Three and out.
Just like that, it was over after the first offensive drive for Colt Brennan and Hawaii.
Don’t act so surprised. Oh, you’re not? I wasn’t all that shocked either.
Knowshon Moreno found the end zone twice in the first quarter, and the Georgia Bulldogs’ defense looked like they were playing against a high school football team from start to finish Tuesday night in the Sugar Bowl.
Unfortunately for Hawaii—and their Heisman Trophy finalist QB—the Warriors looked nothing like the highest-scoring team in the nation.
With Georgia leading 24-3 at the break, the Bulldogs looked just as poised and ready to start the second half as they did in the first. On Hawaii’s first possession of the second quarter, Brennan was sacked by Roderick Battle, and subsequently picked off by Asher Allen.
Brennan seemed poised to score on his next possession. Unfortunately, his score was for the wrong team.
After dropping back to pass, Brennan was introduced to the soon-to-be-named MVP of the bowl, Marcus Howard.
Blowing right past Hawaii’s overmatched tackle, Howard crushed Brennan, causing the fumble and the ball to find it’s way into the endzone. The Georgia senior promptly followed the way of the ball, providing a defensive touchdown for the Bulldogs.
Brennan’s night, and his college career, would come to an end after being slammed to the ground by Geno Atkins. He made his way to the sideline finishing with an unimpressive line of 22 of 38 for a mere 169 yards, with three INTs, no TDs, and two fumbles lost.
"It was the fastest team I’ve probably ever seen," Brennan said after the game was finally over.
Hawaii would eventually find its way into the correct endzone behind Brennan’s backup Tyler Graunke. His 16-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Grice-Mullen would prove to be as meaningless and as feeble as Hawaii’s entire night.
The Sugar Bowl, and the night, belonged to Howard and the Georgia defense. When it was all said and done, Howard would finish with three sacks, two forced fumbles, and a tip that would aide in a teammate’s interception.
This night showcased the speed and talent of an impressive Georgia team, and certainly reiterates the notion that football is a team sport. As great as Colt Brennan has been, Georgia showed what an entire team of talent can do in the spotlight.
Along with Howard’s MVP performance, the Bulldogs’ D left New Orleans with six takeaways, and some well-deserved respect—not to mention helping to set a new team record for points scored.
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9 months ago
Classless is what I call the GA Bulldaug coaches and players and the officials of the sugar bowl. After inumerable LATE hits on Colt Bennan finally they made a correct call. The game would have been quite different if the officiating had been at all fair. I only hope and pray that Mark Richt will get His down the road. I lost all respect for him last night. But I hope Colt Brennan will not give up as he might have some protection in the NFL - the officials could not be as poor as the ones officiating this game.
Disgusted in GA
9 months ago
I totally agree with you! Ugh! GA makes me sick! Their pride is so high and their class is so low! Not only was their attitude so gross but I hope they never make it to a Top game that they think they deserve. They don't deserve anything more than a good fall to make them humble.
9 months ago
Hawaii's pride was so high before the game too. but after the game its fans like you who are making the whole fan base sound like classless sore losers. How can you say the refs had a hand in a game in which Hawaii LOST BY 31! Goodness. Colt looked atrocious. Hawaii's D looked atrocious. Deal with it.
As for the SEC speed thing...I think that's blown a little out of proportion. UT isn't a particularly fast team. Nor is Miss. State, Kentucky, Alabama, Carolina, or Arkansas. Florida looked about as fast as the supposedly slow Michigan team from the supposedly slow Big Ten Conference (if you don't believe me, see how Manningham and Arrington carved up that defense all day).
UGa and LSU are damn fast on both sides of the ball, granted. But this whole SEC speed myth just isn't true. Only the cream of the crop teams can hold this distinction
9 months ago
Why are you talking trash about UT? They were fast enough to blow you right out of Knoxville!! I think the final score was UT-35 & GA-14, not bad for a team that's not the cream of the crop!! Live with that DickHead!! Vince Dooley has fallen & he can't get up!!
from 7 months ago
good since vince and ray and jim we win a lot more games.
9 months ago
Georgia dominated the game...........period..............end of story........
Love em or Hate em......Hawaii had never seen a defense like that all year.
That was painfully obvious to June Jones......Hawaii plays Florida soon.
June wanted to get a feel for how his team would do against the premier
conference in the country. He won't be talking about the system quarterback
Tebow anymore. Face it guys.......The Top teams of a lot of conferences can
play with the top teams of the SEC, but the middle tier teams in the SEC are
far superior to the middle tier teams in all the other conferences period.
