GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Ross Dickerson was all alone as he finished off a 100-yard return of the game's opening kickoff last night at Aloha Stadium.

ROUT 68

UH sandwiches special-teams and defensive TDs around one of its greatest offensive performances

Once again, the Hawaii offense made the spectacular seem routine.

And the defense and special teams are catching up.

The Warriors dominated all phases last night in the best all-around effort of their 6-2 season, whipping Idaho from the opening kickoff to the final minutes of a 68-10 rout. It's Hawaii's most one-sided win since a 66-7 demolition of UTEP in 2001.

"We're a pretty good football team right now," UH coach June Jones understated after the Warriors' fifth win in a row.

It was billed in some corners as a battle for second place in the Western Athletic Conference. But it became clear early Idaho has a long way to go to match Hawaii, with Dennis Erickson as coach or not.

"Everything they did was right," said Erickson, a former NFL coach and architect of two national championships at the University of Miami. "They're getting better and better. ... I knew going into the game that we'd have to play pretty perfect to win."

It is the Warriors' most lopsided victory of the year, and fifth consecutive home win going back to last season.

A homecoming crowd of 29,364 was still settling in as UH (4-1 WAC) took the lead on the opening kickoff. Then it saw Colt Brennan complete five touchdown passes (for the fifth time this season) to five different receivers and the Warriors built a 48-10 lead before the end of the third quarter.

UH needs one victory in its remaining five games to qualify for a berth in the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl.

Brennan, the nation's leader in passing efficiency and touchdown passes (33), extended his streak of passes without an interception to 158. He completed 31 of 38 passes for 333 yards, all in the first three quarters.

Brennan had just one pass play longer than 34 yards, a 50-yarder to Dickerson.

"We're going to take what we can get. We're not going to try to force big plays," Brennan said. "We come into every game worried and ready for whatever they're going to throw at us. We're not walking into every game expecting a blowout and getting 35 or 40 at halftime. We walk in thinking its going to be a four-quarter battle and then we find ourselves sitting in the fourth quarter kind of bored."

Jones and UH quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison both said they've never seen anything close to Brennan's performance over the course of this many games.

"I think consistency's the main thing for him," Morrison said. "It's very rare to have a guy be that consistent for that long. He's very special."

Nate Ilaoa scored two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving, as UH added to its NCAA-leading stats in total offense and points per game.

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan tried to get past Idaho's Chris Smith on a scramble in the second quarter of last night's game.

Ross Dickerson ran the opening kickoff back 100 yards. He was untouched as he cleared midfield, made a cut and jetted down the makai sideline.

"We could see on the film that they were very undisciplined on the left side," Dickerson said of the Idaho kickoff coverage. "All we did was execute the game plan and it seemed to work out."

It was Dickerson's fourth touchdown in the last three games.

The Warriors made it 14-0 on Brennan's 10-yard touchdown pass to Jason Rivers. It was Rivers' fifth TD in two games against the Vandals -- he grabbed a school-record four scoring receptions against Idaho in 2004.

Wichman threaded a pass to Wendell Octave for a 3-yard touchdown, capping a 10-play, 74-yard drive, and the Vandals closed it to 14-7 with 2:34 to go in the first quarter.

UH extended the margin back to two touchdowns when Brennan connected with Davone Bess for a 2-yard scoring pass at 14:08 of the second quarter.

It capped a drive that started at the Hawaii 38 when Idaho pooched a short kickoff to keep the ball away from Dickerson.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Jacob Patek raised a finger in the air after UH's defense stopped a potential Idaho scoring drive in the second half.

Ilaoa rumbled for an apparent 10-yard touchdown run, which was reviewed to verify the ball crossed the goal line before he was tackled. The replay official overturned the score, and the ball was placed on the 1. Brennan pitched the ball to Ilaoa on the next play, and he virtually walked into the end zone.

It was Ilaoa again on the next score, as he took a shovel pass from Brennan and danced along the sideline for the final 10 yards of an 18-yard touchdown. UH led 35-10 at halftime.

"We talked at halftime about shutting them out and the guys did it," Jones said.

That included a jarring hit on Wichman by safety Jake Patek that knocked the ball out of his hands and the Idaho quarterback out of the game. Micah Lau recovered to give UH the ball at its own 27 and halt the Vandals' most serious drive of the second half.

"We played collectively," linebacker Solomon Elimimian said. "Especially in the red zone. That's a place close to our heart."

Ryan Grice-Mullins, who missed the last four games with a sprained ankle, returned to the UH lineup and scored two touchdowns, on passes from Brennan (34 yards) and Tyler Graunke (18 yards).

Ian Sample also scored, on an 11-yard pass from Brennan. He has touchdown catches in five consecutive games.

Graunke scored on a 5-yard run early in the fourth quarter to make the score 61-10.