IGAME NOTES: The last of the college unbeatens will try to run the regular- season table this weekend as the 11th-ranked Hawaii Warriors defend their unblemished record versus Washington in a non-conference battle at Aloha Stadium. In 2006 it was the Western Athletic Conference's Boise State that threw a wrench into the ill-conceived BCS model by going undefeated and this year it's Hawaii's turn. Sure, the team has played some weak competition (see Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern) but that's partly because other power conference programs were wary about making the trip to the South Pacific and facing June Jones and his bunch. Last week the Warriors put an end to Boise State's dominance in the WAC by capturing the league title outright with a 39-27 victory at home. The win was the team's 12th straight (a school record) and the 15th in a row in WAC competition, consequently moving the Warriors to 12th in the BCS standings which is exactly where the squad needs to be in order to be picked to go to one of the BCS bowl games. As for the Huskies, they've gone from winning back-to-back games to start 2007 to a mere two wins in the last 10 outings. Last weekend the squad lost out on the prestigious Apple Cup with a 42-35 setback versus Washington State in Seattle. With a record of 4-8 and just 2-7 in Pac-10 Conference play, this is the Huskies' swan song to the campaign. The teams have played twice before, with each squad claiming one victory. Washington captured the 1938 Pineapple Bowl over the Warriors and Hawaii returned the favor with an early-season victory over the Huskies during the 1973 campaign.

With an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the meeting with Washington State, the Huskies probably thought they were in a good position to pick up the win on Saturday, but it just wasn't meant to be. Jake Locker tried everything to get Washington over the hump, hitting 12-of-35 for 224 yards and a score, but he was also sacked once and picked off two times. The signal- caller also rallied for 103 yards and a pair of TDs on the ground on 14 carries, still not enough to stem the tide. Locker was supposed to be the savior for the Huskies this season, but somewhere along the way he hit the wall and is now completing just 46.9 percent of his attempts for 174.5 ypg. He has 14 touchdowns through the air, but has also forced the ball far too many times, resulting in just as many picks. As a team the Huskies have a pass efficiency rating of 107.98, which heading into this week has the squad ranked seventh in the conference and 107th in the nation. On the ground he's second behind Louis Rankin (1,149 yards, six TDs) in terms of yardage with 910, but he has often called his own number to get the squad into the end zone, a total of 12 times on the ground.

The pass defense for the Huskies did little to help out Locker and the offense last weekend, permitting Washington State to generate 399 yards and five touchdowns through the air in the close call. While the Huskies were coming up with just 464 yards on 87 offensive plays, WSU was posting 509 yards on 21 fewer snaps, mainly because the secondary was surrendering close to 15 yards per completion. E.J. Savannah led the attack with his 11 tackles, two of which were behind the line of scrimmage, while Daniel Te'o-Nesheim tacked on nine tackles, of which four were for loss and two came against the quarterback. Te'o-Nesheim is one of the conference leaders in terms of sacks and tackles for loss with 7.5 and 14.0, respectively, while Greyson Gunheim supplies plenty of support with his 6.5 sacks and 11.0 TFLs. Savannah checks in with a team-best 103 tackles and another 12.0 TFLs, and yet the team as a whole is still just sixth in the league and 30th in the nation with 6.9 TFLs per contest. As a result, the Huskies have a scoring defense that is second-to- last in the league and 94th nationally with a hefty 31.3 ppg allowed.

He may not have been saying it to everyone on the outside, but you could tell that Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan was excited about registering a few NCAA records last week versus Boise State. Sure, the eight-point win in front of a sell-out crowd was great because it kept the Warriors in the hunt for a BCS berth but for Colt Brennan, who finished with 495 yards passing and five touchdowns through the air (another on the ground), surpassing former Heisman winner Ty Detmer for the major college record for most career touchdowns, most TDs responsible for and most points responsible for, he also converted some non- believers. Hitting on almost 70 percent of his pass attempts, Colt Brennan is averaging 373.2 ypg through the air and has 33 touchdowns, even though he's missed the better part of two games. The receiving corps for the Warriors never ceases to amaze as Davone Bess comes in four catches shy of 100 for the season and already has 12 TDs, followed by Ryan Grice-Mullen (90 rec, 1,214 yards, 11 TDs) and Jason Rivers (68 rec, 902 yards, nine TDs), the former combining with Colt Brennan to tie the record for the most passing scores between two players with 39.

Getting into the win column was one thing for the Warriors, but doing so by limiting Boise State to just a single offensive touchdown in the final 38 minutes was quite an impressive feat. The Broncos tested Hawaii several times, specifically when they bucked the trends and went on fourth down four times, converting three opportunities, and still the home team did not back down. Solomon Elimimian led all tacklers with 14 stops, while Blaze Soares scorched the visitors for three stops behind the line of scrimmage and a sack. Jacob Patek logged two of his four tackles behind the line, had a sack and an interception for the Warriors. Maybe the Warriors didn't completely shut down Boise State, but compared to how poorly the defense has performed for the team in past seasons it is still a huge step in the right direction. The squad is first in the WAC in both sacks and tackles for loss per game with 3.45 and 8.64, respectively. The pressure up front has helped the secondary as well, resulting in the team posting a pass efficiency defense rating of 111.63, which happens to be best in the WAC and 19th in the country heading into action this weekend.

Facing off against Boise State last week was more pressure than the Warriors had ever imagined, yet their still fought through it and came out on top. A healthy Colt Brennan still has an outside chance at being invited to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation, but he'll need to be at the top of his game this weekend to earn the trip to the mainland.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Hawaii 49, Washington 27. Get the best tickets for this game as well as all other games at Barrys Ticket Service.

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