Anyone who doesn't believe it, Ask QB at Wisconsin (Donovan) about a middle
tier SEC defense at UT.
from 9 months ago
June Jones might be going to SMU and miss his date at the swamp....we'll see what he says at the press conference!
9 months ago
Oh come on. I can't believe what I'm reading. What was GA supposed to do - not even try to stop Brennan and Hawaii? It's not their fault that anemic offensive line of HI couldn't even stop a THREE MAN RUSH! It's not GA's fault that there were late hits on Brenna - I'm not agreeing that there were by the way - that the refs didn't call. They were simply playing the game to the best of their ability.
Ever think they might have been a little pissed about that idiot Jones on the HI team who completely leveled the GA player on the opening kick off? If anyone was an unsportmanlike jerk, it was him - and not just on that one occasion either.
Now can we please stop acting as if winning the WAC somehow puts that team on the same level as top tier BCS conference team. Yes, I know Boise beat OU last year, which was a huge upset and a great game. But, more times than not, this is what you are going to get. A really crappy mismatch in a BCS game. Beating WAC teams and a Pac 10 bottom feeder, does not mean you are one of the best teams in the country.
Hawaii opens up with Florida next year, and I hope its every bit as ugly as this game, so realism starts setting in again, and we realize the WAC is a nice mid major conference, but not on par with the SEC or other major conferences.
9 months ago
Classless?
As W. says above, what about that Jones character for Hawai'i? O yeah, and if you didn't know he was arrested earlier this year for PUNCHING and KICKING his girlfriend and then refusing to leave her apartment.
I am sorry. I didn't see a single UGA player blatently try to decapitate a Hawai'i player, then take off his helmet and do a thug dance all up and down the sideline.
I didn't see late hits on Brennan. What I saw were massive hits on Brennan. There is a difference. The announcers on Faux going off on UGA for going for it on 4th down with backups in was another thing. Have these guys ever watched college football? These are backups that might not ever get a chance on this stage again. What is the team supposed to do? Take a knee with 10 minutes to go in the game against the highest scoring offense in college?
This is ridiculous that people call this classless. Classless is hitting your girlfriend. It's not smacking the opposing QB in a football game.
For the record I did feel bad for Brennan. Getting humiliated is never fun. But I also don't understand why he signed up for that personal interest story before the game where it made him look like the victim. He broke into a girl's dorm room and exposed himself. There was not a mention of that act. All that was said was he made a mistake. Damn straight you made a mistake. I am glad you learned from it and got another opportunity, but don't sign up for stories on it if you can have the balls enough to admit what you did, word for word.
9 months ago
Let me see if I understand you correctly. According to you, the officals were the reason for the Georgia win and Georgia's team really had nothing to do with it. In every game played there is always calls that should have been made but were not by the officals. But according to you the great plays Georgia made didn't matter.
9 months ago
The fact this game happened is a joke. It is a good thing no one on Hawaii's team was killed.
Fox Sports Cast suck, that was pathetic and classless.
Fact: UGA could have scored 100 if they wanted to and in a BCS Bowl against what is supposed to be one of the 10-15 best teams who can blame them.
The biggest mismatch I have ever seen from a physical standpoint. UH could do nothing.
9 months ago
Man, the whining about a 12-0 pretender getting their a$$ handed to them by a non-pretender. I did feel sorry for Brennan and the entire Hawaii entourage at some point in the game. But I felt sorry for them in the same way I feel sorry for people who get caught in a scam and lose lots of money to some crook. Hawaii fans, and players, had been led to believe that going 12-0 with that pathetic schedule was putting them on the same level with true, top-tier teams. Also, the fact that they were playing Georgia was an additional factor. Georgia, right now, is arguably the best football team in the nation. Add to that, Georgia was jumped in the polls by three teams when it looked like they might be sliding in through the back door into the national championship game.
Georgia had a huge statement to make, and boy, they made a statement in a huge way. Georgia was also not going to be Oklahoma-BSU II and live with that.
Poor Hawaii just walked right into a ferocious buzzsaw.
I hate it for the Hawaii fans who took out huge loans and stuff like that to make the game. I'm sure that they sincerely believed that they had a legitimate chance to win that game and make an argument for being #1 in the nation. The outcome could not have been worse for them. I can certainly feel pity for them.
