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After 3 games, Hawaii
is exactly where it
was supposed to be

GO ahead, jump on the bandwagon.

But you might want to wait at least another week before leaning on the horn.

What we have here is straight chalk. Hawaii was expected to lose big against BCS opponents USC and Michigan State, and did.

UH should beat Idaho. And did.

And here we are. The good news, for Hawaii fans, is that what was supposed to happen, did. The good news is that there's never any bad news in 24-zip.

And straight chalk over Idaho is cause for minor celebration in a season in which we weren't quite sure just how good Hawaii was going to be.

This is what should have happened, but the good news is that it did.

Going into this game everyone with a brain thought Idaho had a pretty good shot. September, on the road, in a dome, an opponent with a pulse. Idaho's all-time Western Athletic Conference opener. This was a dangerous game, no doubt.

You'd better believe it was a must-win.

And there were more than a few people who thought it might have gone the other way.

Instead, Hawaii came out and took care of business, dictated the tone, dominated the score.

It turns out UH may have more to it than we realized. Better. Tougher. In the long run, this is a very good sign.

Especially on the road.

But, easy, easy. It's still Idaho.

And it turns out Idaho wasn't nearly as good as we thought.

Heading into Vandals week a UH assistant said he watched film and didn't know how Idaho lost its first two games.

I think we may have some idea.

(And Utah State just showed us that "almost" beating UNLV isn't nearly as impressive as we once thought.)

Idaho may have officially switched conferences, but Division I-AA is still very much visible in its objects-may-be-closer-than-they-appear rearview mirror.

It looked on TV like Idaho had safeties who couldn't run, a quarterback who couldn't throw, receivers who couldn't catch.

Did UH have anything to do with that?

Something, definitely.

But keep in mind, Idaho being Idaho definitely didn't hurt.

It says something that we all thought Idaho had a chance. Hawaii said even more by getting them down, keeping them down, hanging the bagel and heading for the nearest airport.

There's really nothing else you could have asked.

No, a win over Idaho rarely speaks too loudly, but in facing a season of impending doubt, UH made a statement by restoring the natural order of things, in upholding the chalk.

In letting us know things may not have slipped as much as we might have thought.

UH's offensive line didn't appear to miss many beats, despite the departure of the charismatic Coach Cav. New QB Colt Brennan, three games in, looks like a worthy successor to Timmy the Great.

And Hawaii's formerly three-digit defense -- it's refreshing to hear Jerry Glanville take none of the credit and all of the blame -- played well enough to help Idaho appear inept. (Eight pass completions? Eight?!)

We haven't seen this many big hits in years. And there's never any bad news in 24-zip.

What we know for now is that Idaho is still Idaho. And Hawaii ... still isn't. (Whew.) Not even close.

And that's good enough news for this week.

Go ahead, get excited. A little.

There's a very different outfit from the Gem State coming to town this week.

You should dominate a bad team. Hawaii did.

Crank up the bandwagon. Hold off on the horn.