Post by MizzouTiger on Jan 2, 2008 16:35:03 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/story/426905.html
Georgia Smacks Hawaii
NEW ORLEANS | A year after Boise State proved it could hang with college football’s big boys, Hawaii fell flat on its face when given the same opportunity.
Its bid at perfection ended with a thud in the Sugar Bowl, where the black-clad Georgia Bulldogs took out their frustration at getting passed over for a shot at the BCS championship with a 41-10 rout of Colt Brennan and the overmatched Warriors on Tuesday night.
“We’re No. 1,” Georgia safety Kelin Johnson proclaimed. “We’re supposed to be in the national championship game. The nation knows it, everyone knows it.”
The Bulldogs led 24-3 by halftime and quickly snuffed out any chance that Brennan might lead an improbable comeback, as he did in bringing Hawaii back from a 21-point deficit in their regular-season finale against Washington.
On Hawaii’s first possession after the break, Brennan was sacked by Roderick Battle, then picked off by Asher Allen. The Warriors held, getting an interception of their own on a tipped ball, but that merely set up Brennan for more misery.
Marcus Howard, who spent as much time in the Hawaii backfield as the guys wearing white, sped by tackle Keoni Steinhoff like he wasn’t even there and crashed into Brennan. The ball rolled loose in the end zone and Howard recovered, giving him as many touchdowns as the vaunted run-and-shoot offense that was averaging 46.2 points a game. Brennan left the game and didn’t return when he was sacked for the eighth time.
“Colt Brennan is a great quarterback,” Johnson said. “We knew we had to get physical today, and we did that with them. Our defensive line was wonderful. Our secondary was wonderful.”
Hawaii hoped to follow the lead set by WAC rival Boise State, which capped last year’s perfect season with a stunning overtime win against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. In the locker room before the game, Hawaii coach June Jones urged his team to “play with confidence, like you belong.”
They didn’t.
Brennan ran up against a swarming Georgia defense that was in no mood to give the little guys another day in the sun. The Bulldogs recorded eight sacks and forced six turnovers on the night.
Georgia Smacks Hawaii
NEW ORLEANS | A year after Boise State proved it could hang with college football’s big boys, Hawaii fell flat on its face when given the same opportunity.
Its bid at perfection ended with a thud in the Sugar Bowl, where the black-clad Georgia Bulldogs took out their frustration at getting passed over for a shot at the BCS championship with a 41-10 rout of Colt Brennan and the overmatched Warriors on Tuesday night.
“We’re No. 1,” Georgia safety Kelin Johnson proclaimed. “We’re supposed to be in the national championship game. The nation knows it, everyone knows it.”
The Bulldogs led 24-3 by halftime and quickly snuffed out any chance that Brennan might lead an improbable comeback, as he did in bringing Hawaii back from a 21-point deficit in their regular-season finale against Washington.
On Hawaii’s first possession after the break, Brennan was sacked by Roderick Battle, then picked off by Asher Allen. The Warriors held, getting an interception of their own on a tipped ball, but that merely set up Brennan for more misery.
Marcus Howard, who spent as much time in the Hawaii backfield as the guys wearing white, sped by tackle Keoni Steinhoff like he wasn’t even there and crashed into Brennan. The ball rolled loose in the end zone and Howard recovered, giving him as many touchdowns as the vaunted run-and-shoot offense that was averaging 46.2 points a game. Brennan left the game and didn’t return when he was sacked for the eighth time.
“Colt Brennan is a great quarterback,” Johnson said. “We knew we had to get physical today, and we did that with them. Our defensive line was wonderful. Our secondary was wonderful.”
Hawaii hoped to follow the lead set by WAC rival Boise State, which capped last year’s perfect season with a stunning overtime win against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. In the locker room before the game, Hawaii coach June Jones urged his team to “play with confidence, like you belong.”
They didn’t.
Brennan ran up against a swarming Georgia defense that was in no mood to give the little guys another day in the sun. The Bulldogs recorded eight sacks and forced six turnovers on the night.