The Hawai 'i football team's just desserts were sweet dreams.

"How did I celebrate?" Bryant Moniz said of his first victory as the Warriors' starting quarterback. "I slept. I was tired."

Following Saturday's 49-36 defeat of Utah State, outside linebacker Blaze Soares said, "nobody wanted to go out. Everybody wanted to go home and sleep."

Perhaps the only Warrior who did not get a good night's rest was the game's star, running back Leon Wright-Jackson, who rushed for 167 yards and three touchdowns.

Last month, Wright-Jackson's wife, DominiQue, gave birth to the couple's first child, Jayla Avolet Kalani.

"She sleeps for two, 2 1/2 hours at a time, if we're lucky," Wright-Jackson said. "There's no consistency. No eight hours of sleep. We do intervals. I'll be up for two hours (at a time) during the night."

Wright-Jackson said spending time with Jayla and DominiQue yesterday was a satisfying reward for the Warriors' end to a six-game losing streak.

He and his wife are enjoying their final two months in Hawai 'i. "We've had a good time here," he said, noting that was the reason the couple asked friends to choose a Hawaiian middle name for their daughter.

"She's a special baby," he said. "Not a lot of people can say they were born in Hawai 'i. We've been here for three years. This is a special place."

Wright-Jackson and his wife are both in their final semesters. They will participate in the Dec. 18 graduation ceremony. After that, they will return to Washington, he said, "and we'll decide what we want to do."

For now, Wright-Jackson is focused on the Warriors' final four games of the regular season.

The Warriors, 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the Western Athletic Conference, need to finish their 13-game regular season with a winning record to become bowl eligible. (Teams with 12-game seasons only need to win six games.) There is an arrangement in which a bowl-eligible UH team will be invited to the Sheraton Hawai 'i Bowl.

Wright-Jackson and Alex Green, who rushed for 110 yards Saturday, have helped revive the Warriors' running attack, which in turn, is helping to ease the pressure on Moniz, a first-year starting quarterback.

Wright-Jackson said he received a call from a fan who said Internet message boards were trying to portray him and Green at being at odds.

Not true, Wright-Jackson said.

"Are you serious?" Wright-Jackson told the caller. "I don't appreciate that talk. We're close. The running back corps is close. Alex and I are looking out for the team. We'll help each other out, do anything to make the team better. We both bleed green for Hawai 'i."

After Saturday's game, Wright-Jackson and Green, who have neighboring lockers, shared jokes. Green told Wright-Jackson and a reporter how he was the homecoming king as a high school freshman.

"I even gave a little speech," Green said.

Moniz, for one, is pleased with the emergence of the running game.

"That's good to see," Moniz said. "That was the good thing about the win. It was a team win. Everybody played well — the offense, the defense, special teams. The coaches did a good job."

The Warriors have the so-called 48-hour rule, a time limit for celebrating victories and lamenting losses.

"I'm probably over it already," said Moniz, who hosted a barbecue last night. "I don't cook. I'm the official taster."

He also said he has recovered from Leilehua, his alma mater, losing to Kahuku in the OIA title game. As part of a bet with some UH teammates, Moniz must wear a Kahuku T-shirt today.

"We'll probably bet again in the state tournament," he said.

NOTES AND UPDATES

• Safety Spencer Smith aggravated a staph-like infection in his right arm in Saturday's game.

Smith was taken to the hospital Friday for the infection. But at 3 p.m. Saturday, two hours before kickoff, he was cleared to play. After aggravating the infection, he was told to wear a sling to stabilize the blood flow.

• The Warriors will not have conditioning workouts this morning. They resume practicing tomorrow morning.