JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Idaho's Raymond Fry had nowhere to run from the Warrior defense on a second-half play last night at Aloha Stadium.

Erickson walks away impressed with UH

The scuttlebutt about Idaho all week was how the Vandals were able to hang in there with Western Athletic Conference power Boise State in a 42-26 loss last Saturday.

The Vandals did no such thing against Hawaii at Aloha Stadium last night, suffering a 68-10 defeat to the Warriors.

Aside from being the next team in a long line of visitors to be baffled by UH's intricate, accurate and quick-striking passing offense, Idaho's downfall had a lot to do with the cumulative effects of taking hard hit after hard hit by the menacing Warrior defenders.

"That's an awfully good football team," Vandals coach Dennis Erickson said. "And we played terrible. It wasn't so much about getting hit as getting beat.

"(UH defensive coordinator) Jerry (Glanville) has done a nice job. They're a lot better on defense than they've been. It's the defensive side that makes them a good football team, a balanced team."

Erickson didn't try to explain the Vandals' poor performance against the UH offense. That's because he couldn't explain it.

"If I knew what was going on, it wouldn't have happened," Erickson said. "I don't have an answer for 68-10. If someone does, please let me in on it.

"We knew they were a good football team, but we made them awfully good. (Colt) Brennan was on all the time. In all my years of coaching college football, I don't know if I've seen an offense as productive as this one."

The Vandals came into the game with hopes of maintaining their status as a WAC contender. The lofty thought of a title just about went down the drain as Idaho fell to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

"When they score a TD (Ross Dickerson's 100-yard kickoff return) on the first play of the game, it's not a good sign," Erickson said. "From that first play until their last TD on that (Ryan Keomaka) interception (and 29-yard return), we couldn't slow 'em down and we couldn't stop 'em.

"They played great offensively and Brennan was on fire. He is very accurate and smart and he understands what's going on. If there's one thing that (sets him apart), it's his accuracy."

Erickson, who is 0-2 against UH, also said this version of the Warriors is a lot better than the one he faced in the 1999 Oahu Bowl while coaching Oregon State.

"They are so much more productive offensively and they score a lot of points," he said.

So where do the Vandals go from here? Can they finish with a winning record, with games at home against Nevada and San Jose State and on the road at Fresno State? Erickson, a national champion in 1989 and 1991 while the head man at Miami, has already improved the team quite a bit over last year's squad that went 2-9.

Bu he'll be doing his best to avoid this head-scratching loss from turning into a major, long-lasting type of mental setback for the Vandals.

"We got the crap beat out of us, so we'll find out what we're all about next week (against Nevada)," Erickson said.