The dream is over.
Hawaii's glorious undefeated season crashed and burned New Year's Day at the Sugar Bowl against a demonstrably superior Georgia team.
The Warriors got off to a bad start, as they were flagged for delay of game on their first play from scrimmage. A false start then moved them back five more yards, and they subsequently went three and out—an omen of things to come.
The Warriors were pushed around by the Bulldogs on both sides of the ball.
Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan suffered the brunt of the Georgia defensive attack, taking eight sacks and getting rocked on numerous other hits.
Georgia got consistent pressure on Brennan with just its defensive line, only occasionally bringing the blitz. The Bulldogs' linemen simply overwhelmed the Hawaii O-line.
The success of the defensive line allowed Georgia to blanket Hawaii's receivers, leading to three interceptions of Brennan.
The theme continued when Hawaii played defense, as Georgia's offensive line stood up the Warriors, creating big holes for running backs Thomas Brown and Knowshon Moreno.
Hawaii defenders were often caught overpursuing their targets, which opened up cutback lanes for the Georgia running game.
So what does this defeat mean for Hawaii?
They persevered through disrespect, a weak schedule, and injuries to Brennan to run the table in the regular season and bust into the BCS.
But their subpar performance in a big-time bowl gives their critics ample ammunition to never allow them in again.
It's unfair to compare Hawaii's showing to Boise State's Fiesta Bowl shocker over Oklahoma last year.
You can bet Georgia coach Mark Richt told his players over and over, 'Don't make the same mistake the Sooners did—don't take this team lightly.'
Hawaii didn't have the chance to take Georgia by surprise.
Lest we forget, Georgia is an excellent team. The Bulldogs beat four ranked teams this year, including Florida and Auburn.
Still, the game was expected to be competitive. Instead, Hawaii turned in their worst performance of the season.
But all is not lost for the Warriors.
Brennan may be graduating, but recent years have shown that the offensive system can and will produce without him.
Despite the big loss, Coach June Jones should be able to leverage the exposure from the Sugar Bowl into more recruiting success.
If Jones can continue the team's offensive ways while strengthening their defensive talent, Hawaii can stay atop the WAC for years to come.
One day they may even get another shot at the BCS.
When that day comes, you can be sure the Warriors will be ready.
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6 months ago
Congratulations to Hawaii for having a great season. But in all fairness, they never stood a chance against this Georgia team. Go SEC 6-2
6 months ago
I have seen on this site numerous articles that Hawaii being undefeated in their conference should have been given an opportunity to play for the NC title. I have argued all along that Strength of Schedule was more important than their undefeated status.
They played a very good team in UGA, but UGA did not win their division, Tennessee did, and UGA did not win their conference LSU did. If Hawaii wants to continue to improve then their competition needs to improve. The WAC is weak, and that is not Hawaii's fault, but dominating the WAC will not improve Hawaii's play.
So out of conference play is crucial for Hawaii to improve, so I think their athletic dept has to push to schedule good teams to play. I think next year will be interesting for Hawaii with their scheduled play against Florida, Oregon State, and Cincinnati.
6 months ago
i agree on most points except for the strength of schedule... hawaii has already beat oregon state and cincinnati in the recent past... many of the big ten teams refused to play hawaii this season...
colt brennan will be a successful nfl quarterback, surround him with better lineman and he'll be fine... he never blamed his line for not being able to protect him...
6 months ago
How can anyone say Hawaii deserves to play in the BCS National Championship game after getting completely & totally "DOMINATED" by Georgia! Hawaii was overrated & it showed in the Sugar Bowl! If any teams deserve to play in the National Championship Game its Georgia & USC! Both are playing the best football in the nation!
!!!!!!GO DAWGS!!!!!!
6 months ago
It's all about building a program that people can respect and get behind. June Jones got the ball rolling and this season is a flash of brilliance. The dream is not over. There is more to come. We'll see how Tyler Graunke works out next year. Hawaii probably won't make it back into a BCS bowl for some time. But hopefully they will be able to win and keep winning against tough non-conference opponents.
6 months ago
We will see how Hawaii does against non-conference opponents in 2008 as they open against Florida.
2008 Non-Conference Schedule:
Aug. 30 at Florida------Loss
Sept. 6 Weber State------Win
Sept. 13 at Oregon State ---Loss
Nov. 29 Washington State ----Loss
Dec. 6 Cincinnati----Loss
6 months ago
yes, the season of dream is over... no one expected hawaii to make it this far... the experience of playing in a bcs bowl will pay dividends down the road, and the 4 million payday will be well spent on their facilities... they'll be back...
from 6 months ago
Hawaii deserves a lot of credit for getting this far. To keep going, they need to commit money to improving their facilities, recruiting against the Pac-10 on the West Coast, and making sure they have soap in the players' shower. Their back-up QB looks good enough to keep the offense going next year but your need to cover a lot of bases to win consistently at the highest level.
6 months ago
in the history of college football has a team ever won their last 6 games by 89 points and gone DOWN in the polls?
6 months ago
in the history of college football has a team ever lost 2 of their last 4 games at home to unranked opponents giving up 104 points and gone up 5 spots in the poles?
6 months ago
I dont see how strength of schedule really matters that much. Look at Illinois, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. They all lost about as badly as Hawaii did and no one is talking about their SoS and those teams not belonging in a bowl game. Sometimes you just have a really bad day and sometimes you just come up against a really good football team. All the teams earned their spots in the bowl games they attended.
6 months ago
every year hawaii's best linemen are leaving for pac-10 teams... if hawaii can keep them home that will be a starting point... the position players will come mostly from the west coast... surprisingly many of the 2008 recruits are db's from texas... thanks to june jones the future looks bright...
6 months ago
Hawaii had the firepower at the skill positions to compete with an an excellent UGA defense, but their guards trying to be tackles just couldn't mask their #1 weakness.
6 months ago
hawaii doesn't have the depth at the o-line so the coaches couldn't pull them out... now if the tables were turned and matthew stafford was getting clobbered? the player screwing up would be yelled at, then yanked out for the 2nd string... the hawaii coaches should take the heat for not preparing them for the speed of georgia defense...
6 months ago
Prepare Hawaii for speed all you want. It still wouldn't be enough.
6 months ago
Right on, dudes! Schedule - Schmedule! A 12-0 season is remarkable and any undefeated team should get a chance to play for the National Championship!
Hey I know! Let's let the cheerleaders of the undefeated teams play the 2-loss teams. Why not? Can't be worse than Hawaii - UGA.
6 months ago
it was painful to watch colt getting hammered once too many times... never once did he blame others for the loss... when hawaii won he made sure to give credit to his teammates... i have yet to hear someone coming out and taking some of the blame...
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