Fifteen minutes and six seconds into last night's football game with the University of Hawai'i, Louisiana Tech head coach Jack Bicknell gazed at the Aloha Stadium scoreboard and said he liked what he saw.

"At 10-9 (Louisiana Tech, six seconds into the second quarter), I thought we had a chance," Bicknell said, reflecting on the cruel irony afterward.

It was a nice thought while it lasted, which wasn't long at all.

The lead endured for 1 minute, 19 seconds and very little of what Bicknell or the Bulldogs saw after that would be pleasing as the Warriors scored the next 52 unmatched points on the way to a 61-17 victory that approached record levels for retribution at the school. This was victory with a vengeance. A payback with passion.

Not until the final 17 seconds, when Bryan Carroll scored on a 41-yard pass from Michael Mosley did the Bulldogs find the end zone again. And by that time UH quarterback Colt Brennan had long since left the game with 406 yards passing and four touchdowns, signing "Brennan for Heisman" signs along the stadium rail.

The 8-2 (6-1 Western Athletic Conference) Warriors had their school-record tying seventh consecutive victory, but more satisfying was the depth of the payback for last year's 46-14 thumping at Ruston, La. The Warriors came to extend their winning streak to be sure, but this was also an appointment for payback.

Not only do this year's Warriors pile up big scores — last night was the fourth 60-point plus outpouring in five games — they also pay back their tormentors with the kind of interest a loan shark would love. For the turnaround from one season to the next was 76 points worth, second largest in school history. Only a 91-point swing from a 39-7 loss to Texas-El Paso in 2000 to a 66-7 win over the Miners in 2001 was steeper.

"We remembered what they did to us up there last year," said defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis.

The Warriors lost by bigger scores in their 5-7 season of 2005, but none came with the embarrassing sting of the one-sided night in Ruston.

"It was embarrassing to even look at the film again," said assistant coach Rich Miano. "Nobody kicked our (butts) as physically. We had to start showing this year's tapes."

If last year's pummeling was a season lowpoint for the defense, then this was high point illustrating the width of the turnaround. From giving up 327 yards rushing last year, the Warriors whittled it down to 135.

From a team that was run over like roadkill, the Warriors were the ones that left tire tracks. It was a bruising hit parade led by safeties Leonard Peters and Jake Patek, who weren't even on the field last year.

Peters was home watching. Patek, in junior college, wasn't even a Warrior then. But both fed off the theme last night, especially Patek, who came back from 17 stitches to his upper lip, to register big hits.

"We're a family and we all felt what happened last year," Patek said. "It was something we all thought about."

So when the Warriors fell behind last night, "it was a shock in a way," Peters said. "But it was good for us, too. It woke us up."

And, in time, it also roused Bicknell and the Bulldogs from the dream of having any chance in this game.

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