WASHINGTON | DEC. 1

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 Saturday 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."

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."

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