2008 Woodie Awards
Such bittersweet sorrow
Sugar Bowl is pau
Kris DeRego
Issue date: 1/3/08 Section: News
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Entering the game as the nation's lone undefeated team, the Warriors could find no answer for Georgia's persistent pass rush, which kept Hawai‘i quarterback Colt Brennan scrambling for his life all night long. Sacked eight times by the Georgia defense, Brennan was never able to find his rhythm or his footing, and his teammates did little to pick up the slack.
"It was the fastest team I've ever seen" said Brennan, shortly after completing the worst game of his career. "We just couldn't get into our groove and do what we wanted."
From the opening drive, the Warriors seemed overwhelmed by Bowl Championship Series fanfare. Nervous jitters provoked penalties on the Warriors' first two plays from scrimmage, and the strident chant of "overrated" from Georgia's cheering section wreaked havoc on Hawai‘i's ability to make adjustments at the line.
"We've never played in this element," said Brennan. "We tried as hard as we could to keep things the same as we have all season long, but it just seemed like we weren't used to a venue like the Superdome, and we weren't used to the crowd noise."
For their part, Georgia's offense had little trouble moving the ball against Hawai‘i's defensive front. The Bulldogs' offensive line carved canyons for running back Knowshon Moreno to plow through at a speed usually only possible in video games. Despite being held to seemingly modest rushing numbers (nine carries for 61 yards), Moreno's touchdown bursts of 17 and 11 yards in the first quarter set the tone for the rest of the game.
Even when the Warriors were given opportunities to close the gap, they failed to do so. After falling behind 24-3 at halftime, the Warriors opened the third quarter with an impressive defensive stand. Any hope of a quick comeback on the following drive was rudely interrupted, however, when Asher Allen picked off his second Colt Brennan offering of the night.
Warriors' safety Jacob Patek returned the favor, intercepting Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford's would-be touchdown pass at the four-yard line. But Hawai‘i couldn't capitalize on the mistake, and instead coughed up the ball - again - on the ensuing possession. This time, Brennan was drilled by Marcus Howard, who knocked the ball loose, then scooped it up in the end zone to give Georgia a commanding 31-3 lead.
"I had a clear shot at him and tried to hit him under the chin," said Howard, whose two forced fumbles and three sacks earned him the honor of being named the Sugar Bowl's Most Valuable Player.
It would be remiss to ignore Georgia's pre-game motivation, which was fortified by their conspicuous absence from the national championship game. Prior to being handed a Sugar Bowl invitation, the Bulldogs sat in fourth place in the BCS standings. After two of the top three teams lost their final contests, Georgia seemed a lock to climb into the number two position, which would have guaranteed the Bulldogs a shot at the national title.
Unfortunately for both the Bulldogs and Hawai‘i football fanatics, regular seasons losses to South Carolina and Tennessee cost Georgia a shot at the Southeastern Conference championship, whose eventual winner, LSU, leapfrogged Georgia in the final BCS standings. Clearly, the nation's hottest team found a way to channel their frustration with being left out of the national championship game into an inspired performance.
"We wanted to win a national championship and we thought we had a shot at that," said Georgia coach Mark Richt. "But it's still a great honor to finish in the top five at the end of the season."
Aside from the Warrior's abnormally impotent offense, the biggest beating of the night may have been unleashed upon Colt Brennan's professional prospects. After shattering numerous collegiate records during his junior year, including the single-season mark for touchdown passes, Brennan surprised many observers by returning to Hawai‘i for his senior season.
Although he did set the career record for touchdown passes thrown and finished third in the voting for this year's Heisman Trophy, Brennan's Sugar Bowl stat line - 22 completions in 38 attempts for 169 yards, with three interceptions - won't help his chances of being selected in the early rounds of the NFL draft.
"This isn't how I wanted to end my career," said a dejected Brennan, following what some commentators are already calling the "New Year's Day Massacre."
Still, a silver lining can be found in the standing ovation given to the Warriors by the 15,000 Hawai‘i fans that traveled to New Orleans to attend the event. While many spectators will say that the clock struck midnight on the Warriors' Cinderella season before the Sugar Bowl even began, fans living in the islands will always appreciate the breathtaking spectacle we've witnessed this season.
For those of us that were given a chance to be part of the sensation, sugar never tasted so sweet.
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