9 months ago
The Hawaii team seemed interested more in getting their faces on TV than in playing football.
That Ha'a dance that Hawaii does before the game is thuggish, and doesn't belong on the field. Do they have a different dance they do after they've gotten their asses whipped before a national audience?
9 months ago
I have watched MANY games from Hawaii (west coast tv coverage). The Warriors don't hesitate to run up the score, even though the outcome of the game has been settled. I understand that they are just running their offense. I have also seen call after call go against visiting teams in that stadium. I don't think the officiating was bad at the Sugar Bowl. Georgia was a vastly superior team. I'm sure most of the country would agree. To say GA won the game because of the officials is just crazy. There was an obvious mismatch in talent and preparation. I'm not a Georgia or Hawaii fan. I'm just callin it the way I see it.
College Fotball Fan in Alaska
9 months ago
"That Ha'a dance that Hawaii does before the game is thuggish, and doesn't belong on the field. Do they have a different dance they do after they've gotten their asses whipped before a national audience?"
The team does the same thing after a game as they do before the game whether it is a win or loss. The ignorance of people calling it a thuggish dance just shows how little you know. It is nothing like the pregame antics of many other teams that use intimidation tactics but because people dont know about it they assume that is what it is. If you pay attention you will notice that they never do it toward an opponent but direct it toward their section of the fans. It is part of the culture that this team has integrated into the team for the past few years.
And dont anyone dare disrespect anyone from Hawaii as having no class. How many other fans and teams would have stayed for the whole game after a beating like that? The Hawaii fans dont feel like it was an embarassment. They did what they could and ended up against a very good Georgia team and got beat bad. The fans still stayed to the end of the game and sang the Hawaii anthem with the team with pride. Most other fans would have left the game by halftime and most other teams would have sulked away to the locker rooms.
As far as the refs go it happens no matter where you play. I agree that Hawaii tends to get alot of calls at home. And it is unfortunate that it happens that way. But if you dont think it matters even in a lopsided game think again. Dont you think it would have slowed the pass rush a bit if they started getting late hit calls instead of being able to just tee off on Brennan? Even for Brennan he must have been asking himself how early he has to get rid of the ball not to get hit all the time without drawing a penalty from the defense. It changes the whole environment of the game to the point where you dont really know how it would affect the outcome.
9 months ago
What country are you from? Oh right, Alaskans play "Fotball". Hawaii never ran up the score on other teams. They're a passing offense and they pass 100% of the time. The shovel pass is their only running play.
Did you expect UGA to stop scoring because Hawaii couldn't stop them?
9 months ago
Hawaii is a Joke just like the rest of that conference. We have real football players on the field here on the mainland. We don't have to recruit from the local detention centers. Face it UH, your players got the ass kicking that obviously there parents never gave them growing up. I'm not a UGA fan but I can tell you that Mark Richt is a class act and he took it easy on you with the score.
9 months ago
Jason you are a joke. Yeah Hawaii has some players with troubled pasts but what we do is offer them a second chance and teach them true values. What do your so called real football players on the mainland get? Thrown in jail for dogfighting rings. Suspended for cheating. Banned for drugs, steroids, stealing, etc. We take thugs and turn them into positive role models. You take spoiled kids and turn them into thugs.
9 months ago
i guess you didnt see the the major illegal helmet to helmet hit which was also illegal because he didnt allow the returner to catch the kick when hawaii kicked to georgia the first time. PLease ...stop whinning there were many times hawaii players illegally hit or did something classless. Only when they knew they were going to lose did they look to be sportmans and have class. Get real people you did all this talking before and like everyone knew you didnt play any good competition and got it handed to to you. SO get over it and come up with something better than this. oh and for all the SEC HATERS>> thats 6 wins and 2 loses and one to go.
9 months ago
Watch the replays. He was pushed from behind and still got there about the same time as the ball did. He still got the penalty but its not like he did it intentionally.
from 9 months ago
You are naive if you think that the hit Jones put on Henderson was not intentional. The blocker did a sorry job of blocking, but Jones dove through the air with a helmet to helmet contact at full speed. I am surprised that it didn't break his jaw. Mikey Henderson was a senior playing his last game and that play was it.
As far as late hits, I didn't see what you saw. I saw a team running as fast as they could to the quarterback and there is no way to avoid contact when the q-back is throwing the ball at the last possible minute. Make no mistake, part of the game plan was to get licks on Brennan and let him feel the pressure, but it was all within the rules of the game. It happens every week in the SEC.
