ASSOCIATED PRESS The Warriors' Ryan Grice-Mullins caught seven passes for 91 yards, including the game's first touchdown on a 13-yard toss from quarterback Colt Brennan.

Easy Pick

Warriors' defense comes up big in road victory

MOSCOW, Idaho » Colt Brennan delivered far from his best, but the Hawaii defense thrived, returning two interceptions for touchdowns as No. 19 Hawaii pounded Idaho 48-20 yesterday.

But UH picked off five, too. Three of those were given back to the Vandals on subsequent interceptions, but Hawaii scored on the other two without the offense having to get involved.

Adam Leonard and Myron Newberry returned interceptions for touchdowns, with Leonard going 40 yards to give UH a lead it would never relinquish after Idaho had tied it at 7 in the first quarter on Eddie Williams' first of two touchdowns.

It was Leonard's second consecutive game with a touchdown on an interception return.

Newberry picked off two passes, setting up one touchdown and scoring another himself on a 76-yard return that gave UH a 38-7 lead late in the first half.

"The defense and special teams playing the way they did shows the kind of team we are," Brennan said.

"It was kind of a weird day. Not my best."

Davone Bess caught 12 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, and Brennan also threw scoring passes to Ryan Grice-Mullins and Malcolm Lane.

Brennan, who completed 30 of 49 passes for 369 yards, also scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.

"He didn't throw the ball as well as he has," UH coach June Jones said.

Brennan was coming off a week in which he did not play because of a sprained ankle. He said he hurt the ankle again yesterday when he was sacked in the first quarter. He remained in the game.

"We got a win on the road, and it's hard to win on the road," Jones said.

The Warriors have been making it look not as difficult as in the past -- this is their sixth road victory in a row and 15th win out of their last 16 overall.

They were scheduled to return home late last night. Hawaii hosts Utah State on Saturday.

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MOSCOW, Idaho » Most of the Hawaii defensive players had never heard of Craig James before Friday night. Greg McMackin made sure they did before yesterday's 48-20 victory at Idaho.

The former SMU star running back became a part of the UH defensive coordinator's game plan when McMackin heard about negative comments James made about the Warriors defense during the Thursday night Boise State-Southern Miss telecast.

James, now an analyst with ESPN, said the UH defense is inferior, and that he knocked the No. 19 Warriors out of his Top 25 for that reason. McMackin passed that on to his players Friday and they took it to heart yesterday. They shut down the Vandals' running game and picked off five Nathan Enderle passes, returning two for touchdowns.

Hawaii allowed 35 net yards and two first downs, and held the Vandals to 0-for-5 on third down while building a 41-10 halftime lead.

"It's nothing against Idaho, but we came out fired up," defensive tackle Mike Lafaele said. "Coach Mack got us fired up because he told us what Craig James said. We just have to go out there and shut everybody up."

ASSOCIATED PRESS Davone Bess celebrated after he scored on a 24-yard pass from Colt Brennan that gave the Warriors a 28-7 lead in the second quarter of yesterday's game against Idaho. Bess led all receivers in the game with 12 catches for 162 yards.

McMackin, normally a calm and affable man, said James' commentary got him going, too.

"He even got me mad. I told the players he got his college the death penalty -- print that. But he's doing me a great favor," McMackin said. "The problem is (detractors) haven't even watched us. People need to know these are hard-nosed, kick-ass type guys, and they showed it today."

And such a performance from the defense was needed, as UH quarterback Colt Brennan was picked off five times himself, off-target after missing last week's game with an ankle sprain. Hawaii turned it over six times.

"Our defense had the opportunity to step up and make big plays," Brennan said. "And they did."

Linebacker Adam Leonard returned an interception for a TD for the second game in a row. This one was for 40 yards after Idaho had tied the game at 7 in the first quarter.

It was the first of five scores in a row for UH, capped by Myron Newberry's 76-yard touchdown on a pick late in the second quarter. Despite Brennan's problems, it was game over before the break.

"No matter how the offense plays, we've got a certain way we want to play," said Leonard, who was also game high with 10 tackles.

Newberry is a steady player who doesn't get a lot of attention even though he has played in all 18 games since joining UH as a JC transfer last year.

"I know I'm doing a good job. My time to make some big plays came today," said Newberry, who added that non-believers in UH's defense just make the Warriors better. "We're going to hold on to that the rest of the year. (James) is not the only one. We just have to go out every week and do what we did today."

ASSOCIATED PRESS UH coach June Jones raised an issue with referee Bill Athan during the first quarter of yesterday's victory over Idaho.

"Everybody's buying into Greg's system and it shows," UH coach June Jones said.

While Brennan needed the help, he wasn't terrible. He passed for touchdowns to Ryan Grice-Mullins, Malcolm Lane and Davone Bess, and rushed for a 1-yard TD to cap UH's scoring late in the third quarter.

Brennan went seven consecutive passes without a completion in the third quarter but finished 30-for-49 for 369 yards.

"Even his worst day is a good day," said running back Kealoha Pilares, who accounted for 100 yards on 10 rushes and two receptions.

Brennan said he hurt his sprained right ankle a bit in the first quarter when he was sacked by Idaho's Siua Musika.

"He's going to have to deal with it the whole year," Jones said. "He wasn't at his best and he didn't throw the ball as he usually does. He made a lot of great plays. When he's getting rushed the injury is a factor because he can't push off. He battled through it pretty good."

Bess caught a season-high 12 passes for 162 yards, and Grice-Mullins bounced back from a knee injury early in the game to finish with seven grabs for 91 yards.

Idaho fell to 1-5 and 0-1 in the WAC.

"We've got to do a better job of taking care of the football," Vandals coach Robb Akey said. "We've turned the ball over too many times in the last two weeks and we need to get that taken care of."

Running back Deonte' Jackson -- who entered the game leading the WAC in rushing -- was considered questionable with a high ankle sprain. Jackson did not start, but ended up leading Idaho with 47 yards on seven carries.

He did not pose enough of a threat to keep the Warriors from going after Enderle play after play. Five different UH players sacked him one time each, and the Warriors hurried him into the interceptions.

"We had a great game plan, but it's just a matter of executing." said tight end Eddie Williams, who scored both of Idaho's touchdowns. "If we have 10 guys doing their jobs and one guy who isn't, we aren't going to be successful on the play."