You watched the way the University of Hawai'i football team hung in at Alabama three weeks ago and began to think these Warriors just might have more than a prayer at Boise State.

You studied the victory over Nevada-Las Vegas and the assurance with which the 42-13 thrashing was administered and concluded that if there is a Warrior team that can make a game of it on the smurf turf against the 25th-ranked team Saturday this is it.

In the face of 15-point betting line odds, an early season mirage? Outright delusion?

So, for perspective we bounced the opinion off someone who doesn't bleed green, black, silver or whatever color the Warriors will be wearing this week. Someone with a discerning eye who has seen the Warriors of the recent past up close and personal, when he wasn't running through them for an 85-yard touchdown in 2004. That would be Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky.

And, the verdict from watching tape in Boise is apparently a lot like that from having seen the Warriors from Tuscaloosa and Halawa.

"They play at a (higher) level of intensity and a lot more focus on the road now," Zabransky said in a telephone interview yesterday. "In the past it was fairly apparent that they were just wanting to get back to the island. Now, they're really wanting to win football games and it looks like they're flying to the ball, playing very hard and doing a great job right now."

Indeed, en route to a 69-3 demolition in 2004 and a 58-31 loss in '02, the Warriors looked like they wanted to be anywhere but in Boise. Focus, intensity and maturity weren't part of a word association game.

That, however, was not the case in Tuscaloosa in front of 92,138 partisans. "They were out there to win the football game," Zabransky said. "They weren't just out there. Their coaches and players are really focused on getting it done over there. And, it looks like they are out to win a WAC championship. It is good for them and it is good for the conference."

Indeed, to date in a 1-1 start there has been a lot about the Warriors to hang hope on. There has been a maturity and a focus not always found either early in the season or away from Aloha Stadium. There has, for the last three halves, been an honest-to-Warrior-tradition defense.

There has been a running game. Not just a token one, either. But one that runs over and around people. None of which the Warriors managed to pack for previous visits to "The Blue."

All of which the Warriors will need against the last ranked and best team they are likely to see the rest of this still-young season.

But for the first time in a long time you feel like the Warriors have a chance. One big reason is that even in Boise they are noticing a difference between this team and its painful past.

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