GAME NOTES: And then there were two. That's how the Hawaii Warriors see themselves and Kansas, the last remaining unbeaten teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision as they prepare to weather the cold temperatures of Reno on Friday night in a special edition of Western Athletic Conference football versus the Nevada Wolf Pack. Considered by many to be the product of a weak schedule, the Warriors have still managed to remain perfect this season and string together 10 straight victories overall dating back to last season's bowl victory. Now a regular on national broadcasts, the Warriors improved to 9-0 for the first time since 1925 with their 37-30 victory over Fresno State last Saturday night. It appeared as though Hawaii was going to run away with the victory after putting up 24 points in the first 12 minutes of play, but then the squad began to stall and allowed the Bulldogs to make a game of it down the stretch. As for the Wolf Pack, a team that is currently 5-4 overall and still in the hunt for a postseason bid, the schedule was kind to them as they picked up a bye after slipping by New Mexico State in a thrilling 40-38 affair on November 2nd in Las Cruces. The win was the third straight for Nevada, a team that went to four overtimes before falling to Boise State last month. As far as the series between these two teams is concerned, Nevada still holds a 6-5 advantage over the Warriors, even though it was Hawaii that picked up a 41-34 victory in last year's meeting in Honolulu.

Colt Brennan was off like a rocket against the Bulldogs last week, posting most of his 396 yards passing long before halftime. He converted 28-of-39 for two touchdowns and an interception but, more importantly, sustained a tremendous hit as he scrambled down the field, causing everyone to hold their collective breathes at Aloha Stadium as he remained on the carpet for several minutes. Coach June Jones says Brennan will be a game-time decision this week, but that's just another way of saying we should all leave the signal-caller alone as he prepares to break the NCAA's record for passing touchdowns and touchdowns responsible for. Brennan, who threw for at least 300 yards for the 15th game in a row to set a new school record, now has thrown 121 TDs and has been part of 135 scores, marks that he currently shares with former BYU gunslinger and Heisman winner Ty Detmer. Just a junior, Davone Bess just set the school record with 39 receiving touchdowns and is three shy of establishing a new WAC mark. With 254 catches, Bess is second in that department among active players. Teammate Jason Rivers has caught at least one pass in 46 straight games, the longest active streak in the nation and tied for the WAC record.

Fresno State ended up with 391 yards of total offense on Saturday night, yet much of that came in the second half when the team was struggling to get back into contention. A more telling stat is the one that shows the Bulldogs converting just 2-of-11 on third down versus the Hawaii defense. Solomon Elimimian and his teammates zeroed in on FSU quarterback Tom Brandstater, recording five sacks and constantly forcing the visiting signal-caller to throw far off the mark. Elimimian finished with a team-high nine tackles, while Brad Kalilimoku continued to flush the pocket, en route to two and a half sacks. The Hawaii defense tends to get a bit weaker as the game wears on, just as any unit would in college football, but add to that the desperation of opponents and it is easy to understand why the group has surrendered more points in the fourth quarter than any other this season. Still, the Warriors are not only first in the conference in both tackles for loss and sacks, the squad ranks fourth in the nation in both departments with nine TFLs and 3.67 sacks per outing.

When starting quarterback Nick Graziano went down with an injury earlier in the season, some thought the Nevada season would be lost, but that was before they saw Colin Kaepernick take a snap. Kaepernick has been absolutely sensational for the Wolf Pack thus far through the seven games in which he has appeared. He's not only completed 55.9 percent of his pass attempts for 13 touchdowns and just two interceptions, he's also become one of the most offensive threats in all the WAC. Behind only running back Luke Lippincott who leads the program with 1,054 yards and 10 rushing scores, Kaepernick now has 465 yards on the ground and five TDs of his own. When he's not doing it all on his own, Kaepernick is calling on the services of Marko Mitchell to help get him through the rough spots. Mitchell is averaging a stellar 20.5 yards per reception and has six touchdowns on just 38 grabs for the group. With Kaepernick's infusion of enthusiasm, the Nevada offense is now second in the conference and ninth in the nation with almost 500 yards of total offense per game, resulting in 37.3 ppg to rank 15th in the nation this week.

Nevada's offense has certainly been spectacular in 2007, but unfortunately the defense has been making such efforts academic by allowing opponents to be so productive as well. The run defense for the Pack has been exposed more than once and is now surrendering 208.8 ypg to rank last in the WAC and 105th in the nation although, a lot of that has to do with the 413 yards given up to Nebraska in the season opener. In fact, in the last few weeks Nevada has been making great strides in stopping the run, allowing Utah State, Idaho and New Mexico State to gain a combined 265 yards on the ground. Because of the blowout loss to the Cornhuskers and the quadruple-overtime setback to Boise State, Nevada finds itself ranked seventh in the conference and 109th in the country in points allowed at a mark of 36.7 ppg. Since the team is only producing 37.2 ppg, there's not much room for failure on the part of the defense. Seventh on the team in tackles with 38, Nick Fuhr is actually first on the squad with nine TFLs and five sacks.

Needing some help from teams ahead of them in the rankings, the Warriors can't afford to be looking ahead to their meeting with nationally-ranked Boise State next week at home, although no one could fault them for such thinking. As long as Colt Brennan is able to get back under center and forget about the vicious hit he took last week, Hawaii should be in line for another big victory.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Hawaii 51, Nevada 35