For most of this season the third quarter has been the University of Hawai'i football team's personal Bermuda Triangle, a place where the Warriors' hopes disappeared on a weekly basis.

Through six consecutive losses, it was, more often than not, where the offense crashed with a thud, the defense spiraled to defeat and special teams could implode. And where they had been outscored 66-2 by major college opposition.

Last night, however, it was where the Warriors summoned a big-play resilience to put away Utah State and end the second longest single-season losing streak in school history with a 49-36 victory.

If the 3-6 Warriors (1-5 WAC) are somehow able to effect a U-turn in fortunes to reach the postseason — and it would require winning all four remaining games to become bowl eligible — let it be remembered that it started in, of all places, the third quarter last night.

At the very least, conquering their third-quarter curse kept their flickering Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl hopes alive for another week.

That's where an Aloha Stadium gathering of 25,883, conditioned to expect the worst this season, saw these Warriors rise up and perform at their best since a Sept 12 rout of Washington State and end a 45-day victory drought.

Never mind that they were out-scored 14-7 in the period, it was the plays they made — the kind that had eluded them for so long — to seize control of a game that had threatened to squirt away from them again.

If that doesn't sound like much, then please remember the Warriors hadn't scored an offensive point against a major college foe there this season. (UH had 10 points against Central Arkansas and a two-point safety against Boise State).

"It (the third quarter) has been a nemesis all year," said associate coach Rich Miano.

A 21-point second quarter had given UH a commanding 35-7 halftime lead. Or, what had seemed like one until the third quarter threatened to unravel as if on maddening cue.

Suddenly, after two quick Aggie touchdowns, UH was hanging on to a 35-21 lead that became more precarious by the moment after safety Walter McClenton intercepted a Bryant Moniz pass and retuned it 27 yards to the UH 6-yard line.

At that point it looked like deja vu of the worst kind.

But linebacker Corey Paredes made two big plays, stopping running back Robert Turbin for two yards on first down and, then, sacking quarterback Diondre Borel for a 6-yard loss on second down. "We knew it was time to make some plays," Paredes said. "We had been hurt there (the third quarter) before."

After Aggie kicker Chris Ulinski missed wide-left on a 27-yard field-goal attempt, Moniz led the offense on the biggest march of the season, a six-play, 80-yard drive that accounted for the only offensive points scored in the third quarter against a major college opponent this season.

Suddenly, UH had managed a 10-14 point turnaround in the game and a bigger change in its fortunes.

"It should have been a seven-point game (in the third quarter)," USU Coach Gary Andersen said. "We couldn't take advantage of opportunities."

A feeling UH knew all too well — until last night, when it counted most.