Any debate about the best receiver in the history of University of Hawai'i football may have been ended by Davone Bess yesterday.

Bess caught a school-record 15 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns, helping lead the Warriors to a 39-27 victory over Boise State at Aloha Stadium.

One of his finest games in an already stellar career at Hawai'i came in a victory that clinched the Western Athletic Conference title for the Warriors.

"I'm so happy, I'm speechless," the 5-foot-10 junior said. "I give all the credit to my teammates. Without the line blocking, and without Colt (Brennan) throwing me the ball, I'm nothing."

Bess' 15 receptions topped the previous mark of 14 that he shared with teammates Jason Rivers and Ryan Grice-Mullins.

His most memorable catch of the game — a 22-yard touchdown catch-and-run in the third quarter — was almost the most costly.

While sprinting down the sideline toward the end zone, Bess went into a forward somersault at around the 4-yard line and scored the touchdown in style.

It also came with a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration.

"It was just me showing my emotion," he said. "I was thinking about getting into the end zone, that's all. I wasn't trying to show off or anything like that. I saw the goal line and wanted to get there so bad."

His touchdown gave the Warriors a 26-17 lead, but the penalty helped Boise State take over the next possession at midfield. The Broncos proceeded to score a touchdown to cut the Hawai'i lead to 26-24.

Bess said head coach June Jones gave him a little advice after the touchdown.

"Coach said I should know better, and I should," Bess said. "He said that I'm smarter than that.

"He wasn't yelling, but it fired me up, I tell you that. I was really focused the rest of the game."

As proof, 10 of Bess' receptions came in the second half for 136 yards.

The touchdown also marked the 39th time that Bess caught a touchdown from Brennan. That ties the NCAA record for a quarterback-receiver combination with Louisiana Tech's Tim Rattay and Troy Edwards.

Bess is already UH's all-time leader in receptions with 281, and in receiving touchdowns with 41. He is second in receiving yards with 3,508. Teammate Rivers, who is a senior, is the career leader in receiving yards with 3,647.

"I'm definitely honored, don't get me wrong," Bess said. "But I give all my teammates the credit."

This season, Bess has 96 receptions — six away from the school record set by Chad Owens in 2004 — with two more games to play.

But it wasn't all about Bess. As they have all season, the four starting receivers for Hawai'i shared the load yesterday.

Rivers caught 11 passes for 113 yards; C.J. Hawthorne had five receptions for 111 yards; Grice-Mullins caught five for 55 yards. They each scored a touchdown.

"We all take turns — we've been doing that all season," Hawthorne said. "Davone made some huge catches on third down, Jason came up with some big catches, Ryan did his part, and I did mine."

Hawthorne's 38-yard catch late in the third quarter gave the Warriors the 39-27 lead.

"I think we all played great," he said. "Not just the receivers, the O-linemen, Colt, the defense, everybody."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.