Today, quarterback Colt Brennan is supposed to submit a piece for the New York Times in which he praises the perseverance and grittiness of his Hawai'i football teammates.

All of the research Brennan needs can be culled from last night's 50-13 victory over New Mexico State.

A homecoming crowd of 38,675 saw Brennan throw six touchdown passes, and the Warrior defense subdue one of the nation's most effective spread-and-then-pass offenses.

In the process, the unbeaten Warriors opened the season with eight consecutive victories for the first time since 1973, and the only time as a Division I member.

The Warriors, ranked No. 17 in the latest BCS standings, remain as one of of five unbeaten Division I-A teams, joining top-ranked Ohio State, Boston College, Kansas and Arizona State.

"It's an awesome feeling," said Brennan, a third-year Warrior who has watched the ascent from 5-7 in 2005.

"We've come a long way," Brennan added. "To think about my first year, to be 8-0 right now ... and, to be honest with you, I feel the season is just getting started."

After next week's bye, the Warriors close the regular season with four games in four weeks, three of which will be televised nationally.

"It feels great," said weakside linebacker Adam Leonard, who led the Warriors with 10 tackles, two backfield tackles and an interception. "We have to focus on our next game so we can be 1-0 against our next opponent."

Brennan was 29 of 46 for 425 yards. Three of his touchdowns went to right slotback Ryan Grice-Mullins; the third was Brennan's 117th scoring pass in 33 UH games, surpassing Tim Chang's school record.

Brennan's final scoring pass of the night, a 12-yarder to left slotback Davone Bess, was the 36th time the two collaborated on a touchdown play.

"It's not about me and Colt," said Bess, who caught seven passes for 112 yards. "It's about our offense being prepared. It's the way we practice, and the way defenses play against us. Coach (June Jones) shows us so many things to be ready for. When we get into a game, we're seeing everything we practiced against all week."

Brennan was admittedly not at his best. His first pass was intercepted.

But it did not take long for him to solve the Aggies' passive-aggressive defensive schemes. The Aggies dropped as many as eight defenders into coverage. That scheme works only if their three-man pass rush has any bite.

It didn't.

Brennan faced serious pressure twice in 47 pass plays. On one, he eluded a triple blitz and threw 14 yards to left wideout Jason Rivers at the 2. Rivers pirouetted from defensive back Chris Woods, and extended across the goal line for a 6-0 lead. Dan Kelly, who was perfect on his previous 50 point-after kicks this season, missed the conversion.

"We practice that all day: fade, stop, fade stop," Rivers said. "It's called '15.' He throws it however he wants and I just run."

Given enough time, Brennan was able to wait for his four receivers to break into the open. Often, the receivers faced man-to-man coverage.

"We took advantage of that," Brennan said. "Today was all about the receivers. They made great catches (and) running after the catches. It's just unbelievable how good they are. They made me look really good today."

With UH leading 16-0 in the second quarter, Brennan threw a bubble screen to Grice-Mullins in the right flat. Grice-Mullins caught the pass in full sprint, cut upfield and, with right wideout C.J. Hawthorne sealing a lane along the right sideline, raced into the end zone to complete a 42-yard play.

"When the ball comes my way, I try to make a play," said Grice-Mullins, who caught 13 passes for 195 yards. He has 27 catches in the past two games.

"I've had a goal since I was little," Grice-Mullins added. "I feel every time I touch it, I can score. I'm going to continue with that goal and hope it works out."

Grice-Mullins had two drops — "I can correct it," he said — but he has an excuse. He has been playing despite a sprained left thumb that is wrapped heavily during games.

Leonard, too, has been playing virtually one-handed. He has a fracture in his right hand that requires him to play with a padded brace. The past three days he has endured a stomach virus. In the second half, he suffered a deep bruise in his right quadriceps.

"God got me through it," Leonard said. "I'm dealing with a lot. I'm a little under the weather. I'm thankful God gave me the ability to play."

He returned soon after suffering the bruised quadriceps to make a crucial defensive play.

Trailing 36-13 early in the fourth quarter, the Aggies faced fourth-and-4 on the UH 7. Quarterback Chase Holbrook threw to A.J. Harris, who was tackled by Leonard 2 yards short of the first-down marker.

The Aggies never threatened again.

"I was at the right place at the right time," Leonard said. "My defense does a great job of putting the quarterback in a situation where he has to get rid of the ball."

The Aggies try to spread the offense with as many as four receivers. Off of those formations, they throw hitch passes and screens. When defenses are thinned, the Aggies will run end-arounds or draws.

To keep up, especially against an offensive line that averages 317 pounds per blocker, the Warriors rotated 10 defensive linemen. They stopped the Aggies' running game and, after building a comfortable lead, set their sights on attacking Holbrook.

The Warriors intercepted three passes, including one that backup cornerback JoPierre Davis raced back 57 yards for the game's final score.

They also stopped the Aggies three times on fourth down, and limited them to 5 of 16 on third-down conversions.

Most of all, the Warriors set the tone.

"We had two weeks to prepare for them," defensive tackle Michael Lafaele said. "They're a tough team. We came out and put a lot of pressure on them."

Leonard said: "We want to play aggressive. We don't want a team to out-tough us. We want to make sure we hit them harder than they hit us. That's what we proved tonight. We made them more of a finesse team. We played tough Warrior football."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.