WAC Football & Basketball blog

The Georgia defense just proved to be a little more than Hawaii could handle, as the Warriors saw their historic season come to a disappointing end in a 41-10 rout in the Sugar Bowl.

Hawaii inevitably got their 300+ yards passing, but it didn’t come until the end, when Georgia had the game well in hand, and Colt Brennan was on the sidelines, with backup Tyler Graunke in for the last several minutes after the Bulldogs had battered Brennan to the point of submission, sacking him eight times, with the last one by Geno Atkins early in the fourth signaling the end of Brennan’s night and collegiate career, as June Jones smartly sat him for the final 13 minutes with the result beyond doubt.

Hawaii turned the ball over six times, which is a record for a BCS game, surpassing the five by Oklahoma in the 2005 Orange Bowl and Miami in the ‘03 Fiesta Bowl.

Tonight was Hawaii’s chance to prove that they belonged on the national stage, but in the end, Georgia was the team that did the proving.

But, despite the way the night turned out, it was a great season for Hawaii, and for Brennan, who had a rough night against Georgia (22 of 38, 169 yards, 3 INT), but it was one of very few in the last few seasons.

Where does Hawaii go from here? Well, Graunke likely takes the reins for the 2008 season, and he and the Warriors will have quite the season-opening test, as they’ll be going to Gainesville to take on Heisman winner Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators at the Swamp.

Graunke shouldn’t be too fazed by the atmosphere, as he started at USC in 2005, and he’s also had three other starts in his career. Jason Rivers is done, but Graunke will have Ryan Grice-Mullen and Davone Bess to throw to, and he’s sure to have other reliable targets as well. Besides those guys, the Warriors will return several more key players on both sides of the ball, and they‘ll have an excellent chance to repeat as WAC champions.

So, this may just be the beginning for Hawaii, so even though they came out on the short end tonight, maybe things will go much, much better the next time, which could be in the not-so-distant future.

It’s been a disastrous night for Hawaii in New Orleans, as the Big Easy has been anything but to the Warriors, as Georgia is running away with the Sugar Bowl, up 31-3 late in the third quarter. Colt Brennan has been sacked seven times, with one leading to a fumble that was recovered by Georgia and returned for their latest touchdown, and he’s also been picked off three times, the last one coming moments ago after Hawaii had moved into Georgia territory.

Georgia has had their way on both sides of the ball, and Hawaii has helped them out with several mistakes (turnovers and penalties).

The Bulldogs just capitalized on Brennan’s third interception, scoring on Thomas Brown’s second touchdown run of the night to go up 38-3 with less than two minutes to go in the third.

The deficit may be too big for the Warriors to overcome now, but hopefully they’ll at least make the score respectable and put their best foot forward for the last 16+ minutes, so that they can go out with their heads held high. They got a big kick return into Georgia territory, so that’s a start.

The BCS is a exclusive party, but for the 2nd straight season a WAC team is crashing the party. The 12-0 Hawaii Warriors, the lone undefeated team in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A), will face the SEC’s Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl on January 1st. College Sports Fans has released their 2008 Sugar Bowl preview where they take an in-depth look at the Sugar Bowl match-up of Hawaii and Georgia and make their pick for the inner of this game.

Find Hawaii Warriors clothing & apparel online at DFN Sports sites.