It took a couple seasons for Colt Brennan to feel totally comfortable running Hawai'i's high-flying offense. Brennan summed up how he's going to operate this year: "full throttle."

"Last year, we knew we were going to be good, but we didn't know how good," he said. "This year, we know we're good. We know we have the opportunity to win every football game and it's up to us to take advantage of that."

Expectations have never been higher for No. 23 Hawai'i, led by Brennan, who passed up the NFL to return for his senior season.

For the first time, the Warriors have a Heisman Trophy contender and are ranked entering the season. They are also the preseason favorite to end Boise State's five-year stranglehold on the Western Athletic Conference.

There's also talk of going 12-0 and breaking into the Bowl Championship Series to prove itself by defeating a big-time school. Sound familiar?

The Warriors are trying to repeat Boise's fairy tale season in 2006.

"There's always a chance to go undefeated," ninth-year coach June Jones said. "You always strive for that until you lose your first one. But we're undefeated now and that's the way it will be hopefully at the end."

His players were more forthcoming.

"We want to be WAC champs and we want to get to a BCS game, and anything below that, we feel would be a disappointment," said junior linebacker Adam Leonard, who led Hawai'i with 114 tackles last season. "So we're going to put the pressure on ourselves to go out and perform."

Despite losing five players to the NFL draft, the Warriors are loaded with talent, confident and experienced.

Hawaii returns 14 starters from last year's 11-3 squad, which finished second in the WAC. Its only conference loss was a 7-point heartbreaker at Boise, where a fourth-quarter fumble by the Warriors led to a Broncos score.

"Obviously I would've loved to beat Boise last year and taken the WAC, but that's what this year is all about and that's what we're fighting for," Brennan said.

After throwing for 5,549 yards and a record 58 touchdowns, Brennan should have another big year with his favorite receivers back.

"Colt is at the point now where he can teach the system," quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison said. "He sees things that he didn't see before and has a great understanding of the system."

Brennan agreed.

"I feel like a veteran and it's an awesome feeling," he said.

But Brennan will have a difficult time matching last year's record numbers. The Warriors, who led the nation in scoring and passing, play one less game and have several opponents that they should be able to blow out early.

Davone Bess, Ryan Grice-Mullen and Jason Rivers are back as starting receivers and will be joined by C.J. Hawthorne, who played cornerback last year. Bess led the Warriors last year with 96 catches for 1,220 yards and 15 touchdowns.

But Brennan won't have running backs Nate Ilaoa and Reagan Mauia blocking or to shovel off to. Both were drafted in the NFL, leaving David Farmer, freshman Kealoha Pilares and Nebraska transfer Leon Wright-Jackson to share the duties, until one of them shines.

Farmer is the best blocker and most experienced, while Pilares is the most athletic and the speedy Wright-Jackson is determined to succeed after he was unable to make an impact with the Cornhuskers.

Left guard Hercules Satele and center John Estes will anchor the offensive line that lost three starters now on NFL rosters. Estes has moved from guard to play center. Larry Sauafea will join Satele at guard with Keith Ah-Soon and Keoni Steinhoff at the tackles.

New offensive line coach Dennis McKnight said the line is as physically talented as last year's, but not as polished.

The Warriors will play a 4-3 defense this year under new defensive coordinator Greg McMackin, who also held the position in 1999. McMackin succeeds Jerry Glanville, who became Portland State's head coach and used a 3-4 defense.

"On the field, he's not like coach Glanville who's always in your face," said defensive tackle Michael Lafaele. "He's real soft-spoken, so whenever he talks, everybody really listens."

Lafaele, who had 32 tackles last year, will anchor the defensive line that lost standouts Ikaika Alama-Francis and Melila Purcell to the NFL. Leonard will be joined by Solomon Elimimian and Blaze Soares at the linebacker position.

The secondary includes cornerbacks Gerard Lewis and Myron Newberry, and safeties Jacob Patek and Keao Monteilh.

Hawaii should have a nice warmup at home Saturday against Division I-AA Northern Colorado, which is coming off a 1-10 season, before going on the road to face Louisiana Tech and UNLV.

Jones said the two road games will tell a lot about the team. Hawaii has a much harder time playing away.

The Warriors will return home to face another Division I-AA opponent in Charleston Southern before playing seven straight WAC opponents, including Idaho, Utah State, San Jose State and New Mexico State.

The toughest challenges come at the end of the season from Fresno State, Nevada, Boise State and Washington. The WAC title could come down to the showdown against the Broncos at Aloha Stadium.

It's a game that all the Warriors are already looking forward to.