So cool, so composed, so Colt Brennan.

Challenged to the end after weekly blowouts most of the previous eight games, Brennan and the Warriors overcame two lost fumbles and an interception, as well as a 35-27 deficit with six minutes, 50 seconds left, to turn back Purdue, 42-35, sending a loud and earthquake-shaking crowd of 44,298 wild at Aloha Stadium.

"It says a lot about the team character," Brennan said. "When things were going bad, guys weren't looking to blame, put negative comments on the guys. Guys were saying, 'It's all right. Don't worry.' That mentality kept us focused and in it and before you know it we had a chance to win."

It also was a relief for running back Nate Ilaoa, whose two fumbles led to touchdowns. His first helped the Boilermakers (8-5) overcome a 17-0 halftime deficit for their first score and the second extended their lead to 35-27.

"I felt I was letting the team down," said Ilaoa, who otherwise had a great day with 159 yards rushing and two TDs, as well as seven catches for 52 yards. "It's just great to know that these guys have my back."

This wasn't three quarters and sign autographs, as it was in previous weeks for Brennan. He pulled a full shift last night, as the Warriors needed all of his 33 of 48 passing for 434 yards and three touchdowns.

After the Boilermakers increased their lead to 35-27 on Curtis Painter's 32-yard TD pass to Selwyn Lymon with 6:50, the Warriors wasted little time coming back, starting at their own 20.

After defensive end Curtis Avril batted down a Brennan pass for the second time last night, the quarterback went unfazed, completing 6 of 6 for 75 yards on the next six plays — there was a five-yard mark-off on an illegal substitution penalty against Purdue — with Brennan hitting Ryan Grice-Mullins over the middle for a five-yard TD pass to pull UH to 35-33. From the right side, Grice-Mullins ran an out and hauled in Brennan's pass for the 2-point conversion that tied the game at 35 with 4:48 left.

"Coach said you guys just have to beat your guy," Grice-Mullins said of the conversion. "Everybody gotta do what they gotta do. Things worked out perfect."

Then Gerard Lewis' interception set up UH's winning drive from the UH 46.

Brennan's first three passes were to Jason Rivers, who caught the first pass for 13 yards and after an incompletion, caught the third for 14 to the Purdue 27. After Brennan scrambled for four yards to the 23, he found Ian Sample cutting across the middle from the right side on the next play. Sample found a wall of blockers along the left sideline with Rivers coming in to take out the last would-be tackler, springing Sample for the last five yards untouched into the end zone to give UH the lead with 1:27 left.

"I knew I just had to read my blocks and my line did a good job blocking," Sample said. "Rivers on the outside did an excellent job of blocking. I was just smiles because I knew I could score"

"I just had to make it," Rivers said of his block. "The same is all around. When you don't have the ball, you have to do your part. Everybody else blocked on that play. It would've been a shame if I didn't block that guy."

Through all of their big plays, the only thing the players talked about was the team's heart.

"This one showed our heart and the kind of ball we play on this island," Grice-Mullins said. "Last couple years, when we got down, it was over. It ain't like that this year. We know we're going to win. We deserve to win."

"You never want a game where you'll be tested, but it's good to know that you can look back on the film and that you can be in dog fights, fight through adversity," Ilaoa added. "Unfortunately, I'm the one fumbling, but we were able to step up as a unit."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.