So, this is what fourth quarters are for.

Until rallying to last night's rousing 42-35 victory over Purdue, the fourth quarter of a football game was usually where other teams, not the University of Hawai'i, won — or lost — games in other places.

What the Warriors mostly did in them during eight consecutive previous and largely one-sided wins was empty the bench and shake hands with family and friends in the stands. It was where the Warriors, while winning by an average of more than 35 points a game, planned their post-game excursions. Not where they backed up a No. 25 national ranking and made statements about persistence and character.

But just because the Warriors had been in but one fourth quarter of consequence since, oh, about Sept. 23, didn't mean they didn't know what to do when they finally found themselves challenged in one.

"Well, we haven't really been in this situation," UH head coach June Jones said. "And, I was talking to the team and, in order to be the best, we needed to be able to answer the call when somebody else does."

In that the Warriors made the final 15 minutes of this game their most telling period of the season, overcoming two fourth-quarter deficits and forcing two big turnovers for a school-record ninth consecutive victory.

It was where quarterback Colt Brennan, who has seen precious little fourth quarter duty of note this season, directed three fourth-quarter drives, two of them for 80-plus yards.

The last one ending with 1 minute, 27 seconds remaining and, followed by Adam Leonard's interception, helped send the largest Aloha Stadium crowd (44,298) in 12 games over two seasons, home jubilant.

But not before most of them stood for the haka, the Warriors' now ritual post-victory exclamation point on a 10-2 ... and counting season.

"You couldn't have it any better than this," said sixth-year senior defensive back Leonard Peters. "I mean, I'd rather have it this way, where we proved what we were all about than another blowout."

In that the Warriors finally got their wish. Never mind that the Warriors were 20-point favorites on the Las Vegas betting lines and led 17-0 at halftime. You had a feeling this wasn't going to be like the last eight games. After the New Mexico States, Utah States and Idahos of the planet, the suspicion was that this one would test the Warriors in ways that the bulk of October and November hadn't even begun to.

"The coaches had told us all week this wasn't going to be another cakewalk," slotback Davone Bess said. "That we had to be ready to answer the call."

The only question, indeed the reason a lot of the assembled multitude found their way into Halawa, was to see how the Warriors might handle a fourth-place Big Ten team, their sternest test since Boise State.

"This is a lot sweeter than just another blowout because it tests you," Bess said. "It tests your character, your maturity and your leadership. That's what this one did."

And on a night when they were finally pressed for answers, these Warriors were not lacking in any of them.

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