Hawaii was simply out-manned by a better team.
As far as running up the score, Richt is playing his second and third stringers who also worked all year to get to the bowl and most were seniors playing in their last game. He could have kept the first team in and scored for sure or even kicked the sure field goal. If anything Richt is famous for calling off the Dawgs and not posting eye-popping scores like some teams do against inferior teams (Hawaii).
9 months ago
With UGA ahead 38-3 in the 3rd quarter. Mark Richt issued a challenge for a Hawaii catch. If that's not rubbing salt in the wound I don't know what is.
Only Keenan Jones knows if he did it on purpose. If you ever played the game of football then you know things happen. Jone's got his helmet ripped off and Georgia player wasn't flagged. That's the referee's way of evening the score.
from 9 months ago
It was a fourth down play that would have resulted in a first down. Should he concede a non-catch that happened right in front of him? His whole team watching and thinking aren't you going to challenge that coach? It's not his place to assist Hawaii back into the game. You can't give a break to a high powered offense.
Rubbing salt in the wound would have been leaving the first team in and really running up the score.
As far as the helmet coming off Jones. You are correct. After Jones maliciously and intentionally tried to take Henderson, a senior, out, I am sure that he was a marked man. I have no doubt that he was going to get it rough every time he came into contact with a Georgia player. I don't blame them. It wasn't an accident that Jones hit Henderson the way he did and all the Georgia players knew it. He ruined a UGA players last game in a bowl with an unnecessary cheap shot.
You guys are just lucky that Stafford had an off day. He wasn't quite as on as usual are it would have really been a long day (night).
9 months ago
The blame should really go to the O-line of Hawaii and not Brennan. All the fans are jumping on the bandwagon in crucifying Brennan. What transpired in the past is history for him. He paid the price for the mistakes he made in Colorado.
I wish people could know the Colt Brennan the person and not the quarterback. He's the most genuine and giving person anyone would love to be a friend to.
9 months ago
Boy, you are in a league of your own! True sports team supporters whether it be Georgia, Hawaii, LSU or any other sports team in the world should respect the culture of each of these great teams. Calling Hawaii's team Ha'a thuggish or any other description is just plain ingnorance and shameful coming from whom we assume is an adult.
You may think you are clever enough to display your opinions, by thrashing these kids who truly believe in what they do and what they have learned about sportsmanship and their cultures. But shamefully not educated enough to know the difference between (school spirit) and human beings walking the streets barking like a dogs which is okay, if that's their way supporting school spirit.
Its all about the individual teams and I respect every teams (spirit) whether is be a Hawaiian dance or a student dressed up as a gun slinging cowboy in support of his team. Something you obviously need to be educated on. You can give your opinion on anything else but dont trash talk culture. Go ask your mother, or is she just as ignorant as you! As they say, you are who your parents raised, I'm sure they are proud of you, put your name up so everyone can congratulate you and where you come from.
9 months ago
all you guys kill me, have any of you ever played the game besides on playstation or in your back yard. FOOTBALL is a physical sport, there is contact before and after the whistle most of the time. Yeah, the Hawaii quarterback did get hit late, but every QB in the SEC gets that every game. Its our brand of football. Maybe Jones did take the cheap shot intentionally, but again thats football. As for culture, if I want to see culture I'll tune into the travel channel instead of that crappy fox broadcast. Maybe if they would have spent as much time practicing blocking instead of dancing they could stop that massive three man rush of GA. As far as Hawaii fans being class acts and staying through the game, where the hell else are they gonna go? Its not like they could get in their cars and go back their house to have a cold one. Its not a shot at Hawaii fans, but I bet the situation would be different for some if the game was played in their stadium.
9 months ago
"Its our brand of football." THAT SAYS IT ALL You obviously are a breed of your own. The Hawaii fans had a choice as to where they would go. "Stay at the stadium and support the team, win or lose"! They chose to stay unlike some GA fans who left their team to finish up the game without their support. And you believe they should be No.1. How self righteous is that. Once again, Hawaii, although beit a small state college with a budget 10x the size of the larger state teams, support their team and school spirit in their culture. They dont trash talk humans walking on the street barking (because thats their the way they support their team) so you have no business calling Hawaii doing their Ha'a " a bunch of thuggs".
Hawaii people at least have common courtesy and respect and I am not a Hawaii native. I live in the mainland where there is no ALOHA!
