SEATTLE — If it wasn't the trains that ran behind Qwest Field last night making noise, it was a University of Hawai'i defense that hit like an express.

"Coach (Greg McMackin) has coached in that stadium before in the NFL and he told us you can hear a good hit all over the place," said linebacker R. J. Kiesel-Kauhane. "So, we wanted to make some noise."

A Warrior defense that forced seven turnovers — two of which led to touchdowns — did just that in a 38-20 battering of Washington State.

"You could really hear some of them (hits), they were loud, especially when their (WSU's) side was quiet," Kiesel-Kauhane said. "You've got to love it, that's the way the game is supposed to be played."

Safety Spencer Smith said, "hard-hitting play is our personality. Hopefully, we got into their heads a little bit."

Those that the Warriors didn't loosen anyway.

Smith had one of the biggest with 9 minutes, 15 seconds left in the second quarter when he leveled tight end Skylar Stormo.

"Give them credit, they (the Warrior defense) made things happen. They made a lot of plays," WSU coach Paul Wulff said.

"That's something we pride ourselves on is our hitting the other football team," McMackin said. "And we've got a bunch of guys that will hit you. We want to play like Warriors. They played like Warriors today — and I'm very proud of that."

"In a meeting coach asked us if anybody was recruited by Washington State," Kiesel-Kauhane said. "And there were only a few guys who raised their hands. We knew they looked down upon us. He (McMackin) told us there was a lot of talk about how Washington State might have only two wins and they were counting of us to be one of them. We kinda felt that was disrespectful to us and we wanted to come out and show something."

SLOTBACK SALAS MADE EYE-CATCHING PLAYS

The eyes definitely had it for UH slotback Greg Salas.

In eye black etched with white, one eye had "mom" written under it. The other read "dad."

"I do that when my parents come to the game," Salas said.

And he put on quite a show to celebrate their trek from Chino, Calif., with seven receptions for a career-high 195 yards and a touchdown.

It was the 16th consecutive game Salas has had at least one pass reception.

His 195 yards in receptions were the most by a Warrior since Ryan Grice-Mullins had 195 against New Mexico State in 2007.

DROPPING UH FROM SCHEDULE HELPS WSU

WSU coach Paul Wulff defended the Cougars' decision to pay $300,000 to buy their way out of the final scheduled game of the three-game series in 2011 at Aloha Stadium.

He said he wasn't "necessarily (disappointed in losing the 2011 game) because we gave ourselves more flexibility (in scheduling). In this day and age it is very difficult to play 12 straight games without an (open date) in there somewhere."

Wulff said dropping UH, "gives us some of that and also gave us, maybe, an opportunity to have another home game. That's an advantage for us."

NOTES

UH officials said the Warriors suffered no major injuries. ... Washington State reported a broken leg and at least two concussions.