Week 14: Washington at Hawaii

When the Huskies booked this game, they probably envisioned only rewards: beaches, an inferior opponent from the Western Athletic Conference, big waves, a physical mismatch, suntan lotion, nothing but good times.

How wrong they were. This is no island vacation. Instead, a rebuilding Pac-10 team thinking it might pad its record while trying to restore old glory finds itself in a match-up as emotional and important as any to this feisty little program in paradise.

This could be a fierce battle, with the Warriors pursuing ambitious Bowl Championship Series opportunities, having already wrapped up their first outright league title last weekend, while now trying to preserve their spotless record as the only unbeaten Division I entry left standing. A sell-out crowd at 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium should be in a full lather.

The Huskies, their season record in shambles after playing the toughest schedule in America, better take it serious. They get off the long flight from Seattle after losing their Apple Cup 42-35 to rival Washington State, a team playing out the string but finding a way to get it down. This opponent has so much more at stake.

High-powered Hawaii has a chance to make history, maybe provide this faraway destination with its biggest sporting accomplishment of any kind while also demonstrating that the little guy deserves a BCS spot. The Warriors want to show that the magical Fiesta Bowl performance turned in last season by fellow WAC member Boise State, an overtime victory over Oklahoma, was hardly a fluke.

If Washington and Hawaii have anything in common, it’s Boise State. They’re the only teams to beat the Broncos this season. The Huskies handed the Idaho team its first loss of the season, 24-10 in September, and the Warriors matched the outcome, dishing out a 39-27 defeat at home last Saturday night.

Both teams have decent quarterbacks, with Washington trotting out redshirt freshman sensation Jake Locker and Hawaii responding with the nation’s most prolific passer, senior Colt Brennan.

If either guy has a sizeable advantage here, it’s Brennan, because he gets to face the Huskies’ biggest weakness head on: a secondary that doesn’t cover anyone. His arm is warm. He completed a dazzling 40 of 53 passes for 495 yards and five touchdowns against Boise State, giving him 10-game season totals (he sat out one with a concussion) of 295 completions in 422 attempts for 3,732 yards and 33 scores. Those are NFL numbers without the NFL schedule.

“Colt Brennan is the best player in America,” Hawaii coach June Jones said emphatically.

On the other end of these accurate throws are Davone Bess, who has 96 catches 1,164 yards and 11 TDs; Ryan Grice-Mullen, with 90 receptions for 1,214 yards and 11 scores, and Jason Rivers, who has caught 68 passes for 902 yards and nine touchdowns. Against Boise State, Bess set a school record with 15 catches.

Of course, the Hawaii running game is an afterthought. Kealoha Pilares leads the team with 294 yards on 50 attempts for three TDs.

“You don’t have to worry about the run,” Washington coach Ty Willingham said. “You can think pass and go play.”

Easier said than done with these guys. The Huskies have given up 22 touchdown passes this season, five to Washington State’s Alex Brink last weekend, and 249 passing yards per game. They’ve been victimized week after week.

Besides registering significant concern over its tepid pass coverage, Washington must bounce back after blowing a late lead to the Cougars, and then the game.

“I think our guys feel like we left a little on the table,” Willingham said.

Locker played against Washington State with no apparent problems after missing a game with a neck injury. He needs 90 yards rushing against Hawaii to reach 1,000 this season, which would give the Huskies two players at that level. Senior tailback Louis Rankin already has 1,149 yards rushing. They’ll need every yard they can get to offset Colt Brennan’s passing prowess.

The first time these programs got together was in Honolulu in 1938, in something called the Pineapple Bowl, and Washington flexed considerable muscle with a 53-13 victory. The only other time they have met was in 1973. A lowly regarded Hawaii team, known then as the Rainbows, came to Seattle and shocked the Huskies 10-7, an outcome trumpeted for several seasons as the biggest in school history.

Thirty-four years later, the Warriors get the rubber game at home. The way they see it, remove this last obstacle, and the biggest game ever for the program, a BCS invitation somewhere, is in hand.

Hawaii by 14