AP News, December 25th, 2006
As a walk-on at Hawaii, Colt Brennan was determined to redeem himself and create something special. He's done that and more.
Brennan broke the NCAA single-season record for touchdown passes with 58, throwing five in the second half to lead Hawaii to a 41-24 victory over Arizona State on Sunday night in the Hawaii Bowl.
Brennan, 33-of-42 for 559 yards, threw a 7-yard scoring pass to Ryan Grice-Mullen on the Warriors' second series of the second half to break the previous mark of 54 set by Houston's David Klingler in 1990, also against the Sun Devils.
The game capped his breakout season, during which he led the nation in TD passes, passing yards, total offense, passing efficiency, points responsible for and completion percentage.
Brennan, who finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting, said he'll most likely return for his senior year.
"They're going to have to offer me something that's impossible to turn down, and I mean impossible to turn down," he said. "If not, I'm just going to come back and enjoy myself."
Jason Rivers also tied a school mark with 14 receptions and set the Hawaii record with 308 yards, the most in a bowl game since 1937. NCAA records don't go back any further.
Grice-Mullen grabbed the record TD pass with one hand, made a move and leaped across the goal line for the touchdown that gave Hawaii a 17-10 lead.
"When they show that touchdown to break the record, it's going to be an unbelievable receiver making an unbelievable catch and me not doing much," Brennan said.
After throwing the pass, Brennan hugged coach June Jones and waved No. 1 as teammates lifted the junior into the air with the crowd of 40,623 cheering wildly.
Brennan tied the record on the previous series, throwing a 38-yard pass to a wide open Rivers for his 54th TD. Brennan and Rivers, selected the co-MVPs for Hawaii, also teamed on the final touchdown pass, a 79-yarder late in the fourth quarter.
"He just kept hitting all night. We really had something special this year," Rivers said.
Hawaii (11-3) matched the school mark for most wins in a season, set in 1992 when the team went 11-2.
The Sun Devils (7-6) concluded their disappointing season, unable to send coach Dirk Koetter out with a win. He coached his final game after being fired last month. Dennis Erickson has been hired to take over the team.
Koetter went 40-34 in six seasons, including 2-19 against ranked teams and 21-28 in the Pac-10. He also led the Sun Devils to four bowl games.
Koetter said he plans on enjoying Christmas and resting before trying to find a new job.
"I'm a football coach. I'll be coaching," he said. "Don't feel sorry for us. We'll be fine."
Brennan finished the season with 5,549 yards to become just the third quarterback in college history with 5,000 yards and 50 TDs in a season, joining Klingler and Texas Tech's B.J. Symons (2003).
"Brennan is everything they said he was," Koetter said. "We couldn't get it going on offense and we couldn't stop them on defense."
Koetter didn't expect Rivers, though.
"I asked June where he had been hiding number 84," he said. "We knew the other receivers, but he was spectacular."
Brennan and Grice-Mullen also connected on a 41-yard pass play down the middle for Brennan's 56th TD pass and then threw a 21-yard scoring pass to a crossing Davone Bess, giving Hawaii a 34-24 lead.
Dan Kelly kicked a 43-yard field goal to put the Warriors up 27-10 early in the fourth, but the Sun Devils trimmed the lead to 10 on Ryan Torain's 12-yard TD run. The score was set up by a 64-yard run by Torain, who finished with 160 yards on 18 carries and was honored as the game MVP for Arizona State.
Nate Ilaoa fumbled on the ensuing drive, giving Arizona State the ball on the Hawaii 27. The Sun Devils scored two plays later on Rudy Carpenter's 4-yard TD pass to Mike Jones to draw within a field goal with 10:25 left to go.
But Arizona State couldn't contain Hawaii's potent offense, which racked up 680 yards of offense, including 472 in the second half.
"I wouldn't say we actually had a grip on the game," said Carpenter, who was 13-of-26 for 191 yards and two touchdowns. "When you play a team that has that good of an offense ... we just couldn't keep up."
The Sun Devils appeared to be in control of the game, holding the nation's No. 1 offense to just three points in the first half using time-consuming drives and an attacking defense.
