LAS VEGAS — "Aaaaaurgh!"

Quarterback Colt Brennan let out a wake-the-comatose scream as the adhesive athletic tape was ripped from the skin of his black-and-purple sprained right ankle following Hawai'i's 49-14 football rout of Nevada-Las Vegas last night at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"Look at how bad that looks," Brennan said, pointing to the deep bruise coursing from his ankle to the right side of his right foot. Brennan suffered the injury during Friday's walk-through practice.

"There's no doubt I probably injured it more because I did play on it," Brennan said. "But there's no way I wasn't going to play."

For Brennan, it never hurt so good.

Brennan ran for three touchdowns and threw for two to help the 24th-ranked Warriors complete a sweep of the two-game, 12-day road trip. They are 3-0 for the first time since 1982.

The Rebels fell to 1-2.

Brennan completed 26 of 32 passes — two were dropped — for 298 yards in three quarters. By not playing in the final quarter, his streak of consecutive 300-yard passing games ended at 14. But he set the NCAA record with his 29th 200-yard game in a row.

He also ran nine times for 19 yards.

"I felt bad I had to run him on some quarterback sneaks (for touchdowns)," head coach June Jones said. "But sometimes you've got to take it for the team. He sucked it up and played good."

There were concerns about Brennan's availability. He suffered the injury while playing catch with wideout C.J. Hawthorne.

"I was having fun," Brennan recalled. "When I jumped up to try and catch a football, my ankle gave out, and I heard a loud pop. Within a couple of minutes, it just swelled up."

Brennan limped across the field, where he was met by athletic trainers Eric Okasaki and Brian Wong. Brennan was taken to the training room, where he was treated with ice packs.

"I knew right away something wasn't right," Brennan said. "(The trainers) attacked (the injury) all night and all morning and all afternoon. They did a great job to make sure I could play."

But yesterday morning, Brennan said there was a "sharp pain" in the ankle. Backup quarterback Tyler Graunke was told to be prepared.

"I was questionable," Brennan said. "We thought Tyler was going to play most of the game. I didn't know how much I was going to play."

Brennan answered those concerns during pregame warmups, as the stands begin to fill with spectators wearing black or green.

"When I saw the atmosphere, there was just no way I wasn't going to play," Brennan said. "I was going to be the best one-footed player."

Brennan received a shot of cortisone to numb the pain. His right ankle was heavily taped. A second layer of tape was wrapped around his sock.

Left slotback Davone Bess said several teammates approached Brennan and told him: "We've got your back. We know you're not 100 percent, but we're here to help you get the 'W.' "

Left tackle Keith AhSoon said: "I wasn't worried. Colt can play with one leg, with no legs, and he'll be good."

In the locker room before the game, Brennan made a promise.

"I've never been an arrogant guy," he said. "I've been confident, but never arrogant. But I told everyone I would have the best game of my life on one foot. I was so excited to come out here and make a statement."

After the first UH drive fizzled and then after staking UNLV to a 7-0 lead, Brennan seized control.

Facing an eclectic defense — the Rebels dropped four defensive backs in a zone and attacked with the others — Brennan repeatedly found an open receiver in the creases. When the corners played tight, wideouts Hawthorne and Jason Rivers ran slant patterns. When the corner cheated to the inside. Brennan and Hawthorne collaborated on a 46-yard play off a streak route. Hawthorne finished with nine catches for 104 yards.

Brennan was sacked once in 38 potential pass plays, and often scrambled out of trouble. On one, Brennan looped away from a man hunt, then pointed to an open area where he lofted a pass that became slotback Ryan Grice-Mullins' 13-yard touchdown. On another, Brennan eluded a blitz to thread a short pass to running back Leon Wright-Jackson, who turned it into a 21-yard play.

"One thing I've got to say, walking into this game, I knew I would be limited," Brennan said. "My team — my o-line and receivers — filled in with so much love and pride.

"This is no dis. I know there are some very talented receivers out there across the country. But there's no doubt the best receiving corps in the country is at the University of Hawai'i. Everyone says: 'How do you make it look so easy?' Well, geez, it's easy when you have my receivers. The reason is the way they work together and the way they play together."

Several times, the receivers improvised to help out when Brennan was scrambling.

"We're all on the same page," said Rivers, who caught a 3-yard scoring pass from Brennan. "We rallied around Colt."

UNLV linebacker Beau Bell said: "We knew how good he was coming in. We didn't expect him to run out of the pocket so much."

Neither did the Rebels expect Brennan to carry the ball three times in goal-line situations. He scored on two 1-yard sneaks and a 3-yarder that made it 28-7.

UH's offense provided a boost for its defense.

The Rebels easily marched down the field to take a 7-0 lead, with the final 6 yards coming on a screen play from Travis Dixon to 240-pound tailback Frank "The Tank" Summers.

The Rebels operate out of spread offense, in which they utilize as many as five receivers, to thin defenses. They often would motion a player into the backfield for a reverse or as a running back. On that first drive, the Rebels aligned in wide splits, then handed off to Summers.

"Stuff like that is going to happen," defensive tackle Michael Lafaele said of the Warriors' 7-0 deficit. "We can't get riled up about one touchdown. Coach (Greg McMackin, the defensive coordinator) told us to relax and not get stressed."

The Warriors adjusted on the Rebels' next possession, moving nickelback Keao Monteilh and safety Jacob Patek near the line of scrimmage to create an eight-man front.

The move slowed the Rebels' running game. When Brennan found his groove, the Rebels became desperate, playing catchup by abandoning the running game.

"They tightened their splits and started to throw the ball," McMackin said, "so then we could go after them."

The result was the Warriors increased their number of blitzes. The byproduct was cornerback Ryan Mouton's 40-yard interception return for a touchdown, making it 42-7 with 1:10 remaining in the third quarter.

Summers had 30 yards rushing in the first quarter, 13 the rest of the game. Dixon was sacked once, but hit many more times.

"Everybody stayed calm and confident," middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian said.

After the game, the Warriors performed an encore of their new haka. Brennan did several interviews before retreating to the visitor's training room.

"I told everyone I wanted to have my best career game," Brennan said. "Statistically it wasn't but emotionally it was."

As his ankle was being treated, several offensive linemen entered the room to check on Brennan.

"As you can see," Brennan told a reporter, "they give the love. I love these guys more than anything, man. And our defense, you can't ask for a better performance. It's great being on this team."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.