Sweet dreams indeed do come true.

For the Hawai'i football team, they are created with a four-wide offense with seemingly unlimited possibilities, steeled by a defense that refuses to fold, and united by players who are related by spirit.

And when pieced together, they become last night's improbable 35-28 victory over Washington. Ryan Grice-Mullins' 5-yard scoring catch gave the Warriors their first lead with 44 seconds left, and Ryan Mouton secured the outcome by intercepting a deflected pass.

"This team is special," said quarterback Colt Brennan, who threw five touchdown passes to rally the Warriors from a 21-0 deficit and complete Division I-A's only unbeaten regular season. "These guys are special. They play for each other. I've never been part of such a brotherhood, such camaraderie. It's so special I changed my whole perspective on life."

When Brennan stepped to the line of scrimmage with 3 seconds left — "just don't fumble," he prayed silently — everything slipped into the surreal.

"It's so hard to explain the feelings," Brennan said. "Not just for me, but for this team, and for this state."

The outcome improved the Warriors to 12-0, all but assuring them an invitation to a lucrative Bowl Championship Series game. By agreement, a team that is not a member of one of the six major conferences — UH is in the non-BCS Western Athletic Conference — must finish in the top 12 of the BCS standings to qualify. The Warriors were No. 12 last week.

"No doubts," Brennan yelled during the frenetic post-game celebration, "we're going to the BCS. We earned it."

An announcement will be made during a national telecast this afternoon.

Last week, the Warriors won their first outright WAC championship.

"With that," Brennan said, "we captivated the state. We gave the people here what they wanted, a place in their hearts for the rest of their lives. But tonight was about stepping away and captivating the nation. There's something so special about the guys in this locker room. We wanted to show the nation how special this place is."

To be sure, it was not easy. What appeared to be a statement-making start — the Huskies' opening drive was supposed to be a three-and-out — dissolved into disaster when 12 Warriors were on the field before the ensuing punt. The penalty sustained the Huskies' drive, and they parlayed the extra chance into quarterback Jake Locker's 8-yard touchdown run.

Adding injury to insult, the Warriors' two starting safeties — Jake Patek (high-ankle sprain) and Desmond Thomas (hip pointer) — hobbled off, never to play the rest of the night.

Three of the Warriors' four first-quarter possessions ended in fumbles, including one each by sparingly used ballcarriers Jason Laumoli and Daniel Libre.

Things were so bad that even an on-field intruder dressed as Santa had to be forcibly escorted to a holding area.

"I had a feeling coming into this game it wasn't going to be easy," Brennan said of the 4-9 Huskies. "What's that saying? 'There's nothing scarier than a dying man.' As a team, they weren't in the greatest shape after (losing to in-state rival Washington State) last week. They were coming out here with an all-or-nothing approach. I knew they were coming out here with a strong punch."

Locker was everywhere the Warriors did not want him to be. He frustrated the Warriors with quarterback draws, bootlegs and eat-my-dust sprints.

"We knew we had time," UH linebacker Adam Leonard said. "Our defense did a great job of playing three great quarters." Particularly the last two, as the Huskies were shut out after halftime.

"We knew we'd win," UH defensive tackle Michael Lafaele said. "We just had to fight through it. God put his grace on it."

The Warriors began to pay off the deficit by returning to their basics: inside screens or out patterns by the wideouts; curls or posts patterns by the slotbacks. And when the Huskies retreated into pass coverage, Libre would get the ball on sweeps. Libre gained 82 yards on 10 carries, including a crucial 44-yard dash.

"What helped me was my teammates picking me up after the fumble," Libre said. "That helped me come back. It was a crazy ride. I love these guys. They made my job really easy."

Jason Rivers caught four scoring passes from Brennan, two of which seized the momentum.

Near the end of the first half, Rivers soared for a pass, landing with his tippy toes inside the end zone. The officials initially ruled Rivers was out of bounds. But after the JumboTron showed otherwise — and with the Warriors screaming for an appeal — the play was reviewed. The call was reversed, Rivers was awarded a touchdown, and the Warriors' deficit was down to 28-21.

With 8:01 remaining in the game, and the Huskies pressing up on the flats, Rivers sprinted past the defensive secondary to snag Brennan's 40-yard pass, tying the score at 28.

"Football is like a chess match," Rivers said. "You have to make the right call at the right time. Coach (June) Jones did a good job of that."

The Warriors regained possession following a Washington punt. They drove to the 5, from where Grice-Mullins was sent on a flat pattern to the right. Grice-Mullins caught the pass and carried Washington safety Mesphin Forrester across the goal line.

"Colt trusted me," Grice-Mullins said. "The team trusted me. Colt put it right there, and I just made the play. I was thinking touchdown all the way. Nobody was going to stop me that close."

The Huskies then drove down the field, on two big pass plays. Then, on second-and-goal from the 6, Locker's pass into the end zone to wide receiver Marcel Reese was batted in the air by cornerback Gerard Lewis.

"I just tried to make a play," Lewis said.

Mouton said: "Gerard made a great play to break it up. I saw the ball float in the air. I grabbed it. I wasn't going to let it go."

Indeed, with the hopes of the state on the line, the Warriors did not want to let this one slip away.

"This is so special," Brennan said. "You think something is going to spoil it, or it will be taken away from you. I don't want this feeling to go away. I want to hold on to it for a long time."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.