By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

From where the University of Hawai'i football team sits today — smack dab atop the early Western Athletic Conference standings — things have to look pretty good right now.

Not only are the Warriors 3-1 (2-0 WAC) and enjoying a view they haven't experienced since 1999, when they shared the conference title, there is also an opportunity to take out a long-term lease on the place.

If the Warriors can get past Boise State Saturday in Idaho — "if" being the operative word here since UH has gone 20 seasons without opening the WAC 3-0 — the potential is there to make quite a run these next few weeks.

At this point, the Warriors have got to feel a little like La'anui Correa and Hyrum Peters, who teamed for an interception return for a score that spanned 51 yards Saturday night. If they can just work together, stay on their feet and avoid a couple of obstacles, there is a whole lot of daylight ahead.

Consider that the Warriors follow up Boise with this WAC schedule: Nevada (2-2), Tulsa (0-5), Fresno State (2-3), San Jose State (3-2) and Rice (0-4). Not a gimme but not exactly Murderer's Row, either.

Between the progress the Warriors appear to be making in their own right and what is shaping up to be a less-than-daunting schedule, UH has to be excited about the possibilities and motivated to seize the opportunity.

Indeed, other than Boise State (3-1), the Warriors might conceivably find themselves playing just one other WAC team with an overall winning record the rest of the season. That would probably be either Nevada here in another week or Fresno State on Oct. 25 in California, although the Bulldogs play 25th-ranked Colorado State and Boise State before hosting UH.

UH's three Division I-A opponents to date — Brigham Young, Texas-El Paso and Southern Methodist — are 3-11 and the WAC schedule gets only moderately more demanding from here on out.

Overall, the Warriors' remaining opponents have a collective 16-25 record and there are as many winless teams (three) as opponents with winning records left on the schedule. There are more opponents in ESPN's "Bottom Ten" (three) than in the Associated Press Top 25 (No. 22 Alabama).

But first there is the matter of the Broncos of Boise State, the WAC preseason favorite and a team that returned most of its starters from an 8-4 season that included victories at both Fresno and Aloha Stadium.

For only the second time this season the Warriors figure to enter a game as underdogs on the Las Vegas betting line. But, then, for only the second time they'll have an opponent with more than a one-dimensional offense, too.

If the Warriors can win this week, they've got to like the road ahead and where it could take them.