Colt Brennan and high-scoring Hawaii are perfectly happy to play in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia hoped to reach the Superdome, too — only not for this game. In the year of the upset, Georgia was indeed upset. The Bulldogs blossomed
Colt Brennan and high-scoring Hawaii are perfectly happy to play in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia hoped to reach the Superdome, too — only not for this game.
In the year of the upset, Georgia was indeed upset. The Bulldogs blossomed into one of the best teams in the country by winning their last six games, and believed they should’ve been picked for the BCS championship game.
Instead, LSU jumped ahead of the Bulldogs in the standings and was chosen to play Ohio State for the title.
“We feel like we got shafted a little bit,” Georgia safety Kelin Johnson said. “The numbers don’t add up. The numbers do not add up. The numbers do not lie. That’s what is confusing. I don’t know what’s going on.”
Now, No. 4 Georgia (10-2) will head to New Orleans for a matchup on New Year’s Night against the lone unbeaten team in major college football.
Hawaii (12-0) earned an at-large bid to the Bowl Championship Series by rallying past Washington 35-28 Saturday night. Brennan completing the comeback, going 42-for-50 and throwing five touchdown passes.
“Sugar is definitely sweet,” Brennan said. “We’re going to do it Hawaiian style.”
The 10th-ranked Warriors are the champions of the Western Athletic Conference, the home of last season’s BCS-buster Boise State.
Hawaii did not get more credit this season because of a relatively soft schedule. Then again, few thought highly of Boise State until the Broncos startled Oklahoma last season in a crazy Fiesta Bowl.
“We didn’t say anything when those guys were talking all that. We just focused on winning. There’s a lot of people out there looking pretty stupid,” Brennan said.
Behind Brennan, Hawaii led the nation by scoring 46.2 points per game. Even in the wide-open Southeastern Conference, Georgia never saw an offense quite this wild.
Georgia will be playing in its second Sugar Bowl in three seasons. Hawaii will be making its eighth bowl appearance overall and just its second on the mainland — it beat Illinois in the 1992 Holiday Bowl.
