Best
Warrior Bowl Moment:
The 54-48, three-overtime win over Houston in the 2003 Hawaii Bowl
may have been more fun, but the 1999 Oahu Bowl had much more
meaning. Just one year removed from an 0-12 season, the Warriors
completed the biggest one-year turnaround in NCAA history with a
23-17 win over Oregon State. It wasn’t particularly pretty, but for
Hawaii and first-year coach June Jones, it marked the launching
point for a successful run that still endures today.
Best Bulldog Bowl Moment: Georgia has a very rich bowl
tradition that includes 41 invites and victories in the Rose Bowl,
Cotton Bowl, Gator Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. Fueled by
freshman sensation Herschel Walker, the Dawgs took a perfect mark
into the 1981 Sugar Bowl, where No. 7 Notre Dame awaited. Walker
shook off a dislocated shoulder in the first quarter to score a pair
of touchdowns leading Georgia to a 17-10 win and the national
title.
Hawaii's
best win ...
Hawaii 39 ... Boise State 27
Colt Brennan took advantage of a banged up Boise State
secondary to hit Jason Rivers from seven yards out and C.J.
Hawthorne on a brilliant 38-yard throw to push the Warriors
ahead in the third quarter on the way to the WAC title. Boise
State started off the scoring with a 50-yard Ian Johnson run,
answered a Brennan one-yard touchdown run with a Johnson
one-yard touchdown, and got a six-yard scoring catch from Richie
Brockel, but couldn't get the offense going in the fourth
quarter. Davone Bess caught 15 passes for the Warriors with
touchdown catches from 23 and 22 yards out. Solomon Elimimian
made 14 tackles for Hawaii with ten solo stops. Player of the
game: Hawaii QB Colt
Brennan completed 40 of 53 passes for 495 yards and five
touchdowns with two interceptions, and ran nine times for 18
yards and a touchdown. Davone Bess caught 15 passes for 181
yards and a two scores Stat Leaders: Boise State - Passing: Taylor Tharp, 22-36,
231 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing: Ian Johnson, 22-86, 2 TD. Receiving: Jeremy Childs, 8-102 Hawaii - Passing: Colt Brennan, 40-53, 495 yds, 5 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Kealoha Pilares, 9-48. Receiving: Davone Bess, 15-181, 2 TD
Hawaii's
worst performance ...
Hawaii 45 ... Louisiana Tech 44 OT
Louisiana Tech answered a Hawaii overtime touchdown with a
two-yard touchdown catch from Dustin Mitchell, but the two-point
conversion attempt for the win was broken up and the Warriors hung on.
Colt Brennan threw four touchdown passes for Hawaii with third quarter
strikes from 64 and 17 yards out to Ryan Grice-Mullin, a 19-yard play to
Davone Bess in the fourth, and a six-yard strike to Jason Rivers in
overtime. Louisiana Tech's offense kept up the pace with Patrick Jackson
running for two scores and Zac Champion hitting josh Wheeler with a
three-yard scoring pass, but Hawaii kept coming back, eventually sending
it into overtime on a 34-yard Dan Kelly field goal.
Player of
the game ... Hawaii QB Colt Brennan completed 34 of 40
passes for 416 yards and six touchdowns and led the Warriors with 23 yards on
three carries Stat Leaders: Louisiana Tech - Passing: Zac
Champion, 23-36, 187 yds, 2 TD Rushing: Patrick Jackson, 23-98, 2 TD Receiving:
Philip Beck, 5-40 Hawaii - Passing: Colt Brennan, 43-61, 548
yds, 4 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Leon Wright-Jackson, 6-53, 1 TD Receiving: Jason Rivers, 14-176, 1 TD
Georgia's best win ...
Georgia 42 ... Florida 30
Georgia showed off its attitude early on, as the entire team
came out to celebrate a one-yard Knowshon Moreno touchdown run to
establish the tenor of the game. Florida responded with a 40-yard
Louis Murphy touchdown catch, but Georgia answered right back with
an 84-yard Mo Massaquoi touchdown catch. The Bulldogs overcame an
interception returned for a score by Wondy Pierre-Louis to get
relative control of the game for the final 35 minutes, with Moreno
running for a 10-yard score at the end of the first half, and
sealing the game with a three-yard scoring run after Florida got Tim
Tebow's second touchdown run of the game. Stafford threw three
touchdown passes highlighted by a great throw to Mikey Henderson,
who made a tough catch, for a 53-yard touchdown. Player of the
game: Georgia RB
Knowshon Moreno ran 33 times for 188 yards and three touchdowns Stat Leaders: Georgia - Passing: Matthew
Stafford, 11-18, 217 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT Rushing: Knowshon Moreno, 33-188, 3 TD. Receiving:
Sean Bailey, 3-44 Florida - Passing: Tim Tebow, 14-22, 236 yds, 1
TD
Rushing: Percy Harvin, 10-97. Receiving: Andre Caldwell, 4-56
Georgia's worst loss ...
South Carolina 16 ... Georgia 12
South Carolina got Ryan Succop field goals from 41, 35 and 34
yards out after starting off the scoring with a nine-yard Cory Boyd
touchdown run, and then hung on late as a last gasp Georgia pass was
kicked into the hands of Jasper Brinkley. The Bulldogs got four Brandon
Coutu field goals and outgained the Gamecocks 341 yards to 314, but
Coutu missed an early 48-yarder and the offense failed to go on any long
drives after the second-quarter march to set up Coutu's first field
goal. The two teams combined to convert four of 29 third down chances. Player
of the game: South
Carolina K/P Ryan Succop scored 10 of his team’s 16 points, going 3-of-3
on field goals, and averaged 40.7 yards a punt, landing two inside the
20.
Stat Leaders: South Carolina - Passing: Blake
Mitchell, 20-31, 174 yds Rushing: Cory Boyd, 14-76, 1 TD. Receiving: Kenny
McKinley, 7-102 Georgia - Passing: Matthew Stafford, 19-44, 213 yds, 1
INT Rushing: Knowshon Moreno, 14-104. Receiving: Sean
Bailey, 4-44
2007
Sugar Bowl
LSU 41 ... Notre Dame 14
LSU rolled up 577 yards of total offense and scored 27
unanswered points on the way to a blowout. The Tigers got up 14-0 in the first
quarter on a three-yard touchdown run from Keiland Williams and an 11-yard
scoring grab from Dwayne Bowe, but Notre Dame got back in it with a perfectly
thrown 24-yard pass to David Grimes and a ten-yard pitch to Jeff Samardzija. The
Tigers answered by going 82 yards in five plays ending the first half with a
five-yard JaMarcus Russell run, and the rout was on. After two long drives
finished with Colt David field goals, the Tigers put it away on a 58-yard pass
to Brandon LaFell. Williams scored on a 20-yard run to finish off the Irish. Player of the game ... LSU QB JaMarcus Russell completed 21 of 34 passes
for 332 yards and two touchdowns and an interception and ran for 16 yards and a
score Stat Leaders: LSU- Passing: JaMarcus Russell, 21-34, 332
yds, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing:
Keiland Williams,
14-107, 2 TDReceiving:
Early Doucet, 8-115 Notre Dame - Passing: Brady Quinn, 15-35, 148 yds, 2 TD, 2
INT
Rushing: Darius Walker, 22-128 Receiving: Jeff Samardzija, 8-59, 1 TD
