Taking advantage of his freedom, Colt Brennan threw for 515 yards and seven touchdowns in air-mailing the University of Hawai'i football team a 49-28 rout of New Mexico State last night at Aloha Stadium.

A crowd of 24,755 watched Brennan fall just shy of the school's single-game record of eight touchdown passes set by Nick Rolovich in 2001.

After departing early in the fourth quarter with a 49-21 lead, Brennan was told of Rolovich's record. Rolovich is serving as a student manager this season.

"I jumped up and said to coach (June) Jones, 'Put me in. I need one more,' " Brennan recalled, laughing. "But Nick was standing right next to coach Jones, and he kept waving, 'no, no.' I told them I was kidding. I was tired. I didn't want to go back in there. I have two more years. There will be more big games to come. I'm not interested in records. I'm interested in wins."

In improving to 2-4 overall and 2-2 in the Western Athletic Conference, the Warriors nearly fulfilled Jones' dream of not calling a running play in a game. The Warriors' first designed rush came on their 62nd offensive play, with 11:18 remaining in the fourth quarter. The previous eight rushes came on Brennan's scrambles.

"I went into the game knowing I had to get Colt a lot of experience," Jones said of Brennan, a third-year sophomore who transferred to UH during the summer. "I went in knowing we wouldn't run. I even told Mouse (Davis, UH's running backs coach), 'I don't have a run on my sheet (of plays).' If I called a run, it would be because it was late in the game. I'm glad we got it going on offense."

Four of Brennan's scoring passes went to right slotback Ryan Grice-Mullen, a second-year freshman who had nine receptions for 137 yards. Left wideout Chad Mock caught 10 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown. Left slotback Davone Bess had seven catches for 128 yards and a unique touchdown.

On Bess' scoring play, Brennan had rolled right and lofted a pass into the end zone. Anticipating a high pass, Bess soared and, while in mid-flight, secured the pass near his inseam.

"After I jumped, I knew I might have made a mistake," Bess said. "I had to adjust, and grab the football. But that's what happens when things are going good."

Brennan said: "He misjudged it, but he made up for it with a great catch. Of course, it was unnecessary, but he looked pretty doing it. ... He deserves some style points."

Because the Warriors entered with no returning starters at the six ball-handling positions on offense, Jones tried to limit the offensive menu through the first five games.

"They had a choke chain on us because they wanted us to learn everything first," said Brennan, who completed 38 of 53 passes last night. "They didn't want us to get ahead of ourselves. It was time to let us loose. Coach Jones told us before the game, 'The sky's the limit. Go out and play hard.' "

During pre-game warmups, Dan Morrison, who coaches the UH quarterbacks, noticed Brennan was throwing with an easy motion. "He really had a nice rhythm, and he had a lot of confidence," Morrison said. "All of those things point to a good night for him."

Brennan said the Warriors were able to decipher the Aggies' schemes. The Aggies ran two defensive formations — one with two safeties in deep coverage, the other with three defensive backs.

"The way they were playing, it was easy to see what they were doing," Brennan said. "When it's easy to see the way they're playing, you can adjust and go. Everybody started making adjustments. The o-line gave me all of the time in the world. The receivers got open. It was a great team effort."

Bess and Grice-Mullen were able to find open space at the end of post routes. Mock was effective on inside screens and curls to the flats. Right wideout Ross Dickerson was effective on a variety of routes.

"Colt had a good game with his reads," Grice-Mullen said. "It wasn't just with me. He was connecting with Chad and Davone and Ross. I happened to be the guy at the end of some of his passes. They always tell you to be ready when your name is called. I tried to be ready."

Grice-Mullen never imagined he would emerge as a go-to receiver, or any receiver at all. He was recruited to UH as a defensive back.

"Right before I signed, Coach Jones asked me if I would be willing to consider being a receiver," Grice-Mullen said. "I said, 'Whatever gets me on the field first.' This got me on the field first. It's all good."

The Warriors, meanwhile, were able to outpace the Aggies, who entered with their version of a four-wide offense. Their twist was a running game featuring Justine Buries, who entered as the WAC's second-leading rusher. Buries did not compete in spring practice because of a leg injury, and he was inactive for the season opener. His play on the scout team earned him a promotion to the playing rotation. Buries rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns last night.

But in the second half, the Warriors adjusted their 3-4 blitzing defense. They moved an outside linebacker to the line of scrimmage, creating a four-man line; dropped safeties Lono Manners and Landon Kafentzis into deep coverage, and called off the all-out blitzes.

New Mexico State quarterback Royal Gill finished 34 of 56 for 356 yards and two touchdowns, but the Aggies scored just one touchdown in the second half.

"That's a tough team to defend," Jones said. "Their splits make it so hard to defend. They do a lot of crazy things. They're going to be real good once they get it going."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.