FRESNO, Calif. — "Hear that?" center Samson Satele asked, cocking an ear and cupping a meaty, grass-stained hand.

It was the sound of silence broken only by the clopping of his cleats on the asphalt as he made his way to the University of Hawai'i's locker room at Bulldog Stadium.

Rarely has it sounded so good to the Warriors as it did after yesterday's 68-37 punishing of Fresno State before the Bulldogs' quick-to-disappear home crowd. Rarely has it spoken so loudly or eloquently about a UH team.

The barbs of two years ago, when the Warriors were hooted out of the place in the wake of a 70-14 embarrassment, were gone, just like the 39,122 Fresno faithful. The painful memory of trudging the insult and invective-laden gauntlet known here as the "Red Mile" exorcised by the most points ever put up by a UH football team on the road and the most inflicted on a Bulldog team at home.

By the time UH assumed a 35-14 lead with 3 minutes, 38 seconds left in the second quarter, fans had begun to leave. At a 42-17 halftime the cross-town Fresno County Fair had apparently looked pretty good because the place was emptying out in a steady stream. By the end of the 3-hour, 25-minute bashing, it was a mostly Hawai'i crowd that saw the Warriors perform a victory haka around the Bulldog logo.

Surely the first haka celebrated in Bulldog Stadium, but hardly the last we should expect to see on the road this year.

For everything we thought these Warriors could be this season; everything we had hoped they might become, they were yesterday in one dominating, eye-opening package. Winless in two previous road trips this season and 2-10 away from home overall spanning four seasons, the Warriors laid a by-the-numbers whupping on the Bulldogs that resonated.

You had to take your hat off to this team even as some Bulldog fans were donning paper bags over their heads to hide the disappointment of an FSU team that is 1-5 this season and 1-9 since nearly knocking off then-No. 1-ranked Southern California 11 months ago.

Remarkably, the Bulldogs have gone from the No. 16th ranked team in the country last October to, well, the dogs. No less remarkable on the flip side is the rise of the Warriors who look like a team with a chance of making a run at a 10- or 11-win season.

Fresno State coach Pat Hill preferred to say, simply, "We ran into a buzz saw ... "

This one had many teeth.

It was the best game of quarterback Colt Brennan's UH career, a statement that seems to take amending nearly every week. But, really, how else to describe a 32-of-39, 409-yard, five-touchdown performance without an interception in a scant three quarters of work? I mean, 13 consecutive completions at one point?

He could have cleaned up at the fair if he weren't tearing up the Bulldogs.

With 12 NFL scouts on hand, out-numbered only by the 35 members of his family and a contingent of former high school buddies who snapped up No. 15 Brennan jerseys from the traveling Rainbowtique, you wonder how many more times we'll see the original Colt in a UH jersey.

Then, there was the UH defense that knocked loose and recovered two fumbles and, with safety Leonard Peters doing the honors, returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown.

"Coach (Jerry) Glanville told us some of the scouts said we were the hardest hitting team on the West Coast," Peters said. "We want to take the 'West Coast' part of it off."

In the end, UH chased away the Bulldogs' homecoming crowd. It quieted the Thunderstix. It silenced questions about whether it could win on the road.

In Bulldog Stadium yesterday the sound of silence said a lot about these Warriors.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.