RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Myron Newberry butted heads with Idaho quarterback Steven Wichman during the third quarter last night.

Idaho feels Patek’s pain

Hawaii strong safety Jake Patek went into last night's game with a migraine headache.

It didn't stop him from doling out some pain.

Patek's third quarter hit on Idaho quarterback Steve Wichman was one of the biggest plays of UH's 68-10 rout of the Vandals.

It was at the end of a scramble for a first down in Hawaii territory as Idaho was trying to get back into the game.

Patek's perfectly timed hit caused a fumble, which UH's Micah Lau recovered, and it knocked Wichman out of the game.

"The quarterback, is he OK? Patek put a pretty good lick on him," Warriors defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said. "We put him on his back three other times and he had a hard time getting up. It has a cumulative effect."

Wichman suffered sore ribs and was relieved by Brian Nooy. The Vandals did not score again.

Patek was also in on three other tackles despite intense pain from the headache.

"This whole game I couldn't see very well. ... This is probably the first one I got in a year," Patek said. "I don't know what it's from, allergies or whatever, but I have no clue. It came in warm-ups. You know when you look up at the lights, you look down and close your eyes. Everything I look at has a little bright streak."

Injury report: Defensive end Keala Watson was helped off the field after he was down for about 5 minutes with what appeared to be a left knee injury late in the third quarter.

The sophomore from Nanakuli was optimistic with the early diagnosis.

"It's cartilage, so it might not be so bad," he said.

He was scheduled to undergo an MRI today.

Watson was replaced by Renolds Fruean, who re-injured an ankle he'd sprained earlier this season two plays after Watson left the field.

Watson had started in place of Ikaika Alama-Francis, who did not practice during the week due to back spasms. Alama-Francis could have played if necessary, defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said.

Coach June Jones said he's concerned.

"I'm a little worried about Keala and Renolds," he said.

Fresh leg: Freshman kicker Briton Forester saw the first action of his Hawaii career last night, subbing for former starter Dan Kelly.

Forester was 8-for-9 on extra-point attempts.

"They've talked about it during the week, but I just found out I was going to be doing the PATs and field goals right before the game," Forester said.

On his missed attempt, "I pulled my head up, tried to look at the ball," he said.

Forester said he was a little nervous, but had a great time.

"I've been looking forward to getting in the game for a while," he said.

For his part, Kelly probably could have used the rest. In the blowout, he kicked off 11 times.

Luke warm: Idaho tight end Luke Smith-Anderson had his best game as a collegian last night, catching five passes for 88 yards.

A big target at 6-foot-5, 253 yards, Smith-Anderson had success finding some open real estate in the Hawaii secondary, and was one of the few bright spots for the visitors.

His biggest play was a fingertip catch with outstretched arms of a Wichman pass for a 38-yard gain down the left sideline to the Hawaii 10.

But the Vandals, who could have cut their second-quarter deficit to seven with a touchdown, settled for Tino Amancio's 26-yard field goal to make it 21-10.

Still the 1: Ryan Grice-Mullins returned from a four-game absence due to a sprained ankle to start last night's game and caught five passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns.

Grice-Mullins, who led UH in receptions last season and was averaging better than 86 yards per game prior to the injury, hadn't played since turning his ankle against Boise State.

"It feels great to be back; words can't even explain it," Grice-Mullins said. "It felt good watching the boys win, but it feels better being a contributor."

The sophomore had a relatively quiet first half and broke through after the break. On UH's fifth play of the half, Grice-Mullins caught a quick out from Colt Brennan, fought his momentum to keep his feet inbounds, then raced down the sideline for a 34-yard score.

He took a swing pass for an 18-yard score in the fourth quarter that put UH ahead 55-10.

Grice-Mullins stepped in for Ross Dickerson, who had been starting in the slot and insisted the sophomore take his spot in the lineup.

"Any one of us could have started tonight, but I felt Ryan needed to get his bounce back tonight," Dickerson said.

"That just shows the character we've got on this team and the brotherhood," Grice-Mullins said.

Moving the chains: Hawaii entered the night first in the WAC in third-down conversions (52.3 percent) and padded its lead by going 10-for-11 on third downs last night.

The Warriors converted their first 10 attempts and are now 44-for-76 this season. The only miss came with 2:57 left in the game and brought punter Kurt Milne onto the field for the first time since the second quarter against Fresno State on Oct. 14.