There was something more painful for Hawai'i quarterback Colt Brennan than his injured right ankle.

It was not playing.

"It sucks," Brennan said. "I don't ever want to be in that position again."

Hawai'i passed for 363 yards and five touchdowns in a 66-10 trouncing of Division I-AA Charleston Southern last night at Aloha Stadium. But Brennan had no part in it as he was sidelined with the injury that he sustained the night before last week's game at UNLV.

There was week-long speculation on whether he would play. It was a game-time decision. Brennan said he could've played; his ankle didn't appear to be affecting him during pregame warmups. But he said it was his and coach June Jones' decision.

"It was a decision we made together," Brennan said.

If there was an ideal game to sit one of the most prolific passers in the nation, this was it. After all, the Buccaneers are a I-AA team, the Warriors were heavily favored and at home. But the long-term prevailed.

"I wanted to rest it because even though it felt better, if I didn't get a chance to rest it then, it would've been sore all week and maybe sore the rest of the year," Brennan explained.

Backup Tyler Graunke got the start, completing 22 of 36 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for another. Even third-teamer Inoke Funaki got in, throwing two TD passes from 6-of-9 passing for 78 yards.

Graunke labored in the first half. His first pass of the game was completed to a Warrior. Unfortunately, it was Buccaneers safety Josh Warrior, who intercepted the long pass intended for Malcolm Lane. Warrior said the Buccaneers were looking forward to facing UH's passing offense.

Warrior said. "We use five defensive backs normally, so it kind of plays into our defense, so it was a little comfortable," Warrior said. "It was just the speed was a little different."

As for whether they were disappointed or relieved that they didn't have to face Brennan, Warrior said it didn't really matter.

"We knew whichever quarterback was going to be in, it's the system," he said.

But he did notice a difference between Brennan and Graunke from game film.

"He's a good quarterback," he said of Graunke. "But you could tell the maturity of Colt Brennan, on film, that he can make his reads pretty fast."

Graunke just needed time to find his rhythm. Receiver Ryan Grice-Mullins, who had five catches for 45 yards, said there's a feel between quarterback and receiver that takes some getting used to.

That might have been the reason for Graunke's first-half issues.

"Tyler did a good job," Grice-Mullins said. "We just had to make plays."

Graunke concurred about the adjustment.

"There's definitely a difference in timing with the receivers, in what kind of routes they run," Graunke said. "I'm still not used to these guys. I see them in practice every day, but I don't run with them everyday in practice. There's a big difference. But I gotta step in and do better than that. I just have to be me out there. I can't impress everybody, be Colt or anything like that. It's just a matter of making plays is what it comes down to it."

Even Brennan wasn't sure if he had to end up playing. But he had confidence in the team.

"It's a team game," Brennan said. "Obviously, the team came in and stepped up, gave Tyler some confidence and Tyler was able to come in and (do) some good things in the second half."

Obviously, Graunke was happy to get a start.

"I had fun out there ... to settle down and finally do my thing," he said.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.