Beating the Broncos isn’t something easily done. The Warriors had lost their previous six games to them, and they weren’t alone. No team in the country has had a better record in the past 10 years than Boise State (102-23). The Broncos are also Division I-A’s winningest program since 2000 (86-15).

Nevertheless, Hawaii outgained Boise State, 573-332. Brennan had another masterful game, completing 40-of-53 for 495 yards. Aside from Ian Johnson’s 50-yard touchdown run that opened the scoring, the Warrior defense held the Broncos to just 51 rushing yards on 34 carries. It was a complete victory.

And now they’ll have to do it again, this time against Washington, the Warriors’ first opponent from one of the so-called “BCS conferences.” But they won't get caught up in that.

“It doesn’t matter who we play,” said slotback Ryan Grice-Mullen, who caught Brennan’s 122nd touchdown pass in the first quarter, which broke the all-time major college football career record.  “It’s all about them coming to our house. We just have to play and protect our house.”

This sort of thing is nothing new for Hawaii, which has become all too familiar with invaders and critics.

“For the past three weeks, the so-called experts have picked us to lose,” Brennan said. “We are just going to have to get one more and set everybody straight.”

In the old days before the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance and BCS, the WAC champs would automatically advance to the Holiday Bowl. In 1984, an undefeated BYU team took that route to San Diego and captured the AP and UPI national championships after beating a Michigan team that lost five regular-season games. The Cougars did not play a single opponent ranked in the final AP poll that season.

Hawaii isn’t interested in that sort of charade. The Warriors would like a shot at the Sugar Bowl and an SEC opponent.

And really, who wouldn’t want to see that? Brennan’s fleet of receivers matched up against LSU’s or Tennessee’s defense would be something to behold. The Superdome’s synthetic turf might never be the same.

There’s no guarantee that a game pitting Hawaii against the SEC champion would end up being as good as last season’s classic Boise State-Oklahoma showdown in the Fiesta Bowl, but it would certainly be worth watching to see if it did.

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