Someday when Colt Brennan is off chucking touchdowns for pay in the NFL, University of Hawai'i football fans are going to have to put their confidence and trust in the men who are his current understudies, Tyler Graunke and Inoke Funaki.

They are going to need them to pull the Warriors through a tough game or three and when they do, situations like Saturday's are going to be a reason. Nights when the chants of "We want Colt!" — as was the unfortunate refrain from the Aloha Stadium stands — won't be a simplistic option.

We all wanted Brennan, UH's Heisman Trophy candidate, at quarterback against Charleston Southern. His senior year is rapidly winding down and everybody wanted to see another dazzling display of air power and precision passing. It is what we have come to expect. It is part of what has so spoiled us to anything — or anybody — else.

But the operative idea Saturday, the correct one going in, was that you save Brennan and his tender right ankle for nights when you absolutely, positively have to have him. And a game against the I-AA Buccaneers early in the schedule wasn't one of them. Not by a long shot.

Rather, it was the kind of a night and opponent when you give Graunke and Funaki the ball and a chance. Then, you give them a long leash and stick with them through the invariable rough spots. You praise the good they accomplish and let them learn from the rough spots. You do it because you never know when you'll need them in a pinch this year and because you know you'll definitely need them next year at Florida, Oregon State, Boise State and Fresno State.

It is called looking at the big picture and it is what winning programs do. It is part of why they are winning programs. For UH, anything less would have been myopic and foolhardy. Thankfully, whoever was making the calls, head coach June Jones or quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison, was neither of those.

Letting Graunke work through his early struggles, gather experience and eventually find his rhythm was the best thing UH could have done. Thankfully, the coaches weren't swayed by a chorus of muddled thinking to the contrary. Including some, no doubt, with a vested interest in the spread.

Of course, the coaches have also seen Graunke in practice for going on four years now. They've seen him stick around and persevere when it would have been easy to move on to greener pastures, real or imagined. Plenty of others bolted and nobody would have blamed Graunke if he'd joined the exodus. But Graunke stuck with his commitment to the Warriors, investing as much in them as they have in him. He understands that for UH to reach its potential everybody has a role to play even if it isn't always the one they'd choose.

Giving up on Graunke then and there Saturday, as some of the more vocal segments wanted, would have been a colossal mistake for more reasons than just rewarding loyalty. You want to build confidence, not shred it. You seek to encourage tenacity and forge toughness, not jerk Graunke to the sidelines before they can be reinforced. Situations like these are where those traits are built.

Someday you hope Graunke gives his detractors reason to look back at Saturday night and think, "Yeah, we wanted Colt, but we're sure glad they stayed with Tyler."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.