FRESNO, Calif. — The University of Hawai'i football team took all of those IOUs, consolidated them into a dominating performance, and cashed out a 68-37 rout of Fresno State yesterday at Bulldog Stadium.

"This is so sweet I can't even describe it," said UH free safety Leonard Peters, who scored on a 54-yard interception return. "We put it all on the line, and this is the result."

It ended with right tackle Dane Uperesa kicking the "head" of the painted Bulldog logo at midfield, where the Warriors performed the haka while the stunned-into-silence Fresno State Marching Band watched from the side.

It ended with UH slotback Davone Bess pointing at the "Boneyard" — the mock cemetery with bone-shaped tombstones marking the Bulldogs' conquered opponents — and yelling, "Let them go bury themselves!"

It ended with June Jones, after giving his last we're-happy-to-win interview, running into the locker room, jabbing a reporter on the shoulder and flashing the widest grin in his eight seasons as UH head coach.

The Warriors' point total was their most for a road game — and the most a visiting team scored in Bulldog Stadium.

It also put to rest the nightmare of the Warriors' last visit to Fresno, in 2004, a 70-14 disaster in which the Bulldogs attempted an onside kick late in the fourth quarter. Although only 18 of the 60 players on yesterday's UH travel roster played in that game, the bitter story has been passed down to this generation.

"They really stuck it to us the last time," said Uperesa, a senior. "No mercy. No mercy at all. We felt so bad. We knew we had to make it right."

Bess, a UH prospect in 2004, was in the stands for that game.

"It was so embarrassing," Bess recalled. "Right then, I knew I definitely wanted to go to UH. I wasn't even part of that team, but it hurt so bad I wanted to do everything in my power not to let it happen again."

History did not have the slightest chance of a hana hou, thanks to the dart-fling accuracy of Colt Brennan, who passed for 409 yards and five touchdowns; running back Nate Ilaoa, who scored three touchdowns, and a UH defense that forced three turnovers and dazed-and-confused a senior who entered as the nation's seventh-leading rusher.

UH improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. FSU is 1-5 and 1-2.

UH built leads of 28-7, 42-17 at the intermission, and 62-23.

"When we were up 42-14, we said, 'Let's make it the game they made it two years ago," Brennan said.

Brennan, a junior from Irvine, Calif., completed 71 percent of his passes in the Warriors' first five games. Yesterday, he was even better. He was 32 of 39 (82 percent), and made only one inaccurate throw — a pass knocked down at the line of scrimmage. There were four dropped passes; wideout Ian Sample slipped after breaking into the open, and Bess caught a pass outside of the sideline.

"He's so consistently accurate, and he's becoming more consistently accurate," said Dan Morrison, who coaches the UH quarterbacks. "It's a little scary when you think about his potential. And nothing bothers him. It can be day. It can be night. It can be in front of a hostile crowd."

Brennan certainly wasn't flustered by an early deficit — 7-0, when FSU's Bear Pascoe scored on a 75-yard, catch-and-trudge play — or the Bulldogs' initial bump-and-bump-some-more coverages.

On UH's second series, Brennan broke the ice with a shovel pass to Ilaoa, who juked his way for 39 yards.

"Right then, we knew we could move the ball," Brennan said. "We didn't see it on their faces, we saw it on our faces. It was like, 'Here we go. We got a big play. Let's roll.' Once we started rolling, there was no stopping us."

When the FSU defensive backs pressed, the UH receivers ran cut patterns.

"All you had to do was go past the linebackers and it was pretty much one-on-one with the safeties," left wideout Jason Rivers said. "We forced the safeties to make choices. If they pick one, we pick the other. We have so many weapons."

Sample, UH's right wideout, said: "It's really hard to play us one-on-one. All you need is half an inch on somebody, and Colt will find you. Colt is so perfect at placing the ball. His accuracy is crazy. When you're open, you know the ball is coming to you, and it's always on the money. We really don't have to make plays. Colt makes plays for us."

Ross Dickerson led UH with 10 receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown. Bess, who is the nation's leading receiver, had eight grabs for 70 yards. Sample and Rivers each had six catches.

"Colt did a nice job of finding people," Jones said, noting Brennan used a silent count to counter the crowd noise. "We practiced the silent counts all week, but it's not easy, not in this place."

Ilaoa said: "If you want to get rid of the loud crowds, you have to execute."

Ilaoa, the uppercut to Brennan's rat-a-tat passing, powered his way off "Tampa," a play in which he follows a guard pulling from the back side. Left guard Hercules Satele made the key block on Ilaoa's 5-yard scoring run; right guard John Estes led the way on a 20-yard touchdown run.

"He was 'Nasti Nate,' " Brennan said. "We have to keep feeding him the ball and keep him happy."

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, were running on empty. Dwayne Wright, who entered averaging 132.6 rushing yards per game, carried 11 times for 16 yards, including a 12-yard run. He fumbled twice — once when hit by a visually challenged Solomon Elimimian.

Elimimian, the left inside linebacker, said he was struck on the left eye the play before forcing the fumble.

"I couldn't see (clearly) out of my whole left eye for two plays," said Elimimian, who sought guidance from right inside linebacker Adam Leonard. "I was like, 'Adam, what's the play?' My left eye was blurry. All I saw was the guard pull. I knew that was an automatic (run). I scraped downhill, and I saw (Wright's) red shirt, and I just hit him. I was lucky to force the fumble."

To defend the run, the Warriors often turn to their "Jumbo" package, which employs five defensive linemen. This time, the Warriors went with "jumbo shrimp," featuring nose tackle Michael Lafaele, defensive ends Melila Purcell III and Ikaika Alama-Francis, and undersized outside linebackers Brad Kalilimoku (5-10, 213 pounds) and Micah Lau (5-9, 215).

Kalilimoku, who had the Warriors' only sack, moved to outside linebacker last Wednesday.

"Coach told me to have fun and play football, and I had fun and I played football," Kalilimoku said.

Lau, who was making his first UH start, set the defensive tone when he tackled Wright for a 9-yard loss on a screen play in the first quarter.

"We were practicing that the whole week," Lau said. "I was waiting for it to happen. You have to make plays when they put you in. I never think about my size. It's not like I can get taller overnight. Worrying isn't going to get me playing time. I've got to rely on my speed and strength."

The key to UH's defense was Lafaele, who moved from center to nose tackle two years ago. Lafaele was able to control Fresno State's Kyle Young, regarded as one of the nation's best centers. In the Bulldogs' offensive scheme, when the center can't move the nose tackle, the running game dies.

"I just wanted to use my technique and hands," Lafaele said. That wasn't so easy because he suffered a broken middle finger in his right hand during the game.

"The reason we played well is because Mike Lafaele took what was supposed to be one of the best centers in the nation and physically abused him," said Jeff Reinebold, who coaches the defensive line.

Lafaele said: "(Young is) a good player, but I think our center (Samson Satele) is 10 times better, and I face our center every day in practice."

A half-hour after the final whistle, Fresno State coach Pat Hill went into the UH locker room to congratulate Jones. After 10 minutes, Hill emerged, but declined further interview requests.

"I'm done talking," Hill said. "(What happened in the game) says enough."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.