank him for saying that," Ingram said, "but there shouldn't even be a question of whether (the snap) is handled or not. I snap good in practice. I wasn't nervous when I was out there. I felt the same as I always do."

Ingram did not blame his problems on Boise's thin air, which can demoisturize his grip.

"I don't want to make any excuses," said Ingram, fighting back emotion. "I feel so bad. I feel I let my team down and my coaches down. I apologize. I'll be back. I'll be 100 percent."

But Peters, one of the tri-captains, said: "There were a lot of mistakes in the game, but we talked about it, and we don't point fingers. We win as a team and we lose as a team."

A significant turning point came in the middle of the fourth quarter, with UH trailing 34-27. On first down at the BSU 48, Brennan scrambled to his right, and while being pulled down by linebacker Colt Brooks, tried to make a pass but lost his grip on the football. Boise State recovered, and UH's Jones challenged the call.

The replay official reaffirmed the fumble, ruling that Brennan's right hand was not forward enough to be considered an incomplete pass. The official also ruled that Brennan's knee was not down before the fumble.

"I was trying to get rid of it, and it just magically came out of my hand," Brennan said. "Unfortunately, it didn't come out right here (in front of his body). It came out back here (behind his head). The call could go either way. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way."

On Boise State's next possession, Johnson fell awkwardly while attempting a cutback run, and the official initially ruled he had fumbled. But upon video review, it was determined Johnson's left knee had touched the ground — ending the play — before he fumbled.

"I slipped and my elbow hit the turf and the ball flew out," Johnson said. "I messed up my (right) knee earlier in the game, and I was trying not to make it worse. I was more worried about my knee, about tearing something, than I was about the ball. But, yeah, I was down. I was 100 percent down."

Four plays later, Jared Zabransky threw to tight end Derek Schouman, whose second touchdown made it 41-27.

"I get to do the sneaky plays," said Schouman, noting UH focused on Johnson and the wideouts. "That's part of being a tight end. You block mainly, and when you get your chances, hopefully you can capitalize on them. I'm grateful for the opportunities."

For the Warriors, each of their breaks came with flaws. Karl Noa, a converted defensive end, had a career-high 10 tackles. But he replaced starting left outside linebacker Tyson Kafentzis, who suffered a sprained right ankle during warmups.

Davone Bess juked past safety Gerald Alexander for a big gain. But Alexander made a U-turn, raced downfield and punched the football away from Bess.

And while the Warriors made key defensive plays, they could not contain the Broncos, who rolled up 515 yards in offense.

"They deserved to win," UH defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said. "They kicked our butt. They beat us everywhere, but mostly they kicked our butt."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.