JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii quarterback Tyler Graunke muscled his way into the end zone for a touchdown.

Stakes rise for Hawaii

UH hopes for another September to Remember

With its 66-10 win over Charleston Southern on Saturday, Hawaii improved to 4-0 -- matching its best opening act since 1988, when freshman kicker Jason Elam got the Rainbows off to a good start with a game-winning field goal against Iowa.

But college football has changed a lot in the past 19 years, and the stakes are high for the 19th-ranked Warriors. If they can continue to pile up wins and climb in the polls, Hawaii could end up in a BCS bowl game with a big payout -- in dollars and national esteem.

The first step, though, is Saturday's game at Idaho, where UH will try to extend its road winning streak to six games.

So far, UH has shown it can win on the road, and without its best player. The defense and special teams appear much improved. But coach June Jones knows that improvement must continue as the schedule gets tougher.

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It was dubbed the September to Remember in 1988, when Hawaii last started the season with four consecutive football wins, including an upset of top-five Iowa on a field goal by freshman Jason Elam in the Aloha Stadium opener.

The stakes are much higher now for UH, with talk of running the table, culminating with a possible BCS bowl game. Even folks from off the island are starting to make big plans for the Warriors. Ted Lewis, college football writer at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, called the other day asking how many people from Hawaii might attend a Sugar Bowl with Georgia or Florida as the opponent.

It was UTEP that ended Hawaii's hopes of an undefeated season in 1988; the current Warriors try to make it Hawaii 5-0 at Idaho on Saturday.

Because of the oddities of the calendar, today's UH players -- some of whom were born the year Elam made that game-winner in his debut -- have the opportunity to break the record for September perfection.

After Saturday's 66-10 domination of Charleston Southern, coach June Jones said he was relieved to have come this far with an unscathed ledger.

"Glad to get out of there with a win," he said. "We scored 66 points and held them to 10, but it felt like a 21-20 game."

When the polls came out yesterday, Hawaii was 17th (coaches), 18th (Harris) and 19th (AP). Some would think a 56-point victory would mean a bigger jump, but the Warriors are paying the price for having played two Division I-AA teams. From the national perspective, the score could've been 100-0 and the jury would still be out with wins against Northern Colorado, LaTech, UNLV and now Charleston Southern.

But for the Warriors themselves, some important questions were answered in the first four games: They know they can win a close game (overtime against Louisiana Tech), on the road (at LaTech and at UNLV), and without their best player (quarterback Colt Brennan did not test his ankle on Saturday).

Jones made a strategic decision to hold out Brennan rather than making his ankle a target against an opponent that backup Tyler Graunke could handle ... with some help from his friends on defense and special teams.

The Buccaneers stuck around in the first half, trailing just 21-10 as Graunke struggled. But he played much better after halftime, completing 10 of 11 passes.

A gamble that wasn't really a gamble paid off.

"If you have a real good understanding of football, you understand why leaving Tyler in there is a great idea," Brennan said "We had trust in Tyler all the way."

Unfortunately, a lot of the fans didn't, chanting for Brennan and booing as the teams left the field at halftime.

"I was disappointed in the fans cheering for Colt to come into the game," linebacker Adam Leonard said. "This was experience Tyler needed to get because he might be called on to lead the team again at any time."

Now Graunke has some confidence, and Brennan doesn't have to spend today and tomorrow and maybe all week rehabbing the ankle again.

Ryan Mouton (90-yard kickoff return) and Leonard (36-yard interception return) broke it open at the start of the second half. The defense and special teams have scored five touchdowns, and are doing their best to chase away the image of Hawaii being a one-dimensional team. It's kind of like when Happy Gilmore learned how to putt.

Receiver C.J. Hawthorne (five catches, 91 yards, two touchdowns) joined Mouton and Leonard as nominees for WAC Players of the Week. Also, Mouton said a dinged knee wasn't bothering him after the game and he didn't expect to miss practice time.

Hawaii -- always near the top in the offensive stats -- is now 28th in the nation in points allowed, third in kickoff returns and 12th in punt returns. Circumstances have helped the Warriors move toward becoming a complete team, but Jones was far from satisfied late Saturday night.

"It was an ugly win for me," he said. "That's because our expectations are much higher than they have ever been."