No one is expecting much of a struggle Saturday night when the 23rd-ranked Warriors host the rebuilding Bears in the season opener for both teams. That doesn't matter much to Brennan, who passed on the NFL to return for a special senior season.

"Everyone respects Ws. That's all we have to focus on," Brennan said. "Whether it's by a hundred points or by five points or one point, it doesn't matter. We just have to win the game."

For the first time, the Warriors have a Heisman Trophy contender in Brennan, are ranked entering the season and are favorites in the Western Athletic Conference. There's also talk of going 12-0 and breaking into the Bowl Championship Series.

"We walk into this season wanting to be undefeated," Brennan said. "That is what's expected of us. We want to win every game."

The question is: can Brennan and the Warriors live up to the expectations, and hype? This game will do little to answer that.

The Bears, members of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly called Division I-AA) struggled to get anything going on offense last year, averaging just 11.7 points a game. They finished 1-10 in their first season in the Big Sky Conference, and have lost 15 of their last 16 road games.

Warriors coach June Jones said that makes the Bears a threat.

"They're going to come over here and do everything they can to win the game. They've got nothing to lose," he said.

Despite losing five players to the NFL draft, the Warriors are loaded. Hawai'i returns 14 starters from last year's 11-3 squad, which finished second in the WAC behind Boise State.

A lot of Hawai'i's expectations hinge on its golden-armed quarterback, Brennan, who tied or broke 18 NCAA records last year when he completed 72.6 percent of his passes for 5,549 yards and 58 touchdowns.

Hawai'i had the nation's No. 1 offense last year, averaging 46.9 points and 559.2 yards, en route to tying a school record with 11 wins in 2006. Brennan said the run-and-shoot offense is much more confident this year despite losing three starters on the line and two running backs.

"I think the O-line and running backs will come along and we'll have a chance to be unbelievable like last year," Brennan said.

The Bears will have trouble keeping up with Hawai'i's deep receiving corps, including Davone Bess, who had 96 catches for 1,220 yards and 15 touchdowns.

On defense, the Warriors will debut their new 4-3 defense under new defensive coordinator Greg McMackin. He succeeded Jerry Glanville, who became Portland State's head coach and used a blitzing 3-4 defense.

"As far as defense, we played good at times last year, but what McMackin brought in was consistency," linebacker Solomon Elimimian said.

Elimimian and fellow linebacker Adam Leonard are the backbone of Hawai'i's defense, along with defensive tackle Michael Lafaele.

"We have the mentality this year that we want to score, too," Elimimian said. "We have the confidence that we want to score, maybe not as much as the offense, but we want to score."

Quarterback Dominic Breazeale, who threw for 1,018 yards with nine interceptions and two touchdowns, will start for the Bears. He struggled last season, but he'll have receiver Andy Birkel to throw to this year. A knee injury forced Birkel to miss the entire 2006 season after catching 50 passes for 907 yards and 10 TDs in 2005.

"They had a rough year, so they've got a lot to prove and are really trying to come out here and make a statement," Brennan said. "You don't know what kind of team is going to walk out here.

"If you don't take them seriously enough and a couple things drop their way and before you know it, you find ourselves in a real tough ball game."

While Brennan made national headlines during the offseason, so did the Bears.

Backup punter Mitchell Cozad was convicted in the Sept. 11, 2006, in the stabbing attack of starting punter Rafael Mendoza. Cozad is locked up in a Greeley jail, awaiting his Oct. 2 sentencing. He faces between five and 16 years in prison.

Mendoza is expected to start Saturday. His backup is freshman Cameron Kaman.

Hawai'i, meanwhile, didn't really need a punter last year. The Warriors played five games without punting.

The Bears were a last minute add-on for the Warriors, who had trouble completing their schedule. Hawai'i ended up with two Division I-AA opponents this year, which won't do anything for Brennan's Heisman chances and Hawaii's BCS goals.