Has Boise State become the new Brigham Young for the University of Hawai'i football team?

Is it going to be the same old heartbreak just wrapped in a different shade of blue now?

Watching the Broncos' bit of 44-41 sorcery Saturday night at Aloha Stadium, it really seemed like it was becoming deja blue all over again. BSU instead of BYU.

I mean, when punter Kyle Stringer bobbled the snap, then took off for 13 yards and a first down to set up the tying fourth-quarter touchdown, it eerily recalled another dagger of a play 25 years earlier. That's when BYU quarterback Jim McMahon turned a bad snap into a left-footed, on-the-run punt that rolled to the UH 1-yard line in the Cougars' 1980 win.

Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky even had a little of the resourceful McMahon, the playmaker under pressure, in him, too.

When tackle Daryn Colledge began blocking kicks, it brought back visions of linebacker Kyle Morrell's "leap of faith" play in 1984.

Indeed, after five consecutive losses to coach Dan Hawkins and the Broncos, this series is beginning to have some definite, painful BYU overtones. When the Warriors, after a couple of blowouts, not only made a game of it but appeared on the verge of winning, Boise pulled the rug from out under. When UH's defense rose to the occasion, Boise just found another way to win.

We saw the script played out, what, a half-dozen times in BYU's beyond-galling 10 consecutive wins between 1978 and 1988? Coulda, woulda, shoulda was the operative phrase. We came to know only too well that any break could — and usually would — come back to bite UH until Garrett Gabriel led the turnaround in 1989.

Of course, UH is not alone in its mounting frustrations against Boise State. The rest of the Western Athletic Conference, 2-31 since the Broncos' entry in 2001, is pretty well vexed.

That, too, is part of the BYU parallel. BYU won or shared eight consecutive conference titles (1978-85) and 14 in 18 years.

What BYU's tight-fisted grip on the championship did was force the rest of the WAC to lift its performance and solidify its game. Or, "Play Up!" as the current WAC slogan would have it.

For UH, after what happened Saturday night, we know that catch-up campaign begins with special teams.

When Bob Wagner took over in 1987, an elderly fan tired of BYU's domination, implored the UH coach to end the Cougars' string before he died. You hope it won't reach the point where June Jones gets the same request.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.