Now, THAT was a big win. And in so many ways.

I’d say Hawaii controlled the action at Louisiana Tech from the opening kickoff on Saturday, but it wouldn’t be quite accurate. As the Star-Advertiser’s Stephen Tsai reported, the Warriors even dominated the coin toss; UH captain Royce Pollard took advantage of a Bulldogs midfield representative’s lack of understanding of the rules, and Hawaii received the kickoffs to start both halves.

Also, the Warriors weren’t penalized for doing the haka pregame, like they were in 2007. Hawaii was penalized three times for 10 yards and LaTech was flagged 10 times for 80 yards, prompting Bulldogs AD Bruce Van De Velde to "pursue a review of the officiating."

Things like that usually go against a visiting team. They can add up, and that’s one of the reasons why teams usually do better at home than on the road.

TURNS OUT the unintended deferential treatment by LaTech at the coin toss didn’t really matter.

UH didn’t need the extra possession, and the difference in penalties didn’t make a decisive difference, either. Pollard upstaged his coin-toss cleverness with 216 receiver yards and three TDs.

The Warriors simply outperformed the Bulldogs. Every time LaTech looked like it got a bit of momentum going UH punched back — and harder. Then came the knockout blow, three touchdowns in the space of 2 minutes midway through the third quarter. If this were a boxing match it would’ve been stopped right there.

To use the current hot cliché (just once, I promise), my biggest takeaway from this game is Hawaii didn’t give it away, not even once. Zero turnovers. But the Warriors took advantage of the Bulldogs’ mistakes, scoring on a LaTech fumble and interception.

We had to wonder about UH when it lost at UNLV largely because of turnovers, but now it looks like this team will be like last year’s — a club that has INT as part of its DNA on defense — and not on offense, as Bryant Moniz has been picked just once, on a desperation heave near the end at Washington, three games ago.

UH football has made good headway in recent years in its performances away from the islands. The 0-2 start in road games at Washington and UNLV can be forgotten for now with this win; this is bigger, because it’s the conference. LaTech is the toughest trip for UH in the WAC, and the Warriors were prepared; even LaTech quarterback Nick Isham noted that UH played at a faster tempo than his team.

GREG MCMACKIN has brought home some solid road wins in his four seasons, including two at Fresno State (one of which was Hawaii’s first road win against a ranked team).

The late comeback at Army early last season was a key to UH’s successful season.

On Saturday, McMackin became the first UH football coach with a win in every time zone of the United States in which games are played. I don’t know if that will be enough for him to get that contract extension, but crushing LaTech at their place is a very good start at defending UH’s Western Athletic Conference championship.