HAWAII HAS FUN IN THE SUN WHILE SHOCKING CAL  9/17/94

By RON KROICHICK
McClatchy News Service

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Maybe University of California football coach Keith
Gilbertson should have simply shielded his eyes. In retrospect, there was no
need to watch his team's ugly 21-7 loss to Hawaii on Saturday.

Gilbertson could have relied on his ears. Just listen to the crowd of 41,000
people at Memorial Stadium, enjoying a perfect late-summer day ... by
repeatedly booing the Bears. Then hear the loud, mock cheers ... when Cal
managed to put a punt into the air.

''This is a real sad day for us,'' quarterback Dave Barr said. ''I feel bad
for the fans, because we didn't put on a show. If I was a fan, I would have
been booing as loud as I could.''

Said Gilbertson: ''They told me there'd be days like this, but I didn't
believe them. That was a long afternoon.''

The Bears stumbled to 0-2 on this young and already-disheartening season.
They have lost twice to middle-of-the-road teams from the Western Athletic
Conference, first San Diego State and now Hawaii.

This time, Cal withered under the pressure of the Rainbows' special-teams
play. Hawaii blocked two punts, rushing Ryan Longwell with all the fury of
giant waves crashing into Waikiki Beach. The Rainbows returned both blocks
for touchdowns.

So, in reality, Cal's defense played superbly. Even without all-world
linebacker Jerrott Willard, who missed the game because of a sore knee, the
defense allowed Hawaii only one late touchdown. It did not matter, because
Cal's offense sputtered each time it spotted the end zone on the horizon.

''I still think we've got some talent,'' offensive coordinator Denny Schuler
said. ''The running game's not where we want it to be. Dave's not as crisp as
he needs to be. And there are some plays I'd like to call over, no
question.''

Or, as Gilbertson said, ''To say we're struggling on offense would be an
understatement of mass proportions.''

Consider the definitive sequence of Saturday's game. Barr drops back to pass
... Barr cannot find an open receiver ... Barr tries to scramble ... Barr
eats some artificial turf.

Hawaii's defense sacked him eight times, mostly because Cal receivers were
unable to shake free down field. The Bears pushed across one first-quarter
touchdown, never to surface on the scoreboard again.

Maybe it's inexperience. Or maybe this Cal edition is simply not as good as
last year's 9-4 team. Barr could find solace only in UCLA's 0-2 start last
season (the Bruins went to the Rose Bowl) and Cal's four-game losing streak
in the middle of '93 (the Bears went on to win the Alamo Bowl).

''I told the team I know everyone's frustrated,'' Gilbertson said. ''I told
them it can't get much worse. If you hit bottom, maybe you bounce and go the
other way.''

The Bears first made contact with bottom early in the second quarter, when
Hawaii's Matthew Harding came from the outside and blocked Longwell's punt.
Khary Williams corralled the football and romped 20 yards into the end zone.

Then, after Cal's first possession of the second half stalled, Robby Blakeney
came up the middle and blocked Longwell's punt. This time, Harding grabbed
the ball and waltzed home, putting Hawaii ahead 14-7.

Rainbows quarterback Rodney Glover set up his team's final touchdown with an
impromptu, 54-yard scramble. By that point, Hawaii had already sent Cal
reeling into special-teams hell.

''We just couldn't figure out where they were coming from,'' Longwell said.
''I could feel the heat on the first one. There were three or four guys
around me.''

And now the Bears inch ever so tentatively toward the truly meaningful
portion of their schedule. Cal opens Pacific-10 Conference play next
Saturday, when old friend Bruce Snyder leads Arizona State into Memorial
Stadium.

The Bears figured to take a 2-0 record into that game. Instead, they're 0-2
and unsure exactly how it happened.

''We can't get any worse than we've been,'' running back Reynard Rutherford
said. ''It's unbelievable to me. I'm still speechless.''

Or, as Barr so delicately said, ''The only positive I see is no one died in
the game.''