9 months ago
nobody said hawaii was classless, and i failed to mention that barking on the streets is kinda insane. in my opinion they're all thugs including GA. they need to leave the dancing and the barking where it belongs (in a pep rally) not on the field or the streets. I could care less what their budget is. There is a little college call Troy university just across the Georgia state line that would send them packing just like GA did, and theres probally a dozen other schools that's just like them. So budget doesn't mean crap. Yeah their facilities may suck, but big facilities are for drawing recruits anyway. On that note what recruit wouldn't want to make a visiting trip to Hawaii? BREED OF MY OWN? now you really have no clue. Football is a violently mean game, people get hit, its part of it. When your on the opposing side of the team with the ball then object is to destroy the man with it and get it back. If he gets hurt its a risk he new might happen when he walked on the field. Thats why there's only a select few who can play, obviously you were never one who has competed on any level of the sport. (including pee-wee)
"They chose to stay unlike some GA fans who left their team to finish up the game without their support. And you believe they should be No.1." damn good thing that fans don't determine what the rankings are cause idiots like you would have every unbeaten team in the country ranked #1. fact is they dont play anybody. SEC has i believe 5 teams in the BCS top 25 and WAC has how many? 2...
Ga fans left because the beating their team put on hawaii was about as exciting as watching infomercials at 3am on a Tuesday morn.
"...........I live in the mainland where there is no ALOHA!" good thing you dont live in hawaii, you'd prob ruin their rep. by the way my team didnt go to a bcs game so i could care less who won. i'm just pointing out the obvious, school spirit, culture and fans don't win games. good players do. good players make great teams, great teams win championships and bowl games. If you had any idea what class was you would be congratulating the GA team in stead of making excuses for hawaii getting their ass handed to them. thats also part of "OUR BRAND OF FOOTBALL"
9 months ago
Spoken like a true Georgia Tech fan. How did the Jackets do in the bowl game? It's ok...you don't have to answer that. There's always next year. For the record, those were not late hits. I'm sorry if hardnosed football offends your delicate sensitivities.
9 months ago
i guess our anonymous, cultured tech fan doesn't have much to say anymore. My opinion is unbiased for the whole state of GA so I could care less. If you read 2 posts up i think it proves it.
9 months ago
Hawaii was good. Georgia was a ton better. SEC vs. WAC. Top conference vs. Almost no-name. We all saw this blowout coming, so why are we blaming the refs, and late hits for a game that wasn't even close? You saw after Hawaii's first drive that it was over.
9 months ago
Hawaii was good. Georgia was a ton better. SEC vs. WAC. Top conference vs. Almost no-name. We all saw this blowout coming, so why are we blaming the refs, and late hits for a game that wasn't even close? You saw after Hawaii's first drive that it was over.
9 months ago
Hawaii was good. Georgia was a ton better. SEC vs. WAC. Top conference vs. Almost no-name. We all saw this blowout coming, so why are we blaming the refs, and late hits for a game that wasn't even close? You saw after Hawaii's first drive that it was over.
9 months ago
so many people are going to remember this game and think that colt brennan is an over-rated quarterback. the truth is he wasnt protected and its not his fault. everyone in hawaii loves colt and the aloha he has...
9 months ago
There are better athletes in the NFL which spells success for Colt Brennan. If Hawaii played Georgia last year the outcome might be different. The Warriors O-line was to depleted this season to protect Brennan.
9 months ago
WAC - Wimpy Ass Conference
8 months ago
"There are better athletes in the NFL which spells success for Colt Brennan. If Hawaii played Georgia last year the outcome might be different. The Warriors O-line was to depleted this season to protect Brennan."
Georgia would have creamed Hawaii last year too. It's a simple fact:
HAWAII IS OVERRATED BECAUSE THE PLAY A TERRIBLE SCHEDULE.
And yes, there are better athletes in the NFL, largely because they don't keep players like Colt Brennan. He just doesn't have the required arm strength.
7 months ago
run up the score? man this isn't some spurrier florida gaytor thing. richt goes way out of his way NOT to embarrass teams. just ask auburn last year. we took a knee with 2 minutes to go on the 10 yard line.
5 months ago
Georgia got a break because the o line didn't block worth a damn. Look what happened to Tom brady in the superbowl if you can't protect the qb there is a very good chance you will loss. Hawaii had a great season 12-1 It's not who you play or what conference you're in its can you play the game!
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