For homecoming, the Hawai'i football team brought a potluck of big plays.

The Warriors made an impact in all three phases for a 24-14 victory over Louisiana Tech last night in Aloha Stadium.

A crowd of 36,765 watched the Warriors win their seventh homecoming game in a row, and improve to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Quarterback Inoke Funaki scored his first touchdown since his high school senior season in 2001 and also threw scoring passes to wideout Greg Salas and slotback/running back Kealoha Pilares.

Funaki had a career-best 224 passing yards on 14-of-26 passing. He was intercepted once.

"It's definitely a better feeling than a loss," said Funaki, who improved to 2-1 as a starter. Both of his victories came against teams nicknamed Bulldogs.

But if this were a pie chart, equal slices of credit would go to the defense and special teams.

Dan Kelly continued his run of focused kicking, converting a 30-yard field goal. He has made five of his last six attempts.

"I wanted to get back to that consistency that everybody expects out of us," Kelly said.

The Warriors' kickoff unit also forced a fumble, which was parlayed into a Funaki's 25-yard scoring pass to Salas. Defensive tackle Keala Watson blocked a field-goal attempt.

And the Warriors' defense forced another three turnovers — two interceptions and a fumble. The Bulldogs scored their final touchdown, when running back Myke Compton picked up a fumble in the backfield and ran it in from the 8, with 19 seconds to play.

By then, the suspense was long over, and Tech starting quarterback Taylor Bennett had been banished to the sideline for a quarter.

"I think we all played together as one defensive group," UH outside linebacker Solomon Elimimian said. "We all believe in each other. We wanted to go out there and make plays. In order for us to win, we have to be close. When we play together, we can play with anybody."

That was the case near the end of the first quarter, when the Bulldogs, trailing 7-0, drove to the UH 1. Patrick Jackson took a handoff on a stretch play to the left. Middle blocker Brashton Satele raced over, and knocked free the football from Jackson. Outside linebacker R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane recovered at the UH 6.

"I was kind of surprised," Satele said. "All I wanted to do was tackle him. I had him wrapped up."

Of his defense, UH head coach Greg McMackin said: "They're a fighting bunch of guys. And they play together. And they don't quit. They got in a bad situation, and they came out of it, and created turnovers."

The Warriors' defensive plan, in fact, was to set the tone. Tech's Bennett, it was felt, is a talented quarterback who is at his best when he finds his groove early.

The Warriors wanted to force the action, applying pressure on the first two downs and, especially on third down, sending at least two blitzers. The message was sent in the form of a 5-foot-9 defensive back who is capable of running 40 yards in 4.3 seconds.

On the Bulldogs' opening series, Ryan Mouton, aligned as a cornerback, broke up a streak pass. On the next play, Mouton became the nickelback. He then blitzed from the backside, frightening the left-handed Bennett to throw incomplete.

"We said we were going to come out and try to blitz them," Mouton said. "We said we had to get at (Bennett), try to rattle him. He was moving around, trying to make plays."

While Bennett escaped the grasp of Mouton on one play, it forced him from the pocket, his preferred work space. Bennett, who was on the move most of the game, was limited to 11-of-29 passing for 152 yards. Cornerback Calvin Roberts and nickel safety Desmond Thomas intercepted Bennett passes.

UH's special-team units also made contributions in the first half. Down 7-0, Tech's Brad Oestriecher attempted a field-goal attempt from 53 yards.

The kick did not clear Watson's outstretched arms.

"Not all of us have that 33-inch vertical," said Watson, who is 6 feet 3 and 320 pounds. "I think I got up 3 inches on that one. But that's all I needed."

The kickoff unit also forced a fumble that was instrumental in the Warriors scoring two touchdowns in a 54-second span.

The Warriors' took a 14-7 lead on Funaki's 25-yard lob to Salas in the left corner of the end zone.

"I concentrated on that," said Salas, who was draped by defensive back Terry Carter. "I made sure I caught the ball."

Phillip Livas fielded the ensuing kickoff, and veered to the right. UH's Thomas raced in front, cutting off Livas' access to the lane along the right sideline. While Livas paused, Kiesel-Kauhane hit free the football. Thomas recovered.

"Desmond Thomas was in front of me," Kiesel-Kauhane recalled. "I kind of pushed him toward the guy. (Livas) came back. He stopped and cut back. I wrapped him, and lost him, but I had (my hand) on the back side of the ball. I guess the pursuit came and it popped right out."

Three plays later, from the Tech 20, Kealoha Pilares caught a shovel pass from Funaki. Pilares, who was running to his right, made a U-turn, and raced around the left side for the touchdown.

"I thank the line for that," Pilares said. "They did a good job of sustaining the blocks."

That was all the Warriors needed. With Funaki managing the game, buying time with rollouts or draws, the Bulldogs could not rally.

The coaches had modified the four-wide offense to take advantage of Funaki's elusive running skills. They incorporated bootlegs, play-action passes and gave Funaki the green light in red-alert situations.

Still, the coaches insist that even if the pocket shifts, the plays remain 90 percent true to the basics of the run-and-shoot offense. And that for all of his success as a runner, Funaki still must make the throws.

The Bulldogs tried to cram the tackle box with eight defenders, and they even assigned linebacker Quin Harris to serve as a "spy," tracking Funaki's every movement. But that strategy was aborted when Funaki showed that just because he does not always throw deep, he still is capable of hitting the long passes.

His 53-yard pass play to wideout Malcolm Lane set up the Warriors' first touchdown.

Lane caught the pass at the 30, eluded a defender, then stumbled his way to the 10 before being tackled.

"The whole time I was stumbling, I was hoping there wasn't another dude behind me," Lane said.

There wasn't, but after that, the Bulldogs made sure they covered the deep routes. That opened up more options for Funaki underneath the coverage.

Lane, who suffered sore fingers during the game — X-rays did not show any fracture — said of Funaki: "He can throw it."

The Warriors hope their rejuvenated attack will take them far.

"We're getting better as a football team," McMackin said. "We'll be better next week than we were this week."