Pot of Gold Does Not Belong to Rainbows : Aloha Bowl: Hawaii is in a giving mood as Michigan State makes most of eight turnovers in 33-13 victory.

Michigan State is a tough enough opponent for a team playing its best football. In Monday’s Aloha Bowl, Hawaii learned the hard way it’s impossible to stay with the Spartans when you make mistakes.

The 25th-ranked Rainbows (9-3-1) committed eight turnovers and were outmuscled by No. 22 Michigan State (8-4), 33-13.

“If you turn the ball over as many times as we did, it’s difficult to win,” said Hawaii Coach Bob Wagner, who called the Rainbows’ first bowl appearance “very frustrating and very disappointing.”

“They took better care of the ball than we did,” Wagner said.

Blake Ezor rushed for an Aloha Bowl record 179 yards and scored three touchdowns.

Ezor’s three touchdowns gave him 19 for the season, breaking the school’s season record of 18 set by Eric Allen in 1971. He was named the bowl’s most valuable player.

“Pound for pound he’s the toughest kid I ever met,” said Michigan State Coach George Perles.

“The game was a real high, but I’m sorry it’s over,” said Ezor, a senior who played his last game for the Spartans.

The Rainbows fumbled seven times, losing four, breaking the Aloha Bowl fumble record of five set by North Carolina in 1986. Hawaii committed turnovers on its first six drives of the game.

“I’m real upset with myself. I did what I didn’t want to do,” said Hawaii quarterback Garrett Gabriel, who was in on two muffed option pitches in the first quarter. “The first two were my fault--they were just bad pitches.”

Defensive end Mark Vanderbeek recovered three fumbles for Michigan State. Linebacker Carlos Jenkins recovered a fumble, intercepted a pass and blocked an extra-point kick for the Spartans.

Gabriel completed 19 of 31 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns. But he also threw three interceptions, and backup quarterback Ken Niumatalolo had one. Michigan State’s Dan Enos was intercepted twice. The total of six interceptions broke the bowl record of three set in 1988 by Washington State and Houston.

For the second consecutive year, the Christmas Day game was marred by a bench-clearing brawl. It came with 8:06 left in the game when Hawaii attempted an on-side kick which failed. Coaches and officials struggled for more than a minute to restore order.

Gabriel completed four passes to Chris Roscoe as the Rainbows drove for a touchdown on their first possession of the third quarter. Gabriel hit Roscoe from 11 yards out on a touchdown pass with 9:45 left in the quarter.

All-American linebacker Percy Snow intercepted Gabriel on Hawaii’s final drive of game. He had nine tackles and blocked a pass.